You may have seen tarot cards on social media, in bookstores, or even sitting on a friend’s coffee table. Tarot has become more popular in recent years. For some people, they’re a source of curiosity. For others, they’re part of a personal or spiritual practice. You may even have heard of some people using tarot cards in therapy.
So it’s a fair question to ask: can tarot even have a place in therapy?
The short answer is yes, sometimes. But probably not in the way you might expect.
Therapy First, Always
Therapy is unique in the way that it is grounded in evidence-based practice that supports mental health, emotional processing, and emotional growth. Different tools may come into a counselling space, but the goal of therapy remains the same. Tarot can be a tool a therapist can use to help support a client’s goals.
It’s not about predicting the future or making decisions for you. It’s about helping to support the work that’s already happening in the therapeutic relationship with different tools.
What Tarot Looks Like in Therapy
If cards are used in a session, they are not being used for a card reading. Instead, they may be used to explore themes or symbols.
A therapist might invite you to look at an image on a card and ask simple, open-ended questions like:
- “What stands out to you here?”
- “What feelings are coming up for you as you look at this card?”
- “What does this image remind you of?”
- “How does this connect to what you’ve been feeling lately?”
There is no “correct” interpretation. The focus is not on what the card is supposed to mean, but on what it means to you in the context of what you are exploring.
In this way, cards become less about answers and more about reflection. There can be something powerful about seeing a visual reflection of what you may be feeling.
Why Use a Tool like Tarot?
Sometimes it can be hard to find the right words for what we’re feeling. Emotions can be layered, complex, or hard to define.
Visual tools like images, metaphors or symbols can help bridge the gap. Tarot or oracle cards can help with telling your story without trying to search for words or they can serve as a springboard for new discussions.
In many ways, this is similar to other therapeutic approaches, like journaling prompts, art therapy, or working with metaphor. It’s another way of exploring your internal world.
This is Always Client-Led
Like most therapeutic approaches, integrating tarot or oracle into therapy is always optional.
Some people may be curious and enjoy exploring a different way of using these cards. Other people want more traditional, structured approaches. There are so many different ways of working through our goals in therapy.
You get to choose.
Whenever a tool is suggested in session, it should feel collaborative, respectful and aligned with your comfort level.
Feel free to let your therapist know if you are open to tools like this, or if you would rather not use them.
You are the expert on your life, and you can choose what feels aligned with you.
If you try something and don’t like it, you can always ask for a different approach!
Keeping Things Ethical and Grounded
There are clear boundaries around how tarot and oracle are used in therapy.
They are not used to:
- predict the future
- tell you what decisions to make
- define who you are
Instead they can be used as a way to support reflection, insight, and conversation.
A therapist’s role is to help you explore your world, not find ways to provide answers from outside of you.
How to Know if Tarot Can Help You in Therapy
For some people, using imagery or symbolic tools can feel engaging and meaningful. It can open new ways of thinking or deepen self-understanding. For others, this may not resonate at all. It’s important to respect where you are.
It may not be helpful if:
- it feels uncomfortable or confusing
- it increases anxiety
- it doesn’t align with your personal beliefs
Therapy works best when it feels safe, respectful, and tailored to you.
How to Know if Tarot Can Help You in Therapy
Essentially, therapy is about making sense of our experiences and finding ways to move forward with greater alignment.
There are many different paths to achieve this goal. Sometimes it’s through conversation. Sometimes it’s through reflection, writing or other tools.
If you’re curious about creative or reflective tools in therapy, you can always bring this up with your therapist. It’s important to find a therapist who aligns with the kind of work you want to do, with competencies in applying tools that make sense to you.
In the end, therapy isn’t about the tool you use. It’s about the space it creates for you to better understand yourself. Sometimes, a small image appearing on a card can open a very big door.
Next Steps
If you are curious about tarot integration in therapy or wondering if it’s a good fit for you, feel free to reach out to us at Collective Healing Centre.
By: Julia Saad, Mental Health Therapist
References
Au-Yeung, Y. K. (2025). The mirror, not the crystal ball: A psychological analysis of tarot as a self-reflection tool. Global Review of Humanities, Arts, and Society, 1(2), 53–59. https://doi.org/10.63802/grhas.v1.i2.20
Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. (2020). Code of ethics.
https://www.ccpa-accp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CCPA-2020-Code-of-Ethics-E-Book-EN.pdf
Clinton, E. (2024). Divining the self: Applying tarot as a projective technique in counseling.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/edspec202029/81/
Fletcher, J. (2024, November 14). Using tarot in psychotherapy. Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/health/using-tarot-in-psychotherapy#takeaway
Green, C. (n.d.) Mental health benefits of tarot in psychotherapy. https://www.manymoonstherapy.com/blog/mental-health-benefits-tarot-psychotherapy
Hofer, G. (2009). Tarot cards: An investigation of their benefit as a tool for self reflection. University of Victoria. https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/items/934ab6a7-fdd3-40fc-a475-093daecf52f5
Kopp, R. R. (1995). Metaphor therapy: Using client-generated metaphors in psychotherapy.
Brunner/Mazel.
Semetsky, I. (2005). Integrating tarot readings into counselling and psychotherapy. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229749522_Integrating_Tarot_Readings_into_Counselling_and_Psychotherapy
Call Now