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Polymer clay, an intensely tactile and highly malleable medium, offers dense material feedback that captures subtle fingertip movements and supports embodied emotional expression. Despite growing interest in material-based and embodied approaches within arts-based therapy, this medium remains underexplored. Drawing on 26 years of practice by Zhao Chunxiang, a pioneering polymer clay artist in China, this study examines the theoretical structure and therapeutic applicability of the Polymer Clay Art Therapy Model, with particular focus on older adults and individuals with psychosocial or cognitive disabilities, who show especially strong rehabilitative responses.

The study aims to articulate the model’s core concepts, clarify its mechanisms of action, and evaluate its potential for emotional regulation, somatic awareness, bilateral coordination, and embodied integration. A qualitative methodology was used, combining analysis of long-term teaching archives, materiality-focused observation of polymer clay sessions, and semi-structured interviews with participants from elder-care programs and therapeutic settings for people with mental or cognitive challenges.

Findings identify three essential components: (1) materiality, where the clay’s density and resistance provide channels for emotional holding and somatic attunement; (2) action logic, through rhythmic bilateral hand movements that facilitate regulation and release; and (3) experience structure, in which controllable shaping processes foster safety, focus, and internal coherence. Across observed contexts, participants showed notable improvements in emotional stability, attention, and embodied grounding.