Grief Creativity: Healing Through Art Therapy
By Kerry Evitts – Artist & Art Therapist
Grief has no roadmap. It arrives without warning, reshaping our world with silence, longing, confusion, and deep emotional pain. While talking therapies, journaling, and support networks are vital tools for healing, sometimes words just aren’t enough. In those moments, art therapy offers something truly powerful, a way to express what can’t be spoken.
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Griefline Australia about the therapeutic value of creativity during times of grief and loss. One of the most profound aspects of art therapy is its gentle permission to feel and process emotions without words. For many people, especially those overwhelmed or emotionally shut down by grief, traditional talk therapies can feel too confronting. Art provides a non-verbal doorway into those deep internal landscapes, where healing can begin to take shape.
Why Art Therapy?
Grief affects the mind, body, and spirit. It can make time feel heavy and emotions feel too large to name. Art therapy doesn’t aim to “fix” grief it holds space for it. With clay, paint, collage, or even simple mark-making, you can explore emotion in a way that feels safe and grounded.
Creating art can be:
- A mirror, helping you see and acknowledge feelings.
- A container, giving shape and form to something that feels chaotic.
- A distraction, providing what I like to call a grief breaka , a small moment of mindful pause where your brain and heart get to rest.
Tools for the Grieving Journey
Art therapy sits beautifully alongside other grief support tools:
Talking Therapies: Working with a counsellor, therapist, or grief support worker can offer validation, guidance, and emotional safety. Combining talk with art can deepen the therapeutic process.
Journaling: Writing about memories, emotions, or even using prompts like "Today I miss…" can help you stay connected to your feelings while beginning to externalise them.
Creative Rituals: Lighting a candle, drawing a memory, creating a memory box, or sculpting an abstract shape that holds your sadness—all of these are rituals that allow grief to be felt and witnessed.
Mindful Art Practices: Painting to music, slow stitching, drawing repetitive patterns (like mandalas), or using colour as emotion all invite mindfulness and grounding, which is crucial when grief becomes overwhelming.
Healing Happens in the Process
The beauty of art therapy is that it’s not about the product. You don’t need to be “artistic.” You just need to show up. The process of making, moving your hands, choosing colours, or shaping clay offers both physical and emotional release.
In my workshops and one-on-one sessions, I often see people who have been carrying grief quietly for years finally find a sense of peace and understanding not through talking, but through creating. There’s something deeply validating and human about allowing your heart to speak through your hands.
Grief doesn’t disappear, but through art, we can soften its edges. We can remember, honour, and find small pockets of beauty in the healing process.
If you're moving through grief, consider giving yourself the gift of creativity. You don’t need to explain or understand it just begin.
Kerry Evitts
Art Therapist | Artist | Creator of Mindful Art Spaces for All Ages