Play therapy vs art therapy: which is right for your child (Calgary guide)

Parents often ask which of these their child would benefit from more. The truthful answer is that both are real, evidence-based clinical approaches that share a foundation: kids communicate through doing, not through talking. The differences matter when matching a specific child to a specific therapy. Here is the comparison from Curio Counselling Calgary.

What play therapy actually is

Play therapy is a structured therapeutic approach for children (usually ages three to twelve) where the therapist uses toys, sandtray, art, story, and creative materials as the language of the work. The child leads the play. The therapist follows, observes, reflects, and intervenes at the right moments. Play therapy has decades of evidence for trauma, anxiety, behavioural issues, grief, family transitions, and adjustment to medical experiences.

Major models include Child-Centered Play Therapy, Theraplay, Filial Therapy, and Synergetic Play Therapy.

What art therapy actually is

Art therapy uses visual art-making (drawing, painting, sculpting, collage, mixed media) as the central process of therapy. The art is not a side activity. It is the work. An art therapist with master's-level training in art psychotherapy facilitates a process where the materials and the client's relationship with them become the therapy.

Art therapy works across age ranges. It is particularly powerful for trauma, grief, eating disorders, identity work, and clients who have hit a wall with talk.

The core difference

Play therapy uses a wide range of play activities (sandtray, dolls, games, expressive movement, art). Art therapy centres specifically on visual art-making as the primary medium.

Play therapy is age-specific (mostly children). Art therapy works across the lifespan.

Play therapy is more about externalizing experience through symbolic play. Art therapy is more about externalizing experience through created images.

When play therapy is the better fit

• Children ages three to twelve
• Trauma, anxiety, or grief in young children
• Behavioural issues and emotional dysregulation in childhood
• Children adjusting to divorce, loss, or family changes
• Children with developmental considerations who benefit from non-verbal expression
• Kids who do not yet have the verbal capacity for talk-based therapy

When art therapy is the better fit

• Children, adolescents, and adults who gravitate to visual creation
• Trauma stored pre-verbally or otherwise beyond words
• Clients who have intellectualized through talk therapy without felt change
• Eating disorders, body image, and identity work
• Grief that resists language
• Adolescents and adults who want depth work in a non-verbal medium

When to combine them

For children, the two approaches overlap and can integrate. Play therapy often includes art-based elements. A play therapist with art training can move between media as the child gravitates. For older clients, art therapy stands more on its own.

How clinicians actually choose

For young children, the choice is usually play therapy as the primary approach. For older children, teens, and adults, art therapy is often the better fit when the work is depth-oriented and the client engages with visual creation. The child's own preferences and natural orientations to media matter significantly.

Why Curio Counselling Calgary uses both

Curio Counselling Calgary has clinicians trained in play therapy (with a dedicated play therapy room) and a registered Art Psychotherapist on the team. The two approaches integrate well across the practice. Free 20-minute consultations let parents discuss what would fit their child best.

How to start

Book a free 20-minute consultation with a Curio Counselling Calgary clinician. The call is parent-only and helps decide whether play therapy, art therapy, or another approach fits.

Curio Counselling Calgary is at 1414 8 St SW Suite 200, Calgary, AB T2R 1J6, in the Beltline. Phone 403-243-0303. In-person sessions in Calgary.