Queer individuals often face unique body image challenges shaped by minority stress, stigma, and cultural beauty ideals. Research shows that sexual and gender minority (SGM) people report higher rates of body dissatisfaction than cisgender heterosexual peers (Santoniccolo et al., 2025). Discrimination, internalised homophobia/transphobia, and pressure to ‘pass’ or conform to community aesthetics all contribute to shame and dysphoria around the body. For example, transgender clients may experience body dysphoria when their physical form does not match their identity, while lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients may struggle with societal or community-specific appearance standards. Addressing these issues requires therapeutic approaches that go beyond talk, embracing creativity and symbolism to access feelings that are hard to verbalise.

Art therapy provides a nonverbal, experiential pathway for exploring body image, enabling clients to externalise critical narratives about their body and themselves. By using creative media, individuals can gradually shift from shame and self-objectification toward curiosity, embodiment, and self-compassion (Malchiodi, 2020). Artistic expression engages sensorimotor and emotional processes as well as imagery, providing a safe and non-judgmental space for traumatic or hidden content (Van Den Berg & Anderson, 2023). For queer clients, whose histories often include trauma and marginalisation, a trauma-informed, culturally responsive art therapy framework is essential (Malchiodi, 2020; Van Den Berg & Anderson, 2023). This means prioritising safety, empowerment, and affirmation of identity while respecting the diverse cultural, racial, and social contexts that shape body experience.

This paper focuses on one such integrative approach: engaging Jungian archetypes and collage-based tarot imagery in art therapy for queer body image healing. Jungian archetypes are universal, symbolic patterns that arise from the collective unconscious (Jung, 1981). In therapy, they can serve as a ‘language of the unconscious’, helping clients connect personal struggles to broader human narratives. Collage, especially in a tarot-like format, allows clients to tap into archetypal imagery by assembling visuals that represent internal states. This paper reviews relevant theory and research, outlines trauma-informed, queer-affirming art practices, and presents a composite vignette illustrating how a client might utilise archetypal collage cards to reauthor their narrative of body image. The goal is to show how symbolic, creative work can empower queer individuals to transform bodily shame into sources of strength and self-acceptance.

Jungian archetypes and symbolic imagery in art therapy

Carl Jung (1981) posited that the human psyche is structured by universal, innate, primordial images that recur across cultures in myth and art. These archetypes carry layers of meaning and provide templates for understanding inner experience. The archetypes include the Self, Shadow, Anima/Animus, Persona, Hero, Trickster, and Wounded Healer, among others. In art therapy, engaging with archetypal symbols can help clients articulate complex emotions and connect personal problems to larger human stories. For example, Jung described the Self archetype as the organising principle of the psyche, representing wholeness and integration (Jung, 1981). Mandalas and other integrated figures in art can evoke this archetype, guiding clients toward a sense of inner unity and balance. This understanding and use of archetypes can be empowering, inspiring clients to take control of their narratives and transform their experiences.

Conversely, the Shadow archetype holds repressed or stigmatised aspects of the self, such as undesired feelings, traumas, or desires. In art, dark or chaotic imagery, such as monsters, storms, or wounded figures, often represents the Shadow. Bringing the Shadow into awareness through creative work is crucial for healing. An art therapist might invite a client to create a collage of images that embody what they dread or deny about themselves. By naming and dialoguing with these symbols, the client can integrate dissociated parts of identity (Jung, 1981). For queer clients, the Shadow might contain internalised homophobia/transphobia or body shame. For instance, a gay man’s black-and-white collage of distorted mirrors and jagged masks could reflect fear of judgment. Through guided art dialogue, he might recognise how these images mirror his internalised ‘critical voice’, ultimately learning to transform them into symbols of self-compassion. Understanding and addressing the Shadow archetype in art therapy can be enlightening and empowering for both the therapist and the client. As the vignette will later show through evolving card imagery, archetypal symbols such as the Self and the Shadow can emerge organically in collage work, offering clients a visual language for aspects of the psyche that may be difficult to articulate verbally.

