Student impressions of an art therapy class

Art therapy facilitates the expression of thoughts and feelings and thus may serve as a self-care strategy. This paper describes the implementation of an expressive art therapy class to teach self-care during a required sophomore level nursing wellness course and the outcomes of the class through the eyes of six students. While students were initially reluctant to engage in the activity, the shared stories revealed feelings of relaxation, empowerment, value clarification, and increased self-awareness. The implication for nursing education is that the integration of art therapy into curricula may serve as an effective strategy to teaching self-care and core professional values.