The Art of Gender Exploration for Adults and Older Teens: Self-Discovery Through Art Therapy

Introduction: Discovering Self Through Art Therapy

Imagine sitting down to a blank page, paintbrush in hand, feeling a gentle nudge to close your eyes, take a breath, and let colours come to mind—hues that seem to hold pieces of your inner truth, waiting to emerge. As the first strokes take shape, something familiar yet unnamed begins to come into view—a part of yourself that perhaps has lived quietly in your heart, now finally expressed and witnessed outside of yourself for the first time.

Let’s meet Robin—a fictional example who represents many adults and older teens exploring their gender identity in therapy. For Robin, putting their inner sense of self into words feels daunting; describing their complex, embodied feelings of gender can feel nearly impossible. Art therapy provides Robin with a unique way to access and express this inner experience without relying on words, allowing their sense of self to gradually emerge.

As a Registered Art Therapist (RCAT) and Board Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC), I’ve had the honour of accompanying people through moments like these, where inner wisdom finds expression and self-discovery unfolds. Art therapy allows individuals to visualize, externalize, and connect with aspects of themselves that may have previously felt inaccessible. Through a blend of talk therapy and creative expression, this approach becomes both freeing and grounding, offering clients a safe, affirming space to honour and explore their identities in their own time and in their own way.

For those like Robin, who may feel uncertain about expressing their felt sense verbally, art therapy provides a bridge to inner understanding and self-compassion. It’s a journey of seeing oneself clearly, sometimes for the very first time, through the power of creativity.

Building an Inward Journey: Connecting with the ‘Felt Sense’ of Gender

In art therapy, clients are encouraged to connect with a “felt sense” of gender—a deeply embodied awareness that transcends words and logic. This felt sense manifests through sensations, emotions, or even abstract imagery. Art therapy bridges the conscious and unconscious realms, bringing hidden or unarticulated aspects of the self into clearer view (Magsamen & Ross, 2023).

For many, this journey begins with body mapping. This technique involves representing one’s body visually and marking areas that resonate with aspects of their gender experience. Clients may use specific colours, textures, or shapes to illustrate comfort, affirmation, or complexity in their embodied gender identity. With the guidance of a gender-affirming art therapist, clients revisit these maps over time, adjusting and reflecting as their felt sense of gender evolves (Metzl, 2017).

Another powerful tool in art therapy is symbolic drawing or collage. This approach allows clients to work with images, colours, and textures that resonate on a personal level. They might select symbols that intuitively feel connected to their inner identity, creating a representation that’s both authentic and flexible. As they piece together fragments of their identity through collage or symbolic drawing, clients often experience a sense of self-clarity that transcends language, allowing their internal world to come into sharper focus (Hogan, 2020).

As clients engage in these practices, many describe a sense of discovery, as if they’re seeing long-held parts of themselves come into view for the first time. The creative process in art therapy doesn’t demand immediate answers or fixed labels. Instead, it provides space to explore, question, and embrace fluidity, allowing clients to interact with their evolving identity in ways that feel true to them. This experience of seeing oneself, unencumbered by words, can be profoundly validating and grounding, deepening clients’ connection with their authentic selves.

Guided Art Therapy Techniques for Gender Exploration

Various art therapy techniques offer clients tangible ways to explore and affirm their gender identity. Each approach provides a unique perspective, inviting clients to engage with their evolving self-understanding and gain insights that go beyond verbal expression. These exercises are often completed during an art therapy session. Here are some of the most impactful techniques used in art therapy for gender exploration:

Body Mapping and “Gender Mapping”: Body mapping involves visually representing the body on paper or canvas and marking areas that resonate with specific feelings, experiences, or perceptions of gender. For example, clients may use particular colours, symbols, or textures to express comfort, pride, or even areas of discomfort within their gender experience. This process encourages clients to connect with their bodies in a meaningful way, fostering a more grounded, embodied sense of self (Hogan, 2020). When clients revisit their body maps over time, they often notice shifts in how they experience gender, reflecting their personal growth and fluidity.

Personal Symbol Creation: Another effective technique involves creating symbols that represent aspects of one’s gender identity. Clients can develop abstract shapes, colours, or textures as symbols, revisiting and evolving them over time. This practice acts as an anchor in their self-discovery journey, allowing them to see how their understanding of gender evolves. Symbol creation also reinforces self-agency, as clients choose and define symbols that hold personal meaning, affirming their unique experiences and values (Metzl, 2017).

