Art Therapy: Home
The Art Therapy Research Guide
Welcome to the Art Therapy Research Guide
This guide was created to support students in the MPS Art Therapy program at the School of Visual Arts in beginning their research. This guide is also designed to support SVA students with a general interest in exploring art therapy topics. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "art therapy" as, "the use of visual arts activities such as drawing, painting, or modelling as a form of communication and expression in psychotherapy." (1)
Researching Art Therapy Topics
General and popular art therapy resources are included here, but art therapy research can bridge many different areas of interest, and might require conducting research beyond art therapy resources alone. An example of this would be a topic like, "bonding through community gardening." A researcher might want to consult the resources below for information on bonding, but also check out some horticulture resources, as well, for information on community gardens. The School of Visual Arts library has an abundance of resources to support the full breadth of your research. You can consult our list of over 100 additional online databases here. You can also search the library catalog here. The SVA librarians also offer one-on-one research support, which you can schedule here. During a one-on-one, we can help talk through your ideas and pinpoint promising research resources for your specific topic.
If you have any questions at all, you can always contact us here.
1. “Art Therapy, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, December 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3479335931.
Article & Ebook Databases
- ProQuest Central Ejournals This link opens in a new window
Looking for articles on your art therapy research topic? ProQuest Central Ejournals is a great place to start. Your can search over ~30,000 journals across all major subject areas, as well as thousands of newspapers from around the world. - Art & Architecture Source This link opens in a new window
In addition to coverage of art and art history topics, this database also includes art therapy resources, like the journal Art Therapy. Overall, it contains full-text access to over 630 art and design journals with coverage from 1929 to the present. - ERIC This link opens in a new window
The Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC) database is managed by of the U.S. Department of Education. It can be a valuable resource for expanding your art therapy research. It contains citations and abstracts from over 980 educational journals. Sometimes searching the database can be a bit tricky, so just let a librarian know if you have any questions. - Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Ebook Central's Academic Complete contains over 207,000 multidisciplinary ebooks, including topics on and adjacent to art therapy. This database also includes a lot of great research tools. Hover over the icons on each page to see what they do, or contact a librarian for an overview of the database. - Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine This link opens in a new window
Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine can be a good resource for expanding your art therapy research. It has articles on mental illness, alcohol and drug abuse, trauma, public health, and many other topics related to health and medicine. - PubMed This link opens in a new window
PubMed can be a helpful resource for your art therapy research. It is managed by the National Institutes of Health. It contains more than 30 million citations for biomedical literature. The citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher websites. (If you need any help accessing an article relevant to your research, just contact a librarian!) - Gale Academic OneFile This link opens in a new windowGale Academic OneFile can sometimes be a helpful resource for continuing your art therapy research. It provides access to over 12,000 periodicals with millions of articles available in full-text covering the arts, sciences and humanities.
Art Therapy Journals
SVA Library provides access to art therapy titles both in-print at the Main Library and online via databases. Sometimes you will find that a journal with a long publishing history will be split between in-print and online resources. Or you may find that the title of a journal has changed over time, when the publisher decided to shorten or alter the name. These inconsistencies can sometimes make research complicated. If you are interested in browsing issues of an art history journal, or searching for a specific article, the SVA Librarians are here to help. You can always contact us here for support.
Some examples of journals relevant to art history researchers are listed below:
- The Arts in Psychotherapy
This journal publishes evidence-based research, opinion, theoretical positions, and case material on a range of topics intersecting the fields of mental health and creative arts therapies. - Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association
Published by the American Art Therapy Association, earlier titles of this journal include, The Bulletin of Art Therapy and The American Art Therapy Journal. It features peer-reviewed empirical research, theory and practice papers, viewpoints, reviews of current literature in art therapy, and best practices. - The Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal
The Canadian Journal of Art Therapy: Research, Practice, and Issues (Revue canadienne d’art-thérapie : recherche, pratique et enjeux) is the official journal of the Canadian Art Therapy Association (l’Association canadienne d’art-thérapie). It aims to create a culturally safe space for art therapy inquiry and research with the aim to enhance research and practice in the field. - International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape
This journal is published by the British Association of Art Therapists and includes research papers, innovative practice papers, and evidence-informed opinion pieces. - Journal of Applied Arts & Health
The Journal of Applied Arts & Health is an international peer-reviewed journal intended to serve a global community of artists, researchers, practitioners, healthcare professionals, and therapists. It is supported by the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association and
Art Therapy Books
You can search for both art therapy books and ebooks in the library catalog. Physical books can be found on the shelves at Library West. You can try shelf-browsing by the primary call number, RC489, in the book stacks. The following titles are just some examples of what you will find:
An Introduction to Art Therapy Research by Publication Date: 2019This revised and expanded edition of Art Therapy Research pays particular attention to the field's unique and compelling questions, most current literature, and emerging trends in research, while guiding readers through the basics of qualitative, quantitative, and art-based research design.
Art Therapy for Social Justice by ISBN: 9781315694184Publication Date: 2019Art Therapy for Social Justice seeks to open a conversation about the cultural turn in art therapy to explore the critical intersection of social change and social justice.
Art Therapy Practices for Resilient Youth by Publication Date: 2020Art Therapy Practices for Resilient Youth highlights the paradigm shift to treating children and adolescents as "at-promise" rather than "at-risk." By utilizing a strength-based model that moves in opposition to pathology, this volume presents a client-allied modality wherein youth are given the opportunity to express emotions that can be difficult to convey using words.
Foundations of Art Therapy by Publication Date: 2022Foundations of Art Therapy: Theory and Applications is an essential and comprehensive introduction to the field of art therapy that blends relevant psychological and neuroscience research, theories, and concepts and infuses cultural diversity throughout each chapter.
Virtual Art Therapy by ISBN: 9780367711528Publication Date: 2022This book provides a practical and research-based exploration of virtual art psychotherapy, and how its innovations are breaking new ground in the mental health field.
Art Therapy Videos
The SVA Library provides access to video databases that contain clinical footage of art therapy practitioners in the field, educational videos for art therapists, and documentaries relevant to art therapy.
- Art Therapies Video Collection This link opens in a new window
This database contains hundreds of hours of clinical and educational footage in art therapy, and many examples of arts therapies pioneers practicing their specialties. - Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
Academic Video Online contains documentaries, interviews, news programs, and more. You can try searches for your specific art therapy topic, or a certain practitioner - or try or a general search for "art therapy" to begin browsing the collection.
Image Databases
Looking for images to support your art therapy projects? The SVA Library provides access to image databases that may have what you're looking for!
- Artstor on JSTOR This link opens in a new window
**Artstor has moved to the JSTOR platform as of August 1, 2024** Documents artistic traditions across many time periods and cultures including architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design. Digital images come from museums, archaeological teams, photo archives, slide collections, and art reference publishers. The collection is over 2+ million images. Users must create a personal account.
- Colourbox This link opens in a new window
Stock image source with hundreds of thousands of royalty-free photographs, vector images, and videos for use in your projects. Create an account with your SVA email address. Contact library@sva.edu for the current educational key.
