7 Creative Interventions in Therapy With Positive Results
Ever wondered what unique techniques are trusted by top therapists to foster positive change in their clients? Insights from a Private Practice Owner & Licensed Clinical Social Worker and an LCSW, Lead School Therapist reveal transformative methods for therapy. The journey begins with the nuances of Sandtray Therapy and concludes with the enriching experience of walking with clients for openness. Discover a total of seven expert insights that could revolutionize therapeutic practices.
- Utilize Sandtray Therapy for Healing
- Incorporate Personal Interests in Interventions
- Apply Values Inventory Creatively
- Explore Macro- and Micro-Perspectives
- Swap Seats for Fresh Autonomy
- Use Bridge Drawing for Self-Awareness
- Walk with Clients for Openness
Utilize Sandtray Therapy for Healing
Sandtray therapy is a creative intervention I have used in therapy that yielded a positive result. Sandtray therapy is an approach to support processing experiences in a more metaphorical way. It engages the whole brain by incorporating creativity, kinesthetic-sensory input, and logical language. It uses a box of sand and many sand miniatures (small characters or representative figurines) to create a world using the miniatures within the sand tray.
When working with a mother and daughter, to process experiences of the mom postpartum and the goal of healing relational bonds and attachment between mom and daughter, sandtray therapy was the most effective and creative intervention. Each session, the mom and daughter received a directive prompt from me, the therapist, such as "Create a fragile world like a teacup within your tray using any sand miniatures you choose." At the start of their family therapy journey, using the creative intervention of sandtray therapy, mom and daughter had their own individual sand trays to create within. By the end of their healing journey, both mom and daughter were creating one sand tray together.
Incorporate Personal Interests in Interventions
Breathwork and meditation have a strong body of research behind their effectiveness, but can be a difficult intervention to implement with young children. I have found that any intervention with children that takes into account their personal interests is always more effective. For example, I have had several boys, both middle- and elementary-school-aged, who love Dragon Ball Z.
Using various free YouTube videos of the 'Super Saiyan' transformations (look it up if you're unfamiliar—it's great), I've been able to teach these boys about deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation in ways that are both meaningful and fun for them. It's also a great parallel to using these strategies to grow and hone the power of their emotions for their own good. This is just one example, but overall I love taking my young client's interests and connecting them to real-world strategies that will serve them in many different areas of their lives!
Apply Values Inventory Creatively
As a therapist, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a common intervention I use for individuals seeking guidance in identity, sense of direction, and building more consistent goals. My creative spin on a common tool called the Values Inventory (i.e., a client ranks their top 10 values based on a list of 20+ words such as humor, kindness, success, etc.) is applying what someone values in other people and encouraging them to apply it to themselves and what they look for in relationships. For example, would someone rank their values for a future partner, company values, and family values differently than values for themselves? This gives perspective on how consistently their values fall into other areas of their lives and creates fantastic discussions, structure, and direction for therapeutic progress in and out of the office.
Explore Macro- and Micro-Perspectives
One of my most successful therapeutic interventions is exploring thinking from a macro- and micro-perspective. With this approach, I find this opens clients up to exploring their identity, values, and moral compass, which brings them to a deeper understanding of their authentic selves. Using their identity, we then work together to understand how this is showing up in their world.
Swap Seats for Fresh Autonomy
I have sometimes swapped seats with the clients. This is especially effective if I have been seeing them for a long time and they are used to sitting in the same place. Letting the client sit in what they might perceive to be the "expert's chair" seems to offer a fresh sense of autonomy and ego-strength to clients who feel hopeless or out of control in their situations.
Use Bridge Drawing for Self-Awareness
"The Bridge Drawing," is a projective art therapy tool that metaphorically represents a client's journey. In this exercise, clients are asked to draw a bridge or a path that connects one side (the past or present) to another (the future or an ideal state). This simple yet profound activity invites clients to reflect on their current state and what they are moving toward, while also examining potential obstacles and supports along the way.
The bridge-drawing is particularly effective because it taps into the symbolic nature of art, allowing clients to express complex emotions and challenges in a nonverbal way through the use of metaphor. The visual representation of their journey helps clients externalize their thoughts and feelings, offering a fresh perspective and deeper self-awareness.
What makes this intervention powerful is its flexibility: the bridge can symbolize anything the client wishes, whether it's emotional growth, recovery, or a path toward a specific goal. The "bridge" becomes a safe space for exploring transitional periods, such as moving through trauma, shifting away from less-desirable coping mechanisms such as substance abuse, managing anxiety, or coping with life changes. With the guidance of their therapist, clients can explore the structure of their bridge—what's missing, what's strong, and where they may need support. The client may want to "locate" themselves on the bridge to visualize their progress in their healing journey. This process often leads to greater insight into their internal world and fosters a sense of agency as they navigate their own healing.
Walk with Clients for Openness
In 2022, there was a fire in my office, and I was left without a space to meet with clients. So I started taking walks with clients (this was during early summer), especially with clients that had ADHD or were experiencing symptoms of depression. Because COVID was still a more serious health concern for many at that time, this would also alleviate some of their concerns about infection within a contained indoor space.
Checking in with them to make sure they feel OK about being outside with me and finding a place we would be less likely to be around other people (e.g., a more isolated area of a path or park) was essential to this going well. But I found a lot of these clients were more open to talking about their issues, seemed more comfortable allowing for moments of silence to process insights or questions from me, and showed improvements in their mood compared with the beginning of their sessions.
Although I was able to move into a new office several months later, this is still an option I offer clients when the weather is nice. Sometimes I offer it when the weather isn't so nice, if I know that a given client is enough of an outdoors-person that they're OK with rain, cold, etc.