Modern college students commonly suffer from diverse psychological troubles, including academic stress, interpersonal communication anxiety and confused self-identity. Traditional campus mental health education approaches are restricted by rigid teaching forms and insufficient emotional resonance, failing to adapt to students’ complex and subtle psychological demands fully. As a core carrier of art therapy, visual expression relies on intuitive visual symbols such as graphics, color combinations, and picture compositions to break through the limitations of verbal expression. This study adopts theoretical frameworks of art therapy and visual psychology to explore innovative practical strategies of visual expression-based art therapy for college students. A complete implementation system is constructed from four core dimensions: cognitive deconstruction, emotional regulation, self-identity establishment and group mutual empowerment. Furthermore, this paper systematically discusses the practical value of this intervention mode in optimizing psychological education, promoting aesthetic literacy development, shaping healthy personality and improving campus psychological ecology. The research findings can provide practical references for the integrated development of mental health education and aesthetic education in university contexts.