Key takeaway
SAMHSA lists art therapy as one common name of counseling. The profession says the service belongs inside a therapeutic relationship with a trained art therapist. A coloring book or a crafts group is a different hour. Art therapy is an adjunct. It is not a cure and not a substitute for medical care.
Last updated: Mon Oct 05 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
The schedule says "art," and you cannot tell whether that hour is real clinical care or a coloring page with a clinical name. One hour is art-making inside a therapeutic relationship with someone trained to do that work. The other is a craft, a coloring page, or a recreation block. Both can be useful. They are not the same service, and neither one is a cure for a substance use disorder.
SAMHSA's page on treatment types lists the names people actually see. Therapy and counseling, it says, are part of most treatment plans and usually happen with a licensed behavioral health professional, alone or in a group. Among the common names it prints are family and marriage therapy, motivational therapy, art therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Art therapy is on that list as a name. The page does not rank it above the others, and it says you may need more than one type of treatment. NIDA's principles guide says no single treatment is appropriate for everyone. Read both sentences before a brochure treats one studio hour as the whole plan.
Art as a hobby is a different hour: time, materials, and something you do because you like it. An extra therapy name on a website is not proof the hour happens every week, which the alcohol treatment guide already notes. The question inside a program is the credential.
If making art is tangled up with thoughts of suicide, call or text 988. If someone may be overdosing, will not wake, or is having a seizure, call 911.
What the profession says the words require
The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as a mental health profession. It uses active art-making, the creative process, psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship. The association says art therapists are clinicians with a master's degree or higher, trained in both art and therapy, and that the public should look for ATR, a registered art therapist, or ATR-BC, a board-certified art therapist. State licensure can be a separate requirement. A credential you can verify is the point. A first name on a whiteboard is not.
The association is also explicit about misuse of the label. It says calling the work "art therapy" is inaccurate when the person does not have the required training, certification, and/or state licensure. A workshop that hands out a certificate can leave people thinking art therapy is a modality anyone may practice after a weekend. The association says it is a profession. It also says adult coloring books are recreation and self-care, not art therapy services. You can like a coloring page. You should not be told it was a clinical session.
None of that is a finding that every person in treatment needs this service, or that the association's description of possible goals is a result you can expect. Promotional lists of benefits stay off this explanation. The association is here for the definition and the boundary. Outcome claims belong in a study, attached to a specific population. They do not belong in a brochure adjective.
How it sits next to the rest of care
SAMHSA's list puts art therapy in the same breath as cognitive behavioral therapy. That other name, a structured counseling approach aimed at thoughts, feelings, and behavior around substance use, is the CBT guide. Art therapy does not replace it by being scheduled in the next room. The format many programs use for several kinds of counseling is group therapy. Ask whether the art hour is a therapy group with a purpose, an individual session, or an activity without a clinical note. The format changes what you can expect to be documented and who is allowed to lead it.
TIP 65, SAMHSA's counseling protocol, tells clinicians that people may meet therapies based on art, writing, music, or drama during treatment. If one of those was satisfying, the protocol says they may benefit from keeping it as a lasting interest. Satisfying is the protocol's word. It is not a statement that the hour treated the substance use disorder by itself. A hobby sketchbook is not the session. If art in a session brought up traumatic material, the clinical frame is the trauma guide, and the person who follows that material should be trained for it. An activity leader is not automatically that person.
Medication is a different column. When FDA-approved medicines exist for a substance use disorder, a prescriber manages them. An art therapist is not that prescriber because a group used paint. NIDA treats medications as an important element for many patients, especially combined with counseling. "Many" is not "everyone," and it is not "instead of every other service."
What an art hour does not cover
Dangerous withdrawal sits outside this hour. NIAAA's warning is that stopping all at once after a long run of heavy drinking can threaten your life. The FDA's warning is that a benzodiazepine cut that is too fast can cause seizures. If that is tonight's risk, you need a medical setting, not a studio slot later in the week. If a seizure or trouble breathing has already started, get emergency help.
A homepage mention does not prove a program is high quality. Whether the practices offered are actually delivered by qualified people is one of SAMHSA's quality questions, which the admissions guide walks through. Ask the art question in that spirit.
- Who leads the hour, and is that person an art therapist, another licensed clinician, or recreation staff?
- What credential or license can I verify, and in which state?
- Is the hour a therapy session with a treatment goal, or a leisure activity?
- How often does it meet, and what happens to the rest of the plan if this group is canceled?
- If the work brings up trauma or a craving to use, who is available the same day?
Search FindTreatment.gov and ask programs to separate the clinical hour from the craft hour. Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help asking that question.
Additional Resources
Sources cited on this page:
- SAMHSA: Treatment types for mental health, drugs, and alcohol
- American Art Therapy Association: About art therapy
- American Art Therapy Association: What is art therapy?
- NIDA: Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment, third edition (revised January 2018)
- SAMHSA TIP 65, Chapter 4 (NCBI Bookshelf)
- NIAAA Core Resource: Alcohol Use Disorder, From Risk to Diagnosis to Recovery
- FDA: Boxed warning update for benzodiazepines
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
Common Questions
Does SAMHSA say art therapy cures addiction?
No. SAMHSA's treatment-types page lists art therapy as one common name you may see for therapy or counseling, next to family therapy, motivational therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. It also says you may need more than one type of treatment. NIDA says no single treatment is appropriate for everyone. Neither agency publishes an art-therapy success rate on those pages.
Is a crafts group the same as art therapy?
Not according to the American Art Therapy Association. It says art therapy is a mental health profession that uses art-making inside a psychotherapeutic relationship, and that the term is inaccurate when a non-art-therapist, a workshop certificate, or a coloring book is labeled art therapy. Coloring can still be recreation. Ask who facilitates the hour and what credential that person holds.
What credential should I ask about?
The association says art therapists hold a master's degree or higher and tells the public to look for ATR, registered art therapist, or ATR-BC, board-certified art therapist. It also says state licensure may be required where the person practices. A national credential is not a promise that your state uses the same license title. Ask the program which license is on the wall.
Can art therapy replace counseling, medicine, or detox?
No. SAMHSA says therapy is part of most treatment plans and usually happens with a licensed behavioral health professional. Medication for a substance use disorder, when one exists, is prescribed by a clinician. Withdrawal from alcohol or from a benzodiazepine can be dangerous. An art hour does not manage that. If you are in withdrawal and unsafe, call 911.
Where does a hobby fit if the clinical hour is not available?
SAMHSA's counseling protocol says people may keep art as an interest if it felt satisfying in treatment, and that creative time can replace hours spent in old settings. Satisfying is not the same as sufficient. A sketchbook at the kitchen table is not a session, and it is not a reason to skip the rest of the plan.