Collage therapy

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · Moriya Hiroyuki · 1987 · Japan

What it is

The client cuts pictures or photos out of magazines, pamphlets or similar printed matter, or picks pieces already cut, and glues them onto a backing sheet. The therapist then looks at the finished work with the client and talks about it. Moriya modelled the method on sandplay (箱庭療法) and thought of…

Format

• No fixed phases. None of the sources gives a phase model, a set number of sessions, or criteria for moving between stages. The structure below is the session format they describe, plus a course structure taken from case reports.
• Session format (individual).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• No formal contraindications are stated in the available sources. A training study with novice therapists concluded that collage therapy with clients who have severe psychopathology needs special consideration. See section 5 for synthesised cautions.
• In Japan, collage therapy is used by clinical psychologists (臨床心理士), certified public psychologists (公認心理師), counselling professionals and occupational therapists, and in schools.
• Moriya holds the 臨床心理士 and 公認心理師 qualifications, is emeritus professor at Kyoto Bunkyo University and heads the Kyoto Collage Therapy Institute (京都コラージュ療法研究所). He conceived collage therapy in 1987, founded the Japan Collage Therapy Society in 2009 and became its chair (理事長).

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Making time: 50–60 minutes is the standard in the material-set guidelines. Studies report about 60 minutes.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Do not build a narrative the client does not share.
• Dominance by one member, and members feeling that their space was intruded on.
• Fixed materials limit personal relevance. Balance comparability against freedom of choice.
• A small format limits expression. Treat the result as a check-in, not as material to interpret.
• Your own aesthetic or symbolic preferences creeping into how you read clients' work. Supervision is the check on this.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.