Psychological Flexibility Through Zine Making
Experts from GW’s Art Therapy Program have developed the following art-making activity designed to help you reduce, manage and transform your stress. This zine-making activity demonstrates how art-making, informed by art therapy theories, practices and research, can enhance well-being, especially during times of stress and uncertainty.
Stop by the GW booth (#329) to make a zine with our art therapy experts, or take the materials with you to work on later!
What is a zine?
A zine is a self-published booklet that anyone can create about anything in whatever style and at whatever size suits them.
Follow the instructions to fold the pre-printed zine sheet. It should look like a small book when you’re done.
- Fold in half lengthwise.
- Fold in half again.
- Fold in half again.
- Unfold the entire paper to find 8 segments/pages.
- Fold in half once and use scissors to cut to the center area.
- Unfold the paper. You should now have an opening slit in the center.
- Fold in half lengthwise and push the paper together to form a small booklet.
- Follow the instructions inside the booklet to navigate, integrate and transform your stress.
AI + Art: A New Path for Self-Expression
Today’s generative AI tools open new pathways for expression, making it easier for anyone—regardless of skill, experience or ability—to create meaningful visual work. Experts from GW’s Art Therapy program have developed this guide to show you how to use generative AI as a creative assistant to support autonomy and deepen expression, blending human creativity with AI while keeping the artist in control.
This work builds on the ArtAI project at GW, where art therapists and medical researchers are collaborating with a community partner to develop generative AI therapeutic interventions for people with multiple and severe disabilities. The project is funded through the National Institutes of Health’s Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) program.
Download the Generative AI + Art activity
The Art & Science of Art Therapy
Art therapy integrates psychotherapy processes with art making to facilitate verbal and nonverbal expression of thoughts and emotions. When people transform their ideas, memories, and experiences into tangible images, they can explore them from a different and metaphorical perspective, which they may not find through traditional talk therapy.
In art therapy sessions, clients create art with a trained professional art therapist. Art therapy provides a unique opportunity to express feelings and develop new perspectives by combining creative processes, art making, and reflections. Once the art piece is complete, the art therapist and client work together to explore the emotions, thoughts, and reactions that might arise to discover a particular meaning the artwork might hold for the client to enhance their lives, relationships, and communities.
In 2019, the World Health Organization undertook a scoping review of “uncontrolled pilot studies, case studies, small-scale cross-sectional surveys, nationally representative longitudinal cohort studies, community-wide ethnographies and randomized controlled trials from diverse disciplines,” concluding that the arts positively impact health for prevention and treatment.
Click on the links below to learn more about the science behind art therapy and the arts’ positive impact on our health and lives.
Psychological Flexibility & Stress Management
- Potash, J. S., Tripp, T. & Baxter, C. (2025). Psychological flexibility in art therapy: Practice-based research. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 92, Article 102244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2024.1022
- Tripp, T., Potash, J. S. & Brancheau, D. (2019). Safe Place collage protocol: Art making for managing traumatic stress. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 20(5), 511-525. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2019.1597813
- Srolovitz, M. Borgwardt, J., Burkart, M., Clementz-Cortes, A., Czamanski-Cohen, J., Ortiz Guzman, M., Hicks, M. Kaimal, G., Lederman, L., Potash, J. S., Yazdian Rubin, S., Stafford, D., Wibben, A., Wood, M., Youngwerth, J., Jones, C. A., & Kwok, I.B. (2022). Top ten tips palliative care clinicians should know about music therapy and art therapy. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 25(1), 135-144. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2021.0481
Managing Stress Through Trauma and Uncertainty
- Tripp, T., Potash, J. S., & Brancheau, D. (2019). Safe Place collage protocol: Art making for managing traumatic stress. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 20(5), 511–525. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2019.1597813
- Potash, J. S., Kalmanowitz, D., Fung, I., Anand, S. A., & Miller, G. M. (2020). Art Therapy in Pandemics: Lessons for COVID-19. Art Therapy, 37(2), 105–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2020.1754047
Generative AI Art Making for Well-being
- "AI in art therapy practical applications for clients with disabilities: Multi-case study research" (submitted)
- "Generative AI artmaking for adults with disabilities: Core principles for program design" (submitted)
- AI in Action: Faculty Experiment with Tech Teaching Tools" (GW Today)
The GW Art Therapy Program - 55 Years and Counting!
The GW Art Therapy Program is one of the oldest and most prestigious in the world. It is one of the first programs in the United States to receive approval from the American Art Therapy Association. Established in 1971, the program offers an innovative masters education rooted at the intersection of clinical, studio and trauma-informed practices. The program’s mission is to train exceptionally skilled therapists whose professional practice is grounded in three core areas: the latest theory in clinical art therapy, counseling and trauma; application of leading research and evaluation methodologies; and diverse, integrative, culturally responsive treatment strategies.
The program has more than 30 full-time and adjunct faculty and over 700 alumni living and working worldwide. Students benefit from more than 100 internship options in psychiatric, educational, medical, military and community-based settings, and train in state-of-the-art facilities that include our hands-on GW Art Therapy Clinic, which offers low-fee services and functions as a site for practice-based research. While in the program, student artists display their artwork in the program’s contemporary gallery space on campus as well as a virtual gallery space.
Visit the GW Art Therapy program to learn more.
“Art therapy is a mental health profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.
Art therapy, facilitated by a professional art therapist, effectively supports personal and relational treatment goals as well as community concerns. Art therapy is used to improve cognitive and sensorimotor functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress, and advance societal and ecological change.”
– American Art Therapy Association