Applications of Art Therapy in Southeast Asia: A Scoping Review

Art therapy is gaining increasing attention and application across Southeast Asia within mental health, educational, and community contexts. Cultural diversity and strong artistic traditions in the region support the relevance and adaptability of creative therapeutic approaches. A growing body of empirical studies has begun to document these practices across several countries. Existing literature indicates that diverse art therapy techniques have been implemented in Southeast Asian contexts, including individual (Ho et al., 2019) and group-based visual art therapy (Mahendran et al., 2018), community art programs (Ho et al., 2023), mandala drawing (Chongruksa et al., 2015), and umbrella painting activities (Kawin et al., 2023),.... In addition, art-based interventions are often combined with other therapeutic approaches such as Novel Mindful-Compassion Art Therapy (Ho et al., 2019), cognitive-behavioral group therapy using art as a therapeutic medium (Sahassanon et al., 2019), and movement-based or mind–body practices such as qigong (Roswiyani et al., 2020). Empirical studies and applied projects have been reported in several Southeast Asian countries, notably Malaysia (Besar et al., 2021), Indonesia (Jumilia & Kanathasan, 2025), Singapore (Ng et al., 2022), and Thailand (Binson & Lev-Wiesel, 2018), reflecting growing professional interest and practical adoption of art therapy in healthcare, education, and community settings. These studies collectively suggest that art therapy is actively practiced and culturally adapted across the region, yet the evidence remains fragmented and context-specific. Despite the growing body of individual studies, the diversity of techniques, hybrid therapeutic models, and varied implementation contexts has resulted in research findings that remain largely independent, with limited synthesis across countries or practice settings. To date, there is no comprehensive scoping review that systematically maps how art therapy is applied across Southeast Asia, what techniques are most commonly used, which populations are served, and what therapeutic outcomes and practical implications have been reported. This gap limits practitioners’, educators’, and policymakers’ ability to understand the scope of practice, evidence base, and regional trends in art therapy implementation. Therefore, this scoping review aims to systematically identify, map, and synthesize existing research on the application of art therapy in Southeast Asia. Specifically, the review will examine (1) the types of art therapy techniques and modalities implemented, (2) the populations and settings in which art therapy is applied, (3) the integration of art therapy with other therapeutic practices, and (4) the reported outcomes and practical implications of these interventions. The expected outcomes include the development of a comprehensive overview of current practices, identification of research gaps, and clarification of emerging trends and opportunities for culturally responsive practice.