Art Therapy Education

Art Therapy Education
Art Therapy is a visual approach to mental health treatment and relationship issues. Individual, couples, families and groups are welcome. No artistic skills are necessary and expressing feelings, conflicts and solutions are made easy by using simple forms, colors or cut outs. Art making provides concrete and tangible possibilities for self-exploration and growth. It safely counterbalances damaging and traumatic social and environmental influences. Art therapy supports the clients’ creativity and contributes to the empowering of diverse belief systems in social context, while clients creativity provide opportunities for sensory integrated experiences that clarify change and create meaning-making possibilities. Art therapy is a mental health profession that recognizes the important role that creative expression and symbolic association play in a person’s development, growth and health. Art therapists are trained to actively engage the healing power of the arts that are inherent in each of us, working with individuals and groups in a range of clinical settings. In California, Art Therapists are also Marriage and Family Therapists, Social Workers or Psychologists. There are a wide range of career options available for Art Therapists as the field has seen an increasing demand for art therapy professionals. Art therapists can be part of treatment teams that include Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, Rehabilitation Counselors, Social Workers, School Psychologists and Nurses. They work in private offices, hospitals, community centers, corporations, rehabilitation centers, outpatient clinics, prisons and all levels of schools. Art therapists have also created their own positions in government agencies and mental health centers. Art therapy training is an excellent adjunctive skill utilized by Marriage and Family Therapists in many private practice settings. What is Art Therapy? by Noah Hass-Cohen, M.A. Art Therapy and Clinical Neuroscience in Action by Noah Hass-Cohen, M.A. Benefits of an Art Therapy education Return to main page	If you are thinking about entering an undergraduate, Masters' or Post-Masters' program in art therapy, you may want to contact one of the following organizations: AATA: This is the American Art Therapy Association -- the national art therapy professional organization. AATA grants approval to education programs preparing students for practice as art therapists. Ask for Educational Standards. AATA, 1202 Allanson Road, Mundelein, Illinois 60060 (847) 949-6064 or visit AATA on the web at www.arttherapy.org. ATCB: This is the Art Therapy Credentials Board, which is responsible for registering and credentialing art therapists. Ask for Standards and Procedures for Registration. ATCB, 3 Terrace Way, Suite B, Greensboro, North Carolina 27403-3660 (877) 213-2822 or visit ATCB on the web at www.atcb.org. SoCalATA: This is the Southern California Art Therapy Association, a nonprofit organization committed to the support and promotion of art therapists and the field of art therapy in southern California. For information on membership, news, events and therapist referrals, visit SoCalATA on the web at www.socalata.org/at. Phillips Graduate Institute: PGI offers a 60 unit Masters in Psychology, Marital and Family Therapy/Art Therapy. The program is nationally approved by the American Art Therapy Association and offers a unique approach to the field of art therapy with its innovative focus on clinically applied neuroscience. Phillips Graduate Institute, 5445 Balboa Blvd., Encino CA 91316. For program, application and admissions information, contact Jessa Forsythe-Crane at (818) 386-5661 or at atsupport@pgi.edu. Visit PGI on the web at www.pgi.edu. Loyola Marymount University: LMU offers a 53 unit Masters in Marital and Family Therapy with specialized training in the clinical modality of art therapy. The program is nationally approved by the American Art Therapy Association and prepares students to become practicing marital and family therapists skilled at integrating art processes in their work as psychotherapists. Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90045. For program and admissions information, call 310-338-2721 or graduate@lmu.edu. Visit LMU on the web at www.lmu.edu.

Art Therapy is a visual approach to mental health treatment and relationship issues. Individual, couples, families and groups are welcome. No artistic skills are necessary and expressing feelings, conflicts and solutions are made easy by using simple forms, colors or cut outs. Art making provides concrete and tangible possibilities for self-exploration and growth. It safely counterbalances damaging and traumatic social and environmental influences. Art therapy supports the clients’ creativity and contributes to the empowering of diverse belief systems in social context, while clients creativity provide opportunities for sensory integrated experiences that clarify change and create meaning-making possibilities.

Art therapy is a mental health profession that recognizes the important role that creative expression and symbolic association play in a person’s development, growth and health. Art therapists are trained to actively engage the healing power of the arts that are inherent in each of us, working with individuals and groups in a range of clinical settings. In California, Art Therapists are also Marriage and Family Therapists, Social Workers or Psychologists.

There are a wide range of career options available for Art Therapists as the field has seen an increasing demand for art therapy professionals. Art therapists can be part of treatment teams that include Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, Rehabilitation Counselors, Social Workers, School Psychologists and Nurses. They work in private offices, hospitals, community centers, corporations, rehabilitation centers, outpatient clinics, prisons and all levels of schools. Art therapists have also created their own positions in government agencies and mental health centers. Art therapy training is an excellent adjunctive skill utilized by Marriage and Family Therapists in many private practice settings.

What is Art Therapy?
by Noah Hass-Cohen, M.A.

Art Therapy and Clinical Neuroscience in Action
by Noah Hass-Cohen, M.A.

Benefits of an Art Therapy education

Return to main page

If you are thinking about entering an undergraduate, Masters' or Post-Masters' program in art therapy, you may want to contact one of the following organizations:

AATA: This is the American Art Therapy Association -- the national art therapy professional organization. AATA grants approval to education programs preparing students for practice as art therapists. Ask for Educational Standards. AATA, 1202 Allanson Road, Mundelein, Illinois 60060 (847) 949-6064 or visit AATA on the web at www.arttherapy.org.

ATCB: This is the Art Therapy Credentials Board, which is responsible for registering and credentialing art therapists. Ask for Standards and Procedures for Registration. ATCB, 3 Terrace Way, Suite B, Greensboro, North Carolina 27403-3660 (877) 213-2822 or visit ATCB on the web at www.atcb.org.

SoCalATA: This is the Southern California Art Therapy Association, a nonprofit organization committed to the support and promotion of art therapists and the field of art therapy in southern California. For information on membership, news, events and therapist referrals, visit SoCalATA on the web at www.socalata.org/at.

Phillips Graduate Institute: PGI offers a 60 unit Masters in Psychology, Marital and Family Therapy/Art Therapy. The program is nationally approved by the American Art Therapy Association and offers a unique approach to the field of art therapy with its innovative focus on clinically applied neuroscience. Phillips Graduate Institute, 5445 Balboa Blvd., Encino CA 91316. For program, application and admissions information, contact Jessa Forsythe-Crane at (818) 386-5661 or at atsupport@pgi.edu. Visit PGI on the web at www.pgi.edu.

Loyola Marymount University: LMU offers a 53 unit Masters in Marital and Family Therapy with specialized training in the clinical modality of art therapy. The program is nationally approved by the American Art Therapy Association and prepares students to become practicing marital and family therapists skilled at integrating art processes in their work as psychotherapists. Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90045. For program and admissions information, call 310-338-2721 or graduate@lmu.edu. Visit LMU on the web at www.lmu.edu.