Gender archetypes, such as Anima and Animus, also emerge in art. Jung theorised that each person harbours a contrasexual inner image – the Anima (in men) or Animus (in women) – representing feminine and masculine qualities respectively (Jung, 1981). In queer-informed practice, these archetypes can be used flexibly. For a queer or genderqueer client, exploring Anima/Animus can mean investigating internalised gender norms. A transmasculine client, for instance, might collage a figure of a nurturing woman to explore feelings of femininity, realising this image represents compassion rather than ‘misplaced’ gender identity. Thus, active imagination and art-making with Anima/Animus imagery can help clients balance their own gender energies without rigid stereotypes (MacWilliam, 2019).

The Persona archetype, our social ‘mask’, is directly relevant to body image, as it embodies how one presents outwardly. In art, clients might create literal masks or stylised portraits to express how they feel ‘on show’ versus their private self. For a nonbinary teen with dysphoria, making a decorated mask might reveal the gendered appearance they present to others. In contrast, the unseen side of the mask, or elements hidden behind it, could reveal the true self beneath societal expectations. This process of externalising the Persona versus identity can foster authenticity and highlight the pressure queer clients feel to conform to looks (MacWilliam, 2019).

Other archetypal figures provide empowering narratives. The Hero/Warrior archetype personifies courage and resilience. Artists often draw on this motif to reframe personal struggles as a kind of quest or battle. For example, one client might picture herself as a warrior defending her body against shame. In collage, she might assemble images of strong armour and mythical beasts, symbolising inner strength. The therapist might then ask questions like, “What does your Hero need next?” to help the client actively identify resources. The Trickster archetype, a mischievous shapeshifter, can be especially resonant for queer bodies that blur boundaries. The Trickster’s fluid, boundary-breaking energy can validate queer clients’ own play with identity. In artwork, using humour, parody, or surprising juxtapositions can disrupt negative body narratives. For instance, a playful collage of a clown juggling body parts might help a client laugh at rigid beauty standards and reclaim creative control over their body image story.

Ultimately, nurturing archetypes like the Mother/Divine Feminine can help heal psychic wounds. A queer person with a history of family rejection might draw an image of an earth mother or a benevolent feminine figure embracing all body shapes. This evokes the universal symbol of the ‘good mother’ as a representation of unconditional love (Myss, 2002). In therapy, acknowledging this archetypal mother in the artwork allows the client to experience compassionate support that counters real-life neglect. Such culturally diverse Mother figures, such as Gaia, Isis, or Mary, can be invoked through collage to emphasise that care and acceptance exist beyond their personal history (MacWilliam, 2019).

By naming these archetypes with clients, therapists help situate the client's unique problems within wider patterns of human struggle and growth by verbalising, “I notice the Hero, the Shadow, the Wounded Healer in your collage.” This symbolic reframing can bring relief: it normalises the client’s experience by placing it within a common journey. It offers alternative roles, including the survivor Hero and the wise Trickster, to inhabit. Symbolic healing, through archetypal imagery, thus expands self-understanding and opens new pathways to integrate previously split-off aspects of the self (Jung, 1981; MacWilliam, 2019).

Jungian tarot and the psychological structure of tarot decks

While Jung did not write directly about tarot, subsequent Jungian scholars have examined tarot as a symbolic system that parallels the structure of the psyche. Tarot decks, particularly the Major Arcana, are frequently interpreted as visual representations of archetypal processes associated with individuation (Nichols, 1980; Wang, 2010). Each card embodies a recurring psychological pattern, such as the Fool as the ego at the threshold of transformation or Death as symbolic ego dissolution rather than literal loss. From a Jungian perspective, tarot imagery functions as a projective symbolic language through which unconscious material can emerge in accessible form.

A comprehensive contemporary Jungian treatment of tarot is offered in the three-volume work by Wang (2010, 2015, 2021), who situates tarot within analytical psychology, mythological studies, and depth psychology. Wang argues that tarot operates as a mandala-like system that reflects the psychic movement from fragmentation toward integration. Across the trilogy, tarot is conceptualised not as divination but as an imaginal map of consciousness development, closely aligned with Jung’s theories of archetypes, complexes, and the Self (Wang, 2010). Importantly, Wang emphasises that tarot images activate symbolic resonance rather than fixed meaning, allowing individuals to encounter archetypal material in ways shaped by personal and cultural context.

