Can a Therapist Use Tarot Cards? Tarot as a Therapeutic Tool Bridging Insight and Healing
Tarot Isn't Just About Predicting the Future
Tarot is often associated with fortune telling and mystical practices, but it can also be a powerful therapeutic tool.
Rather than being used for divination, tarot can serve as a mirror for unconscious beliefs, emotions, and internal experiences. In a therapeutic context, tarot cards can help clients gain insight, explore emotions, and access parts of themselves that may be difficult to articulate through conversation alone.
A tarot deck contains 78 cards divided into the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. The 22 cards of the Major Arcana represent archetypes, life lessons, and stages of personal growth often referred to as "The Fool's Journey." The Minor Arcana includes the four suits, which reflect different aspects of the human experience. Its court cards can also represent people, personality traits, or archetypal roles in reflection work.
For example, if you pull The Fool card, it may symbolize taking a leap of faith, embracing curiosity, or stepping into a new chapter of life. Rather than predicting the future, the card invites reflection about where these themes may already be present in your life.
As a therapist, I view tarot as a tool for self-exploration, meaning-making, and emotional insight.
How Tarot Supports Emotional Healing
One reason tarot can be helpful in therapy is because it engages imagery, rich symbolism, and metaphor.
Take The Moon card, for example. The Moon is often associated with intuition, subconscious beliefs, fears, uncertainty, and illusion. The imagery typically includes two dogs howling at the moon beside a body of water, creating a rich visual landscape for reflection.
Carl Jung viewed symbols and archetypes as important pathways into the unconscious mind. He also approved of symbolic tools such as tarot for exploring archetypes in therapy. In a similar way, tarot cards can help clients explore emotions, fears, and patterns that may be difficult to access through logic alone.
When a client pulls a card like The Moon, the value isn't in predicting what will happen next. Instead, the card becomes a starting point for deeper exploration, inviting clients to reflect on what feels true for them and helping them gain clarity, perspective, and self-awareness.
How Can Tarot Be Used in Therapy Sessions?
There are many ways therapists can incorporate tarot into therapy work.
One approach is inviting clients to draw a card in a particular moment and focus on what it brings up about the emotions or experiences they are currently navigating.
For example, someone moving through grief might resonate with the Five of Cups or The Hermit.
The Five of Cups is often associated with loss and sadness. While three cups remain standing, two have fallen over. This imagery can open a conversation about grief while also highlighting what remains meaningful, supportive, or worth nurturing.
The Hermit represents solitude, reflection, and turning inward. For someone experiencing grief, this card may invite deeper self-care, journaling, meditation, or intentional time for reflection, in the same way other reflective prompts or expressive tools can support exploration.
Using Tarot Spreads for Self-Reflection
Another way tarot can be incorporated into therapy is through a structured tarot spread or other structured tarot spreads.
For example, a client experiencing anxiety might explore:
What is the root of this anxiety?
How is this anxiety currently showing up in my life?
What would support healing and moving forward?
A therapist or client can create a simple spread tailored to the issue being explored.
Questions like these encourage reflection and can help clients identify patterns, beliefs, emotions, and coping strategies they may not have previously recognized.
The imagery found within tarot cards can act as a projective tool, and the card images can help externalize thoughts and feelings while strengthening a sense of connection to the inner world.
Tarot and Intuition: Strengthening Your Inner Voice
Another reason I enjoy incorporating tarot into therapy is its ability to help clients reconnect with their intuition.
Developing a relationship with your intuition often leads to a deeper relationship with yourself.
Several cards naturally support this process:
The Moon
Invites exploration of intuition, emotions, the subconscious, and psychological themes from psychology. It can also help clients make sense of uncertainty rather than search for fixed answers.
The Star
Represents hope, trust, healing, and faith in your inner wisdom.
The High Priestess
Encourages stillness, reflection, and trusting your internal knowing.
Rather than giving answers, these cards often help clients slow down and listen more closely to what they already know deep within themselves.
Integrating Tarot With Other Therapy Approaches
Tarot can also complement existing therapeutic modalities within a broader framework of care. Some clinicians are drawn to tarot as a creative adjunct to established approaches.
Tarot and Narrative Therapy
Narrative therapy explores the stories we tell about ourselves and our experiences. Tarot can also help clients consider the stories shaping their lives and the course of their personal journey.
Tarot can help clients identify outdated narratives, explore alternative perspectives, and rewrite stories that no longer serve them.
Tarot and Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is based on the idea that we all have different parts within ourselves.
Tarot cards can be used to explore these parts, increase self-awareness, and support deeper integration of emotions, beliefs, and experiences.
