Colouring your way to okay How art therapy can help you find your quiet space

Adult colouring books hit the headlines in 2015 when a worldwide craze saw many of us picking up our pencils and rediscovering our childhood artist. In fact, around 12 million adult colouring books were sold that year, and while the trend has slowed down somewhat since then, sales remain strong.

According to Nielsen research, it’s still young people who are leading the return to one of our favourite childhood pursuits. Around 71 per cent of adult colouring book buyers are female, and Millennials make up almost one third (29 per cent) of the market.

But what’s driving our love of adult colouring books? It’s probably not a coincidence that the adult colouring book craze coincided with rocketing stress rates. A stress and wellbeing survey conducted by the Australian Psychological Society at the time revealed that 26 per cent of Australians were experiencing moderate to extremely