Layering and Collage: Using multiple layers and materials, clients can create rich, textured pieces that reflect the multi-faceted nature of identity. For instance, collage allows them to incorporate images, words, and textures that represent different aspects of their gender. As they add and rearrange layers, clients can express the complexity and fluidity of their experience. This approach encourages them to honour each part of their journey, viewing their identity as a dynamic, evolving whole (Magsamen & Ross, 2023).

Mirror Portraits and Inner Self Portraits: Mirror portraits offer clients the opportunity to create self-portraits based on how they feel internally, rather than how they appear externally. By focusing on colours, shapes, or expressions that reflect their inner experience, clients can connect more deeply with their felt sense of gender. This technique helps foster self-compassion, as clients often find that seeing their inner self on paper can be affirming and grounding (Metzl, 2017).

Timeline Creation and Visual Journaling: Some clients benefit from creating a timeline or visual journal of their gender journey. This practice invites them to illustrate important milestones, shifts, or realisations in their understanding of gender. Over time, the journal or timeline becomes a visual record of their evolving identity, a testament to their resilience and growth. Visual journaling is particularly helpful for those who view identity as fluid, allowing them to observe how their perceptions and feelings change over time (Bouman & de Vries, 2017).

Colour Exploration: Colour holds unique power in art therapy. Clients might explore a specific colour palette that resonates with their sense of gender, using these colours consistently across different pieces. As they work with these chosen colours, they often experience a sense of coherence and affirmation, which can strengthen their connection to their identity. The therapeutic use of colour allows clients to express feelings that may otherwise be challenging to articulate, offering a visual language for their inner experiences (Magsamen & Ross, 2023).

Through these techniques, clients engage in a process of self-discovery that values flexibility and personal meaning. Each method is a way to interact with and honour one’s evolving identity, fostering resilience, self-understanding, and authenticity. Under the guidance of a gender-affirming art therapist, these techniques help clients build a stronger, more empowered connection to themselves, supporting them in every phase of their journey.

Navigating Societal Expectations and Rediscovering Self Through Creative Expression

For many adults and older teens exploring gender identity, the journey also involves confronting societal expectations and internalized biases about what gender “should” look like. These pressures, often rooted in early experiences and cultural messaging, can influence self-perception and self-worth. Art therapy provides an affirming space where clients can safely explore, question, and challenge these external influences. By engaging in creative processes, they can untangle these influences and shape a self-concept that aligns with their own values and truths (Barbee, 2002).

Art therapy’s open-ended nature encourages exploration free from judgment or fixed outcomes. This creative freedom fosters self-confidence and self-compassion as clients express their authentic selves. For instance, clients may work with collage or mixed media, using images, words, or symbols to represent societal ideals. By reworking these images—cutting, layering, or covering them—they can transform societal expectations into a representation that reflects their own values and identity (Metzl, 2017).

In this therapeutic space, creative expression becomes a form of self-advocacy. Clients are invited to engage with their art pieces over time, observing how their depictions of self change as they question, reject, or reimagine societal norms. As clients transform their art, they often find that their sense of self shifts as well, allowing them to access a deeper, more authentic connection to their identity. This process not only reinforces personal agency but also instills a sense of self-worth grounded in their chosen truth.

For many, the art-making process in therapy marks a reclamation of self. With the guidance of a gender-affirming art therapist, clients can fully explore and validate their identities, cultivating a self-concept that is resilient, flexible, and wholly their own. Through creativity, they uncover a path to self-acceptance and empowerment that helps them move forward with clarity and confidence.

Healing from Within: Addressing Gender Incongruence Through Art Therapy

Gender incongruence—a disconnection between one’s gender identity and gender hastily assigned at birth or gender wrongly assumed by outsider perception of physical characteristics—can be a challenging experience. This incongruence often affects self-esteem, self-worth, and overall mental well-being. Art therapy offers a compassionate, non-verbal approach to engaging with these feelings, providing clients with tools to reframe their self-image in ways that affirm their true identity. Through self-representation in art, clients gradually build a more positive, compassionate connection with themselves (Bouman & de Vries, 2017).

One powerful method is the mirror portrait exercise, where clients create a self-portrait based on how they experience themselves internally. This exercise, which uses colours, shapes, or textures aligned with their inner identity, shifts the focus away from physical appearance and fosters profound self-compassion and authenticity.

