Fine art therapy is an established mental health profession that uses the artistic process of art making to improve and enhance the concrete, mental and emotional well-existence of people at all ages.

Information technology is based on the belief that the creative procedure involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and issues, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness and achieve insight.

Art therapy integrates the fields of homo evolution, visual arts and the creative procedure with models of counseling and psychotherapy. Art therapy is used with children, adolescents, adults, older adults, groups and families to assess and treat:

  • Anxiety, depression and other mental/emotional problems
  • Mental illness
  • Substance abuse and other addictions
  • Family and relationship issues
  • Abuse and domestic violence
  • Social/emotional difficulties related to disability or illness
  • Personal trauma, mail-traumatic stress disorder and loss
  • Physical, cognitive and neurological problems
  • Psychosocial difficulties related to medical affliction

Some fine art therapists work as part of a health care team that includes physicians, psychologists, nurses, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, rehabilitation counselors, social workers and teachers. Together, they determine and implement a customer'southward therapeutic goals and objectives. Other art therapists work independently and maintain private practices with children, adolescents, adults, groups and/or families.

If you lot're considering this career, keep in mind that an art therapist needs certain personal qualities – such as sensitivity, empathy, emotional stability, patience, interpersonal skills, insight into human behavior and an agreement of artistic media. An art therapist must be an circumspect listener and a nifty observer. Flexibility and a sense of humour are also invaluable.

Working Conditions

Art therapists work in a wide variety of settings including:

  • Hospitals and clinics, both medical and psychiatric
  • Outpatient mental wellness agencies and twenty-four hour period treatment facilities
  • Residential handling centers
  • Halfway houses
  • Domestic violence and homeless shelters
  • Community agencies and nonprofit settings
  • Sheltered workshops
  • Schools, colleges and universities
  • Correctional facilities
  • Elderberry intendance facilities
  • Fine art studios
  • Individual practice

Salary Range and Outlook

Salaries for art therapists vary widely, according to a 2009 survey conducted by the American Medical Clan. Salaries for those just beginning in the career are mostly around $xxx,000 to $twoscore,000 while those with experience may earn salaries over $100,000. Keep in heed that salaries will vary considerably, depending on experience, location and type of practice.

Academic Requirements

Art therapists must have a principal's caste in art therapy or counseling or a related field with an emphasis in art therapy and must consummate the required core curriculum equally outlined in the American Art Therapy Association's (AATA) education standards.

AATA-approved art therapy programs generally consist of 48 to 60 semester credits (or approximately 18 months to 2 years of full-fourth dimension pedagogy). The typical curriculum includes:

  • History and theory of art therapy
  • Techniques or practice in fine art therapy
  • Awarding of art therapy with people in different treatment settings
  • Agreement of group art therapy and counseling methods and skills
  • Upstanding and legal problems of fine art therapy practice
  • Fine art therapy assessment
  • Standards of practice in art therapy
  • Cultural and social diversity
  • Thesis or culminating project

In addition, each art therapy educatee must complete a practicum or internship, involving a minimum of 700 hours of supervised art therapy practice, at to the lowest degree half of which must be spent working direct with patients in private, grouping or family formats.  At that place also are opportunities for specialization (i.east., specific patient age groups, practice settings and types of intervention).

Later on receiving a primary's degree in art therapy, accumulating the required number of supervised hours and submitting professional references attesting to your competency, you may apply to become a registered fine art therapist (ATR) through the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB).  After being granted the ATR, you and then tin can sit for the board certification (ATR-BC) exam. The exam is offered one time a year at various locations throughout the United States.

Learn More than Well-nigh a Career as an Art Therapist

  • Accept a look at the "For Students" section of the American Art Therapy Association's website.

Resources

  • American Art Therapy Clan
  • Art Therapy Credentials Board

The American Art Therapy Association reviewed this career profile.