Career Blog Post - Art Therapy

An art therapist uses art-making as a therapeutic tool to help individuals express their emotions, process experiences, and work through mental health challenges. They guide clients through creative activities like drawing, painting, or sculpting, which can help people communicate feelings they may find difficult to express with words. Art therapy is often used to support individuals emotional or psychological issues. The role of an art therapist includes: Assessing clients, Leading sessions, providing support, Analyzing Art, and developing treatment plans. Required Credentials to be an art therapist include a master's degree in Art Therapy or a related field, Clinical experience which comes from working with clients in a supervised therapeutic setting, and Certification which comes from the ACTB (Art Therapy Credentials Board) which offers the Board-Certified Art Therapist credential (BCAT). In order to become board-certified, applicants typically need to complete a master's degree and accumulate a certain number of supervised clinical hours which is usually around 1,000. In many states, Art therapists are also required to hold state Licensure. Colleges which offer a masters degree in Art Therapy include NYU, George Washington University, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, with the top school to attend for that specific major being Drexel University. Top schools in this area which include Art Therapy majors include Eastern Virginia Medical School, however there are many schools which offer Art Therapy as a major along the east coast.