In addition to mirror portraits, mask-making can serve as a meaningful tool for expressing layers of identity. Some clients create masks that reflect their outward, socially-presented self on one side, while using the interior of the mask to depict their private, true self. This dual-sided approach provides a visual metaphor to explore and express the complexities of living with gender incongruence, allowing clients to witness and integrate both aspects of their experience in a way that feels empowering (Metzl, 2017).

Another transformative technique is the use of guided self-compassion exercises within art therapy. By using materials that evoke a sense of warmth, softness, or comfort, clients create pieces that reflect self-kindness and care. This approach can be particularly effective for clients processing feelings of incongruence, as it allows them to experience their body with acceptance and self-affirmation. Over time, these moments of self-compassion within the artwork can reduce the intensity of incongruent feelings, fostering a sense of peace and pride in their identity (Hogan, 2020).

Art therapy provides a non-verbal, deeply personal way for clients to explore the complex emotions tied to gender incongruence. Through creative expression, clients learn to see themselves not just through societal expectations or physical attributes but as multi-dimensional individuals with an evolving, resilient sense of self. This transformative journey enables clients to connect with their inner truth, cultivating a self-image that is both affirming and aligned with who they truly are.

Independent Art Therapy Exercises for Self-Reflection

In addition to the foundational techniques discussed above, which explore self-discovery through structured, in-depth art practices, the following exercises are designed to be accessible, personal tools that clients can engage in at any point in their journey. These exercises are often less formal than art therapy techniques such as body mapping or timeline creation, allowing for spontaneous, reflective expression. They encourage clients to create spaces of comfort, safety, and personal insight that they can revisit and develop over time. These exercises can be completed in session or in-between art therapy sessions. Here are some of the most accessible, personal techniques ideal for gender exploration:

Creating a Safe Space Canvas: This exercise invites clients to paint or draw an image that represents their “safe space”—a visual sanctuary where they feel seen, validated, and accepted in their gender identity. This safe space could be a physical place, an imagined setting, or a symbolic representation that feels affirming. By creating this grounding image, clients give themselves a tangible reminder of acceptance that they can return to whenever they need to reconnect with feelings of support and security. Unlike some of the previous techniques that explore complex identity shifts, the Safe Space Canvas centres on creating a steady, nurturing environment that clients can carry forward in their journey (Magsamen & Ross, 2023).

Personal Symbol Exploration: Encouraging clients to develop personal symbols helps to provide continuity in their journey, as these symbols become anchors that represent key themes or values. Clients might create symbols that resonate with a part of their identity, such as a shape or colour that feels affirming. Over time, as they revisit and refine these symbols, clients often gain new insights about their evolving sense of self. This exercise supports self-reflection without requiring extensive planning or complexity, making it an ideal addition for clients looking for gentle, consistent self-affirmation (Metzl, 2017).

Breathing into Colour: This simple exercise merges mindful breathing with creative expression. Clients select colours that feel grounding or calming and then paint or draw in time with their breath. By breathing into each brushstroke or line, clients can create an image that embodies a sense of calm and self-connection. This exercise is particularly helpful for moments of stress or dysphoria, as it provides a soothing, meditative way to reconnect with oneself. Unlike some of the earlier techniques that delve deeply into identity exploration, Breathing into Colour offers a gentle, immediate way to ground and self-soothe.

Emotion Wheel Collage: Clients can create a collage that represents a spectrum of emotions they experience as they explore their gender identity. They might use magazine cut-outs, textured paper, or found objects to represent feelings like joy, curiosity, or even uncertainty. By arranging these pieces into a circular “emotion wheel,” clients gain a visual reminder of their emotional journey, helping them to see each emotion as valid and part of the larger experience of self-discovery. This exercise allows for reflection on a variety of feelings without requiring clients to focus solely on specific aspects of their identity, providing a flexible way to honour and process emotional responses.

Mirror Words of Affirmation: For clients who are exploring gender identity, developing a positive, affirming self-concept can be incredibly healing. In this exercise, clients are encouraged to stand in front of a mirror and write down affirmations that resonate with them—phrases or words that honour who they are and who they are becoming. These affirmations can then be woven into artwork, such as creating a painting or collage around the affirming words, making them tangible expressions of self-love. The simplicity of this exercise makes it ideal for clients seeking to develop self-compassion, even if they don’t feel ready for more in-depth techniques (Hogan, 2020).

These personal exercises provide accessible ways for clients to explore their gender identity outside of structured sessions. Unlike in-depth therapeutic techniques, these exercises support spontaneous self-reflection and can be revisited anytime, fostering spaces of comfort, safety, and insight.