When used thoughtfully, tarot becomes a tool that enhances therapeutic work rather than replacing established clinical approaches.
Ethical Considerations for Therapists Using Tarot
Tarot should always be used ethically and intentionally within a therapeutic setting.
Therapists who integrate tarot into their work should:
Obtain informed consent
Respect clients' cultural and religious beliefs
Be transparent that tarot is not evidence-based treatment
Ensure tarot serves a clinically relevant purpose
Avoid using tarot as a replacement for appropriate mental health care
This blog post is educational and is not a substitute for working with a licensed mental health professional.
Many therapists pursue specialized training before incorporating tarot into their practice. Therapists who offer tarot-related services often explain their approach clearly on their website.
Tarot may not be appropriate for every client or every presenting concern, particularly in cases involving severe mental illness or active psychosis.
Final Thoughts: Tarot as a Tool for Reflection, Not Prediction
Although tarot has historically been associated with fortune telling, many therapists use tarot differently.
When incorporated thoughtfully, tarot can support self-reflection, emotional awareness, creativity, intuition, and personal growth. The cards offer symbols, metaphors, and perspectives that can help clients explore their inner world in ways that feel meaningful and accessible.
At its heart, tarot is not about predicting the future. It's about helping us better understand ourselves and explore truth in the present rather than seek fixed predictions.
And sometimes, that deeper understanding can be a powerful part of the healing process.
Frequently Asked Questions About Tarot in Therapy
Can a therapist use tarot cards in therapy?
Yes. Some therapists incorporate tarot cards as a reflective and therapeutic tool to support self-exploration, emotional processing, and insight. In this context, tarot is not used to predict the future but rather to help clients explore thoughts, emotions, patterns, and personal meaning.
Is tarot evidence-based therapy?
Tarot itself is not considered an evidence-based mental health treatment. However, therapists may use tarot alongside evidence-based approaches such as Internal Family Systems (IFS), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Narrative Therapy, or mindfulness practices. The therapeutic value comes from the reflection, discussion, and meaning-making that occur during the process.
Is tarot the same as fortune telling?
No. While tarot has historically been associated with fortune telling, many therapists use tarot as a projective tool rather than a predictive one. The cards can help clients explore emotions, beliefs, and experiences without making claims about the future.
How can tarot support mental health?
Tarot can help clients access emotions, gain perspective, strengthen self-awareness, and connect with their intuition. The imagery and symbolism often provide a unique way to explore challenges, identify patterns, and process experiences that may be difficult to express with words alone.
Can tarot help with anxiety?
For some people, yes. Tarot can encourage reflection and help clients better understand the emotions, fears, and thought patterns contributing to anxiety. It can also be used alongside therapeutic approaches that support emotional regulation and nervous system healing.
Can tarot be used with Internal Family Systems (IFS)?
Absolutely. Tarot can be a helpful complement to IFS therapy by offering imagery and symbolism that help clients identify and connect with different parts of themselves. Some people find that specific cards naturally resonate with protective parts, inner critics, wounded parts, or intuitive parts.
Can tarot be combined with Narrative Therapy?
Yes. Narrative Therapy focuses on the stories we tell about ourselves and our experiences. Tarot can help clients explore those stories from a new perspective, identify limiting beliefs, and imagine alternative narratives that feel more aligned with who they want to become.
Is tarot appropriate for everyone?
Not necessarily. Tarot may not be a good fit for every client, belief system, or presenting concern. Therapists should always obtain consent, respect cultural and religious values, and ensure that tarot is used in a way that supports the client's therapeutic goals.
Do I need to know anything about tarot before trying it in therapy?
Not at all. Many clients have never used tarot before. Your therapist can guide you through the process and help facilitate reflection without requiring any prior knowledge of the cards.
Can tarot replace traditional therapy?
No. Tarot should be viewed as a complementary tool rather than a replacement for therapy. When used thoughtfully, it can deepen insight, self-awareness, and emotional exploration while supporting broader therapeutic work.
About Tori Gorman
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, MSW, LCSW, LICSW
Tori is a licensed therapist and founder of Soul Spirit Therapy, providing virtual therapy for adults throughout Oregon. She specializes in supporting neurodivergent adults navigating ADHD, anxiety, burnout, trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and life transitions through a holistic, affirming approach that integrates evidence-based therapies with nervous system regulation, Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and intuitive practices. Tori is passionate about helping sensitive, deep-feeling humans reconnect with themselves, heal from survival mode, and build lives that honor the way they naturally move through the world.
If you're looking for compassionate, neurodivergent-affirming therapy in Oregon, schedule a consultation to learn more about working together.
