Listening to the Image: Expressive Arts Therapy and the Power of Visual Journaling

Visual Journaling: When Words Are Not Enough

One of the greatest misconceptions about expressive arts therapy, art therapy, and even visual journaling is that the goal is to create something meaningful and/or beautiful.

The goal is simply to express yourself through art.

Visual journaling is one expressive arts therapy practice that invites us to express our inner experiences through images when words alone are not enough.

When we are overwhelmed, confused, grieving, anxious, or struggling to find words, images can express what we cannot yet explain. They give shape to an experience that still feels tangled inside of us. What was once internal now exists outside of us—where we can see it, sit with it, and begin a relationship with it.

Too often, we rush to ask, "What does this mean?" We analyze, evaluate, or search for an explanation. In doing so, we sometimes shrink the image to satisfy our need for certainty instead of allowing it to unfold in its own time.

I've learned that images ask us to slow down, notice, and listen.

An Unexpected Discovery

One journal page I created, in particular, continues to stay with me.

I created it during a time when I felt overwhelmed by circumstances that were largely outside of my control. As I sat in stillness and waited, an image appeared: a figure slowly dissolving into a puddle, swirling into itself.

At first, the image alone felt powerful. It expressed exactly how I felt—as though I was sinking into the overwhelm, slowly disappearing within it.

As I paused, listened, and observed what I was seeing, two additional figures began to emerge—figures I had not consciously created. You may notice that they are outlined in pencil. I added those outlines later, after I discovered them, as a way of acknowledging what I was beginning to see.

One appeared to be gently holding the dissolving figure. The other, much larger and standing quietly in the background, seemed to be waiting. Present. Steady. Available.

Had I immediately analyzed the image—or dismissed those forms as accidental brushstrokes—I would have missed the conversation that was waiting for me.

Instead, I stayed curious. Rather than asking, "What does this mean?" I found myself asking, "What are the figures telling me?"

That question changed everything.

The painting no longer reflected only my overwhelm. It revealed support, presence, and a part of myself that remained steady even while another part felt like it was dissolving.

What Is the Art Telling Me?

Pat Allen (IEATA Forum, July 2026) recently described images as becoming "alive, energetic beings." I love that description because it reflects the way I have come to experience my own images. Rather than something to solve or explain, they become someone to know. That's where the relationship begins.

From an Internal Family Systems (IFS) perspective, we might think of these images as "parts" or the "True Self" emerging into awareness—parts longing to be seen, heard, validated, and understood. Whether viewed through expressive arts, IFS, or another framework, the invitation remains the same: become curious, enter into relationship with the image, and listen.

There are no mistakes when creating art for personal expression. Every mark belongs. Every unexpected shape has the potential to begin a conversation.

Perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts of visual journaling: developing a deeper relationship with yourself through art.

An Invitation

If this way of relating to art resonates with you, I invite you to explore it further.

Whether you are seeking expressive arts therapy as a client to support healing, self-awareness, and self-discovery, interested in developing a personal visual journaling practice, or are a clinician wanting to deepen your own reflective practice or learn to integrate intermodal Expressive Arts Therapy into your work with clients, I offer opportunities through my private practice and CREATE Therapy Institute.

My hope is not to teach you how to make art, but to help you learn how to listen to the images that are already waiting to be seen and develop a deeper relationship with yourself through the creative process. If you're curious to learn more, I invite you to schedule a complimentary 15-minute consultation.