Mind On Mental Health · Penn Medicine - Princeton House Behavioral Health

What is Art Therapy

·23 min

Andy Dean opens by introducing Jenna Patterson and the work she does in behavioral health. Jenna says she is a licensed associate counselor and a provisional registered art therapist, and that she works as an allied clinical therapist at Penn Medicine Princeton House Behavioral Health in North Brunswick, New Jersey. She works across child, adolescent, women's, and adult units. Andy asks how she got into art therapy, and Jenna starts tracing the path from counseling into the art-based side of the field. The episode centers on a simple question: what is art therapy, really? Jenna explains that the point is not to make pretty things or prove skill. She says the process matters more than the final product, because the making itself can reveal what a person is carrying. The conversation turns to vulnerability, since art can feel exposed in a way that surprises people. Jenna notes that many people have bad experiences with art from school or from being told their art was bad, and she treats that discomfort as part of the work rather than something to dismiss. Andy and Jenna then talk about the idea that art can make the unconscious become conscious. Jenna describes how an image or drawing can surface themes the person may not have realized they were circling. When Andy asks how she can see so much in someone's work, Jenna stresses context and clinical judgment. She is clear that she is not reading minds. She says the therapist has to listen carefully, observe the person, and connect the art to the rest of the story. The episode also spends time on group art therapy, where patients hear one another's experiences and often learn from the shared process. Jenna describes group work as person-centered and flexible, with different therapists bringing different styles and rhythms. She closes that part by saying she has learned from sitting in on other people's groups and seeing how each one takes shape. The episode leaves the listener with a practical picture of art therapy as a grounded way to help people notice themselves.

As heard by us

A grounded look at art therapy as process, context, and group work.

Art therapy sits at the center of this episode, and the conversation stays with what the process can reveal rather than treating the finished piece as the point.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want art therapy explained without the woo.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify