Art Therapy Apps Help Consumers Explore Mental Health

• Apps Mainstream Art Therapy: According to non-profit American Art Therapy Association, art therapy can address mental health concerns by improving emotional resilience, social skills, and cognitive functioning. US app Scribble Journey aims to help users explore their emotions through drawing exercises. In creative tasks, users set an intention, such as ‘navigate anxiety’, and complete a guided drawing task like ‘draw your fears’. After the exercise, the app provides a journaling task to explore emotions raised during the exercise.
  
  Similarly, art therapy app Groodles by Indian media company Omoi Studio prompts guided drawing exercises like visualising the day or mandala colouring meditations. These aim to help users reflect on their emotions and reduce stress.
  
  New York-based art therapy app Lina claims that its AI-powered image recognition can analyse users’ drawings, and combined with user information gained from questions, the AI can provide users with feedback and personality insights. But the platform is not only about data-driven analysis, Palina Chernavtseva, founder of Lina, told Stylus: “Art therapy is about the process of creation, relaxation, and personal reflection, rather than the result and strict analysis.”
  
  
• Benchmarking the Health App Market: By 2029, the global revenue of digital mental health apps is set to reach $2.9bn, up from $570m in 2023 (Statista, 2024). Meanwhile, global user adoption is expected grow by 3.18% by 2029 (Statista, 2024).
  
  
• Expanding Soothing Wellbeing: Mental health apps could consider incorporating joyful and health-promoting activities as more consumers seek out enjoyable activities that boost wellbeing (like crafts, cooking, or sports). See British mental health service Self Space’s local therapist guided walking clubs for inspiration.

For more on soothing mental health, read Meet the Soft Lifers.