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-being of people at all ages.

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

Fine art therapy integrates the fields of homo development, visual arts and the artistic process with models of counseling and psychotherapy. Fine art therapy is used with children, adolescents, adults, older adults, groups and families to appraise and treat:

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

Some art therapists work as part of a wellness intendance team that includes physicians, psychologists, nurses, mental health counselors, spousal relationship and family therapists, rehabilitation counselors, social workers and teachers. Together, they determine and implement a client's therapeutic goals and objectives. Other art therapists work independently and maintain individual practices with children, adolescents, adults, groups and/or families.

If you lot're because this career, go on in mind that an fine art therapist needs certain personal qualities – such every bit sensitivity, empathy, emotional stability, patience, interpersonal skills, insight into man beliefs and an understanding of artistic media. An art therapist must be an attentive listener and a cracking observer. Flexibility and a sense of sense of humour are likewise invaluable.

Working Conditions

Fine art therapists work in a broad multifariousness of settings including:

  • Hospitals and clinics, both medical and psychiatric
  • Outpatient mental health agencies and day handling facilities
  • Residential treatment centers
  • Halfway houses
  • Domestic violence and homeless shelters
  • Community agencies and nonprofit settings
  • Sheltered workshops
  • Schools, colleges and universities
  • Correctional facilities
  • Elder care facilities
  • Art studios
  • Private practise

Bacon Range and Outlook

Salaries for fine art therapists vary widely, according to a 2009 survey conducted by the American Medical Clan. Salaries for those only get-go in the career are generally around $30,000 to $40,000 while those with experience may earn salaries over $100,000. Keep in heed that salaries volition vary considerably, depending on feel, location and type of practice.

Academic Requirements

Art therapists must have a principal's degree in art therapy or counseling or a related field with an accent in fine art therapy and must complete the required core curriculum as outlined in the American Art Therapy Clan's (AATA) education standards.

AATA-approved art therapy programs mostly consist of 48 to lx semester credits (or approximately 18 months to ii years of full-time education). The typical curriculum includes:

  • History and theory of art therapy
  • Techniques or practice in art therapy
  • Application of art therapy with people in different treatment settings
  • Understanding of group art therapy and counseling methods and skills
  • Ethical and legal bug of art therapy practise
  • Fine art therapy assessment
  • Standards of exercise in art therapy
  • Cultural and social diversity
  • Thesis or culminating projection

In add-on, each art therapy pupil must complete a practicum or internship, involving a minimum of 700 hours of supervised fine art therapy practice, at to the lowest degree half of which must be spent working directly with patients in individual, group or family formats.  At that place too are opportunities for specialization (i.e., specific patient historic period groups, practice settings and types of intervention).

Subsequently receiving a master's degree in fine art therapy, accumulating the required number of supervised hours and submitting professional references attesting to your competency, you may utilize to become a registered art therapist (ATR) through the Art Therapy Credentials Lath (ATCB).  Afterwards existence granted the ATR, you then can sit down for the board certification (ATR-BC) examination. The test is offered once a year at various locations throughout the United States.

Learn More About a Career as an Art Therapist

  • Take a look at the "For Students" section of the American Art Therapy Association'due south website.

Resources

  • American Art Therapy Association
  • Art Therapy Credentials Board

The American Art Therapy Association reviewed this career profile.