Through these accessible practices, clients are empowered to explore the full scope of their gender identity and emotions, discovering tools that foster self-acceptance and inner peace as they journey toward authenticity.

Embracing the Expansiveness of Gender Through Art Therapy

Art therapy is uniquely supportive for individuals exploring the expansive nature of gender—a journey that reflects society’s growing awareness of gender beyond binary definitions. Whether their gender feels fixed, fluid, agender, nonbinary, or genderflux, art therapy provides a welcoming space where clients can explore what gender means to them. Embracing this expansiveness allows clients to connect with their authentic selves, free from societal expectations or constraints (Hogan, 2020).

One powerful tool for exploring this expansiveness is visual journalling, where clients create a “gender exploration journal” over time. In this journal, clients capture their experiences, reflections, and questions through images, symbols, and words, allowing them to explore their gender journey in a way that honours its complexity and uniqueness. By engaging in this practice, clients gain insight into the many dimensions of their identity, finding validation in the knowledge that their understanding of self can be as expansive and multi-faceted as they choose. This reflective process often empowers clients to view each part of their journey as meaningful, whether their gender feels fluid, fixed, or something entirely different (Metzl, 2017).

Another impactful technique is timeline creation, where clients illustrate significant moments, shifts, or realisations in their understanding of gender. This timeline becomes a narrative of their evolving self-concept, whether it represents a progression, a series of expansions, or a newfound clarity in a specific identity. For some, this process helps to reinforce their experience of gender as multifaceted or fluid, while for others, it provides affirmation for a gender identity that feels stable and well-defined. By seeing their journey reflected in the art, clients can better understand and appreciate their unique path, affirming that all forms of gender identity are valid (Bouman & de Vries, 2017).

The presence of a supportive, gender-affirming art therapist enhances this exploration by offering an environment where clients feel safe to express themselves without judgement. This therapeutic relationship can be transformative, as the therapist guides clients through any moments of doubt, questions, or discomfort with empathy and care. Clients can explore their gender openly, in all its expansive potential, fostering self-acceptance and a greater sense of belonging.

Through art therapy, many find a pathway to self-compassion and empowerment as they connect with the full spectrum of gender. Engaging in creative expression offers clients the freedom to explore without constraints, inviting them to experience gender as a vast, inclusive landscape where their identity is fully valid and deeply personal. In this space, clients learn that gender can be as expansive or as clear as it feels to them, and that whatever their journey holds, they are free to embody their truth with authenticity and pride (Hogan, 2020).

Conclusion: Embracing the Full Spectrum of Self Through Art Therapy

For those embarking on gender exploration, art therapy offers a compassionate, creative path to understanding and expressing the complexities of gender identity. Art therapy is not just a tool for self-expression but a safe space where clients can tune into their felt sense of gender, explore societal influences, and embrace the full spectrum of what gender means to them personally—whether fluid, fixed, or expansive.

Art therapy techniques like body mapping, visual journaling, and personal symbol creation help clients connect with themselves on a deeper level, fostering self-compassion and clarity. These practices empower clients to approach their identity as a dynamic, evolving experience, creating space for discovery, acceptance, and self-definition at every step. By engaging in art therapy, individuals often find a new language for their journey, one that goes beyond words and speaks to the heart of who they are.

If you’re beginning your own journey of gender exploration and seeking a supportive, non-verbal way to engage with your identity, art therapy may be the bridge you need. Through creativity and compassionate self-expression, you can safely explore your authentic self, honouring each unique part of your path along the way. In this process, you are invited to embrace the fullness of who you are, with art as a guide, an ally, and a mirror to the person you are discovering within.

Continue the Convo

If the ideas in this blog resonate with you, I warmly invite you to reach out and connect. Whether you’re a therapist seeking guidance on gender-affirming approaches, or someone navigating gender exploration and looking for supportive, creative ways to engage with your identity, I’m here to help. You’re welcome to book individual therapy sessions or peer consultations online to start this journey with me. And don’t forget to bookmark this blog for future insights, reflections, and updates.

References

Barbee, M. (2002). A visual-narrative approach to understanding transsexual identity. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 19(2), 53–62.

Bouman, W. P., & de Vries, A. L. C. (2017). Gender Dysphoria and Gender Incongruence. Elsevier.

Hogan, S. (2020). Art Therapy Theories: A Critical Introduction. Routledge.

Magsamen, S., & Ross, I. (2023). Your Brain on Art. Random House.

Metzl, E. S. (2017). When Art Therapy Meets Sex Therapy. Routledge.