There are many ways that art, whether it be finger painting, drawing, or painting, can be used to help mental health clients express their emotions and situations.

Most mental health clients are sufficiently gifted with the ability to write, and can be helped to express themselves by asking them to write poetry or do creative writing. All mental health clients can learn to express themselves by journaling, which only requires that the client knows how to write simply. Journaling is often done by simply sitting down with a 15 minute timer and writing whatever comes to mind, even if it is just "I don't know what to write. I ..."

The expression of emotions and situations through dance or other kinds of movement can be a powerful therapy for clients who have difficulty expressing themselves verbally.

There are many ways that guided imagery can be used to help mental health clients express their emotions and situations. Guided imagery is designed to have a client in a safe place, and while in that safe place explore painful memories and situations.

Licensed and professional music therapists and organizations focused on using music therapies to improve verbal, motor, behavioral and mental health skills of clients in clinical counseling programs.

Play therapy can be used for many different purposes for those with mental illness. Sometimes playing is used to distract a client while difficult questions are asked, or to have them act out a situation using toys. Another use of play therapy is to help those with emotional development issues, by starting with play appropriate to where the client is developmentally, and growing them to maturity by changing the form of play to older ages simultaneously with counseling work that is developmentally focused (i.e. the two therapies work in tandem).

Psychodrama can be as simple as one client sitting across from another, where the first client pretends to be his or her persecutor, and the second client responds. Afterwards, the first client may see new ways of dealing with his or her persecutor, and the persecutor's words may be less impactfull. There are many other kinds of psychodrama methods, all designed to use role playing, physical activity, drama, or trust challenges to bring out the emotions of the clients.

Sensory Integration is an interruption in the ability to assimilate our senses into our learning environment. Children may exhibit overly sensitive reactions to noises, touch, taste, smells, and sight. Sensory Integration therapy has proven to be successful with children who are tactile defensive. Some mental health clients have special issues that are barriers to productive work with a therapist. Many of these barriers have to do with sensory overload or sensory deprivation. For example, a person with oral sensory overload may not be able to handle eating and drinking without a great deal of stress and panic. If that person becomes anorexia, for instance, the first step may be therapy to reduce the oral sensory overload, to bring down the stress and panic level of eating.