‘Being attentive to them’: art therapy for adults with intellectual disabilities

Background Today there is a greater emphasis on integrating people with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) into communities to enhance their quality of life. Nonetheless, this group still faces substantial emotional and mental health challenges. In recent years, growing evidence has shown that people with ID can engage in specific types of psychodynamic approaches. Art therapy enables the non-verbal expression and communication of conscious and unconscious mental content through the use of art materials to prompt clients' creative processes.