This Jungian framing is particularly relevant for therapeutic applications, as it positions tarot imagery as psychologically evocative rather than predictive. The non-linear, symbolic structure of tarot supports meaning-making in trauma and identity work, where experience is often fragmented or difficult to articulate verbally. By engaging with archetypal imagery through tarot-inspired forms, clients can externalise internal conflicts while maintaining a sense of safety and symbolic distance (Wang, 2015). This theoretical foundation supports the use of tarot-style collage as an archetypal intervention grounded in depth psychology rather than esoteric practice.

The emergence of queer and inclusive tarot decks

In recent decades, there has been a significant expansion of queer, feminist, and culturally inclusive tarot decks that challenge heteronormative, binary, and Eurocentric representations embedded in traditional tarot imagery. These contemporary decks re-imagine archetypes through explicitly queer, trans, and non-binary lenses, often depicting diverse bodies, gender expressions, and relational structures (Dawson, 2019; Frankel, 2021). Rather than rejecting archetypes altogether, queer tarot creators tend to reinterpret them as fluid, relational, and socially situated, aligning with post-Jungian critiques that emphasise multiplicity over universality.

Queer tarot decks frequently disrupt rigid gender coding embedded in figures such as the Emperor and Empress, offering alternative representations that decouple archetypal function from biological sex or binary gender roles (Frankel, 2021). This re-visioning is particularly significant for queer and trans individuals, for whom traditional archetypal imagery may replicate experiences of exclusion or dysphoria. Inclusive decks instead frame archetypes as roles, energies, or processes that can be inhabited flexibly, supporting identity exploration rather than enforcing normative developmental narratives.

From a therapeutic perspective, queer tarot decks function as culturally responsive symbolic resources. They offer imagery in which queer clients can recognise themselves, thereby reducing symbolic alienation and increasing engagement with archetypal material (Dawson, 2019). The emergence of these decks parallels broader movements within psychotherapy toward affirmative practice and epistemic justice, recognising that symbolic systems are not neutral but culturally constructed. Integrating queer-informed tarot imagery into art therapy, therefore, aligns with ethical commitments to inclusivity, representation, and client-defined meaning-making.

Queer-driven tarot as embodied and political knowledge-making

Beyond the emergence of inclusive or representational tarot decks, queer-driven tarot can be understood as a practice rooted in queer epistemologies that privilege lived experience, relationality, and resistance to normative meaning-making. Queer-driven tarot is not simply tarot for queer people, but tarot authored by, interpreted through, and activated within queer worldviews. In this sense, tarot functions as a site of knowledge production that challenges dominant psychological, spiritual, and cultural narratives (Frankel, 2021; Semetsky, 2011).

Queer theory has long questioned universalising frameworks that erase difference, instead emphasising fluidity, multiplicity, and the instability of identity (Butler, 1990). Queer-driven tarot aligns with this stance by resisting fixed meanings and linear developmental models. Rather than treating archetypes as static universals, queer tarot practitioners often approach them as relational processes that shift across contexts, bodies, and histories. For example, archetypes such as the Fool or the Lovers may be interpreted not as stages of ego development or heteronormative union, but as ongoing negotiations of risk, desire, chosen family, and survival within hostile social environments (Dawson, 2019).

Importantly, queer-driven tarot foregrounds the body as a site of symbolic knowing. Queer and trans bodies have historically been sites of regulation, surveillance, and pathologisation within both psychological and spiritual traditions. In response, queer tarot practice often reclaims embodied experience as a valid source of meaning, intuition, and authority (Frankel, 2021). This emphasis resonates with somatically informed and trauma-aware therapeutic approaches, which recognise that cognition alone is insufficient for healing experiences rooted in bodily shame, dysphoria, or violence (Malchiodi, 2020). Tarot imagery, when engaged through a queer lens, becomes a way of listening to the body’s symbolic language rather than imposing interpretive mastery upon it.

Queer-driven tarot is also explicitly political. It emerges from and responds to histories of exclusion from both mainstream religion and psychology, offering alternative symbolic systems through which queer people can make sense of their lives. Tarot serves as a tool for counter-narrative construction, allowing individuals to re-author stories shaped by stigma, marginalisation, and minority stress (Santoniccolo et al., 2025). In this context, archetypes are not neutral psychic structures but contested cultural symbols that can be queered, subverted, or entirely reimagined. This process mirrors queer therapeutic goals of dismantling internalised oppression and fostering agency through meaning-making (Van Den Berg & Anderson, 2023).

