From Holding It All In to Letting It Out: How Art Therapy Helps You Release What Words Can’t Hold
If you’re a high-achieving woman in Richmond, VA, chances are you know what it’s like to carry a heavy emotional load behind a calm exterior. You’re the one who remembers the appointments, holds space for others, and keeps the family or workplace running. People assume you’ve got it all under control—and a part of you wants them to believe that. But another part of you is exhausted. Quietly unraveling. Wondering how much longer you can keep it together.
You might feel:
Constant anxiety in your chest or stomach
Pressure to show up for everyone while ignoring your own needs
Guilt for wanting rest or support
A disconnect from what you even feel anymore
The hardest part? You may not have the words to describe any of it.
That’s where art therapy can help.
What Art Therapy Is—and What It Isn’t
Art therapy isn’t about creating a masterpiece or being a trained artist. In fact, people who identify as artists sometimes have a harder time getting started because they’re used to chasing perfection.
Art therapy is about process, not product.
It’s a way to express emotions, experiences, and stuck energy through color, shape, line, and texture—especially when language fails you. Think scribbles. Torn paper. Messy finger painting. What matters isn’t how it looks. What matters is how it feels in your body and what it frees up inside you.
Sometimes, creating a simple image helps move stuck energy. Other times, it reflects back something you hadn’t realized until it was in front of you on the page.
As a licensed therapist and board-certified art therapist, I help guide and witness this creative process in a way that feels grounded, safe, and completely tailored to you.
Why We Hold It All In—And Why It’s So Hard to Let Go
So many of us learned to be the calm one. The helper. The one who holds the family together.
But somewhere along the way, that role required you to silence your own emotions. Maybe no one modeled how to feel safely. Maybe you learned it wasn’t safe to need.
Over time, all those unspoken emotions—grief, fear, anger, shame—don’t just disappear. They get stored in your body.
In your jaw.
In your stomach.
In the tension in your shoulders.
In the weight of being "on" all the time.
Common signs you're holding more than you realize:
You have trouble naming or feeling your emotions
You avoid conflict and push your feelings down
You’re afraid your feelings will overwhelm someone else
You struggle to explain what you’re experiencing
This kind of holding isn’t a flaw—it’s a survival strategy. But survival mode isn’t meant to be permanent.
How Art Therapy Helps You Release What You’ve Been Holding
I see it often: a client walks in unsure of what they feel, but through art, things begin to unfold.
1. Accessing Emotions Without Words
Some emotions feel too big or messy for words. Others were never allowed to exist. In art therapy, you don’t need to talk first. The art can start the conversation.
A client once used jagged red strokes to express buried anger. Another layered torn paper to represent fragmented grief. No verbal processing needed—just safe, embodied expression.
2. Releasing Through Movement
Art-making is physical. Scribbling, tearing, molding—these acts help release emotion from the body. Neuroscience shows that creating art can:
Calm the amygdala (your fear center)
Reduce cortisol (your stress hormone)
Increase dopamine (your feel-good chemical)
In other words: your nervous system gets to exhale.
3. Creating a Safe, Guided Container
Art therapy isn’t just about making things—it’s about being with what comes up. I hold a structured, supportive space so you don’t feel overwhelmed by what you’re facing.
4. Turning Emotion into Insight
Once something is on the page, we explore:
What do you notice in your body?
What does this color or shape remind you of?
What feeling does this bring up?
You don’t need to have answers. Just curiosity. From there, we build insight.
Real-Life Stories of Emotional Release
(Names and details changed for confidentiality.)
Sarah’s Overwhelm
Sarah, a high-achieving working mom, came into session saying, "My brain is moving in 100 directions. I don’t even know where to start."
I invited her to draw what her thoughts looked like. She filled the page with spirals, overlapping colors, and loops. One color kept standing out. She paused, then said: "That’s the part of me that feels unsupported."
That became our starting point.
J’s Emotional Clarity
J came in ready to process the emotional impact of her childhood. She was parenting her own kids now and noticing how old wounds were showing up. She was constantly thinking but emotionally disconnected.
We began simply: draw what anger, sadness, or fear might look like using only lines and color. From there, she began naming nuances: "It’s not just anxiety—I think I’m scared. And lonely."
The art gave her a check-in system to access what she was feeling before the words were available.
If you’re navigating burnout but struggling to slow down, you might also like: When You’re Exhausted But Can’t Slow Down: The Hidden Cost of Always Keeping It Together
Art Therapy Practices You Can Try at Home
While working with a trained therapist offers the most support, you can explore gentle art practices at home:
Scribble Your Stress: Let your hand move freely on the page. No goal. Just release.
Draw the Shape of Overwhelm: What form would your stress take? Is it heavy, tangled, sharp?
Tear and Let Go: Write down something weighing on you, then tear the paper into pieces.
Color Breathing: Breathe deeply while coloring in slow, repetitive shapes with a calming color.
Create a Visual Check-In: Use a few shapes or colors to represent how you feel today—no pressure, no words needed.
You Don’t Have to Hold This Alone
Your healing doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Maybe you talk. Maybe you create. Maybe you do both.
Together, we’ll create a rhythm that meets your nervous system where it is—and supports you in gently letting go of what you’ve carried too long.
Whether you’re navigating burnout, anxiety, grief, trauma, or just trying to find yourself again, art therapy can help you reconnect.
Ready to Begin?
If you’re in Richmond, VA or anywhere in Virginia or Florida, I offer therapy that blends creativity, emotional safety, and personalized support.
Let’s connect.
Book your free 20-minute consultation to explore whether art therapy might be a good fit for you.
You’re not broken. You’re not too much. You’re not alone.
You can also check out what others are saying about working with me on Google.
You deserve to feel lighter—and you don’t have to earn it.