Art Therapy is a profession regulated by the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) and credentialled by the ATCB. Registration (ATR) requires the completion of a master's degree in art therapy or a related field with specified art therapy coursework. The degree must include supervised practicum. Following graduation, a specified number of post-graduate clinical hours under supervision by an art therapist, must be completed. Once the art therapist has become registered, s/he may apply to take a certification exam. After passing this exam, the art therapist may used the initials ATR-BC. For detailed information on training and credentials, contact ATCB (Art Therapy Credentials Board). ATCB oversees the awarding of professional credentials.
The American Art Therapy Association is the professional organization that defines and monitors the field as a whole. It sponsors a professional journal (Art Therapy), an annual conference and regional symposia. St. Louis will host the annual conference in 2000. AATA also provides approval to selected training programs. These programs are evaluated periodically and must conform to the prevailing standards of training established by AATA membership. AATA has developed a strong Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Practice, and clinicians offering art therapy are advised to review and adhere to those standards. Unfortunately, art therapy is not regulated as a licensed profession by very many states, so compliance with AATA’s standards by non-registered art therapists is voluntary. Art therapy students who want to practice in clinical settings or in private practice choose a program that will also cover coursework necessary for licensure in an allied mental health field.Others prefer to practice in the context of arts settings, such as open studios and community arts programs.In addition to art therapy training, they may also select art education or a fine arts masters degree.
Education is available in colleges and universities and in a few post-graduate training institutes. AATA can furnish a listing of approved programs offering training.There are many more excellent programs that are not AATA-approved (meaning they have not gone through the AATA certification process yet). These are listed in an excellent website, Art Therapy Links, and are a very legitimate form of training. Locally, (St. Louis area) an AATA-approved Master of Arts degree in art therapy is offered at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Students can elect to take counseling coursework as part of this program to qualify for counselor licensure. Webster University offers an undergraduate certificate within the fine arts department, and George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University offers a yearly learning skills lab (an introductory course) in art therapy for social work students.
The Art Therapy Center also sponsors continuing education for art therapists and allied professionals periodically. Past workshops have included a series of workshops in somatic psychotherapy by Ruella Frank, PhD, Gestalt psychologist and Movement Educator of New York. Carol Lark also offers individual and group supervision for art therapists and for allied health professionals.Currently Lark is offering an art and action methods clinical supervision group (click here).
Experiential learning is a cornerstone of art therapy education. Until the student experiences art being used in the service of self-discovery and therapeutic processes, no reading can truly bring theoretical concepts to life. Clinicians and students who are interested in incorporating art therapy into their work are encouraged to take an art therapy course, participate in an art therapy group, or work individually with an art therapist before using art therapy tools.