This is an expressive group. The art therapy process allows people to create new realities, practice new ideas, and symbolically heal emotional wounds from the past and present. These are certainly issues that often contribute to substance abuse. The art therapy groups at Kolpia maintains a culture of hard work and good humor in the practice of deep personal growth work. Art therapy lends itself well to addiction recovery work because of its safe expressive nature. It is also much more difficult to maintain denial when communicating through personal imagery, rather than in words. The group process with images at Kolpia is a rich reflection of Self from peers that fosters flexibility, understanding and possibility.