How to become a Art Therapist 2024

Art Therapist Plan or conduct art therapy sessions or programs to improve clients' physical, cognitive, or emotional well-being.

Art Therapist is Also Know as

In different settings, Art Therapist is titled as

Art Psychotherapist
Art Therapist
Board Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC)
Creative Arts Therapist
Group Therapist
Oncology Art Therapist
Registered Art Therapist (ATR)
Therapist

Education and Training of Art Therapist

Art Therapist is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Art Therapist

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Education Required for Art Therapist

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Degrees Related to Art Therapist

Training Required for Art Therapist

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Art Therapist in different industries are

What Do Art Therapist do?

Analyze data to determine the effectiveness of treatments or therapy approaches.
Analyze or synthesize client data to draw conclusions or make recommendations for art therapy.
Assess client needs or disorders, using drawing, painting, sculpting, or other artistic processes.
Communicate client assessment findings and recommendations in oral, written, audio, video, or other forms.
Conduct art therapy sessions, providing guided self-expression experiences to help clients recover from, or cope with, cognitive, emotional, or physical impairments.
Confer with other professionals on client's treatment team to develop, coordinate, or integrate treatment plans.
Customize art therapy programs for specific client populations, such as those in schools, nursing homes, wellness centers, prisons, shelters, or hospitals.
Design art therapy sessions or programs to meet client's goals or objectives.
Develop individualized treatment plans that incorporate studio art therapy, counseling, or psychotherapy techniques.
Establish goals or objectives for art therapy sessions in consultation with clients or site administrators.
Instruct individuals or groups in the use of art media, such as paint, clay, or yarn.
Interpret the artistic creations of clients to assess their functioning, needs, or progress.
Observe and document client reactions, progress, or other outcomes related to art therapy.
Photograph or videotape client artwork for inclusion in client records or for promotional purposes.
Talk with clients during art or other therapy sessions to build rapport, acknowledge their progress, or reflect upon their reactions to the artistic process.
Write treatment plans, case summaries, or progress or other reports related to individual clients or client groups.
Conduct information sharing sessions, such as in-service workshops for other professionals, potential client groups, or the general community.
Coordinate art showcases to display artwork produced by clients.
Coordinate field trips for client groups to museums or other public displays of art.
Gather client information from sources such as case documentation, client observation, or interviews of client or family members.
Recommend or purchase needed art supplies or equipment.
Review research or literature in art therapy, psychology, or related disciplines.
Select or prepare artistic media or related equipment or devices to accomplish therapy session objectives.
Supervise staff, volunteers, practicum students, or interns.
Teach art therapy techniques or processes to artists, interns, volunteers, or others.

Qualities of Good Art Therapist

Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.

Tools Used by Art Therapist

35 millimeter cameras
Artists' easels
Artists' paintbrushes
Artists' scissors
Circle cutters
Computer data input scanners
Digital audio recorders
Digital camcorders
Digital still cameras
Edge punches
Hole punches
Hot glue guns
Razor knives
Tablet computers

Technology Skills required for Art Therapist

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Creative Suite
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Appointment scheduling software
Autodesk Maya
Case management software
IBM SPSS Statistics
Image databases
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word
Trimble SketchUp Pro
Web browser software

US Universities

How to become Art Therapist in 2024