Art Therapy - Application

Application

As a mental health profession, art therapy is employed in many clinical and other settings with diverse populations. Art therapy can be found in non-clinical settings, as well as in art studios and in creativity development workshops. Closely related in practice to marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors, U.S. art therapists are licensed under various titles, depending upon their individual qualifications and the type of licenses available in a given state. Art therapists may hold licenses as art therapists, creative arts therapists, marriage and family therapists, counselors of various types, psychologists, nurse practitioners, social workers, occupational therapists, rehabilitation therapists or others. Art therapists may have received advanced degrees in art therapy or in a related field, such as psychology, in which case they then obtain post-master or post-doctorate certification as an art therapist. Art therapists who meet credentialing requirements set by the national credentialing body, the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB), initially become Registered (ATR), then Board-certified (ATR-BC), after which they may go on to earn the supervisory credential, Art Therapy Certified Supervisor (ATCS). Art therapists work with populations of all ages and with a wide variety of disorders and diseases. Art therapists provide services to children, adolescents, and adults, whether as individuals, couples, families, or groups.

Using their evaluative and psychotherapy skills, art therapists choose materials and interventions appropriate to their clients’ needs and design sessions to achieve therapeutic goals and objectives. They use the creative process to help their clients increase insight, cope with stress, work through traumatic experiences, increase cognitive, memory and neurosensory abilities, improve interpersonal relationships and achieve greater self-fulfillment. Many art therapists draw upon images from resources such as ARAS (Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism) to incorporate historical art and symbols into their work with patients. Depending on the state, province, or country, the term "art therapist" may be reserved for those who are professionals trained in both art and therapy and hold a master or doctoral degree in art therapy or certification in art therapy, obtained after a graduate degree in a related field. Other professionals, such as mental health counselors, social workers, psychologists, and play therapists combine art therapy methods with basic psychotherapeutic modalities in their treatment. Assessing elements in artwork can help therapists understand how well a client is in-taking information.