Art Careers - Art Therapists

Art therapists use artistic processes as a therapeutic technique to help patients express and cope with their emotions. They can work with a variety of artistic mediums, such as sculpture, painting, drawing, and even sometimes performing arts, and help clients with a wide range of issues and disorders. An art therapist will examine patients' psychological needs, establish goals and a personalized treatment plan, and use psychotherapy combined with artistic instruction to help their patient in therapy sessions.

Skills needed to be a successful art therapist include communication and active listening skills, psychological knowledge, creativity, and artistic ability. To be an art therapist, one needs a master's degree in art therapy, a certification and state therapy license, 100 hours of supervised practicum, and 600 hours of supervised art therapy internship. Some colleges with art therapy professional programs are Florida State University, George Washington University, and School of the Art Institute of Chicago.