ABSTRACT
The three paths to happiness—positive emotions, engagement, and meaning—seemed to fit well with the efforts to apply positive psychology principles to the theory, research, and practice of art therapy. Art therapy was born from many traditions. It integrates diverse sources beyond the realm of psychology such as art education, art history, outsider art, art brut, and folk art. Art therapy crystallized as its own profession in the United States around the mid-twentieth century, articulated in the writings of Margaret Naumburg and Edith Kramer. Humanism also surfaced in the evolution of art therapy practices in the United States. Art therapy in the United Kingdom was also emerging in the grassroots, seen mid-century in the collaborative work of artists Adrian Hill and Edward Adamson. The body of art therapy scholarship which addresses many of the elements of PERMA and wellbeing is growing. Art therapy and artmaking have been linked to other aspects of wellbeing.
