That red coat on the wall could make quite a difference in your client's mood.

A study from Dartmouth College substantiates my belief that color makes a difference in mental therapeutic interventions. The color of the session room walls, the furniture, even the therapist’s clothing, makes a difference to the client/patient. The Dartmouth study focused on wild Rhesus monkeys, who avoided humans dressed in red even when they were offering food.

“We – primates and then humans – are very visual,” Kralik explains. “We are also very social.” In both realms, color has important effects, from telling us which food is edible to helping us gauge the emotions of others by the relative redness of their skin. Put the two together, he says, “and we start to see that color may have a deeper and wider-ranging influence on us than we have previously thought.”

My recommendation to clinicians – avoid the color red in the session room – unless you intend making your client feel more submissive, afraid, timid, or defensive. Speaking of defensive, you might look for the color red in your session room if your client becomes defensive – maybe they caught sight of your red coat hanging behind you on the wall.

Study source: Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.