Within creative arts therapies, queer-driven tarot aligns closely with practices that center client authorship and relational symbolism. Rather than interpreting cards according to prescribed meanings, therapists adopting a queer-driven approach invite clients to define archetypal significance for themselves. This decentralisation of interpretive authority supports ethical practice with queer clients, particularly those who have experienced epistemic injustice or medicalised narratives about their identities. Tarot thus functions as a co-created symbolic language, emerging through dialogue between image, body, and relational context.

In the context of this paper, queer-driven tarot provides a conceptual bridge between Jungian archetypal theory and queer-affirmative, trauma-informed art therapy practice. By allowing archetypes to be shaped by queer lived experience rather than imposed as universal truths, tarot-inspired collage becomes a flexible, embodied, and culturally responsive intervention. This approach honours both the depth psychological value of archetypal imagery and the necessity of queering symbolic systems to support healing for those historically excluded from them.

Tarot as a therapeutic and reflective tool

Although empirical research on tarot in psychotherapy remains limited, a small but growing body of literature conceptualises tarot as a reflective, projective, and narrative tool rather than a predictive one. Within counselling and therapeutic contexts, tarot has been described as a visual stimulus that facilitates self-reflection, emotional processing, and narrative re-authoring (Place, 2007; Semetsky, 2011). The cards function similarly to other projective techniques, eliciting associations, metaphors, and affective responses that can be explored collaboratively between therapist and client.

Semetsky (2011) situates tarot within a post-Jungian and educational psychology framework, arguing that tarot images operate as semiotic mediators of meaning-making. Through engagement with symbolic imagery, individuals are able to integrate cognition, emotion, and imagination, supporting reflective learning and psychological insight. In therapeutic settings, this process can foster agency, as clients actively construct interpretations rather than receiving externally imposed meanings.

Tarot-based interventions have been described as particularly useful in trauma-informed practice, where symbolic distance can reduce emotional overwhelm. By engaging with metaphor rather than direct autobiographical narration, clients can explore difficult material in a contained and regulated manner (Place, 2007). While tarot should not be positioned as an evidence-based modality in itself, its underlying mechanisms, projection, symbolism, narrative construction, and imaginal engagement, are consistent with established expressive and creative arts therapies. This theoretical alignment supports the ethical integration of tarot-inspired methods within art therapy when framed transparently and grounded in psychological theory.

Collage and tarot-inspired art exercises

Collage is a versatile art therapy medium, especially well-suited for exploring body image. It allows clients to select pre-made visual elements and combine them intuitively. This bricolage approach can feel safer for clients who are hesitant about their own drawing, and the use of found images can tap into layers of meaning and personal associations. In the context of body image, collage helps externalise perceptions: clients can depict how they see their body or the body they long for by assembling relevant images. A client dissatisfied with their weight might literally collage pictures of scales or numbers; another might cut out images of bodies they admire or fear. In the process, hidden beliefs emerge as tangible compositions, which can then be discussed and transformed into more meaningful ones.

This paper proposes using collage-based, tarot-style imagery as a creative intervention. Much like creating a personal tarot deck, clients design a series of collaged ‘cards’ that each represent an archetypal theme or a personal aspect. Tarot cards traditionally feature archetypal figures, such as the Fool, Empress, or Strength, each with rich symbolism. By adapting this idea, clients design cards with titles and imagery meaningful to them. For example, a client working with body trauma might collage a card called ‘The Phoenix’, layering images of fire and rebirth to symbolise rising from shame. Another card might be ‘The Inner Child’, featuring comforting childhood scenes or protective figures.

The creation of such cards is both playful and profound. Clients begin by choosing an archetypal figure or theme relevant to their journey: this could be a classical tarot archetype, such as “The Empress” for nurturing the body or “The Magician” for empowerment. Alternatively, they might choose a more personal symbol, such as “The Alchemist”, to help transform pain into strength. They then browse magazines, photographs, or other materials to find images, colours, and words that resonate with them. The collage process is nonverbal and intuitive; as clients juxtapose images, new insights often arise. For instance, a trans man might collage ‘The Warrior Queen’ card and find himself drawn to images of protective dragons and fierce, compassionate women, suggesting that he seeks a blend of strength and care.