{"id":61,"date":"2018-04-30T18:18:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T18:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/?page_id=61"},"modified":"2020-07-29T19:50:23","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T19:50:23","slug":"answers-for-art-therapy-students","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/extra-service-art-therapy\/answers-for-art-therapy-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers for Art Therapy Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"http:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/sun-1756322_1920-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-51\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/sun-1756322_1920-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/sun-1756322_1920-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/sun-1756322_1920-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/sun-1756322_1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How did you come to choose art\n\ttherapy as your career?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I chose art\ntherapy as a career because I wanted to use both art and psychology\nto teach people coping skills. I also was worried that I would get\nburned out if I listened to people&#8217;s terrible life stories all day\nevery day. The skills for preventing burn out were taught in school\nbut I didn&#8217;t know it at the time I was considering art therapy. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What were other careers you\n\tconsidered instead of Art Therapy\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After being in\nthe field, I&#8217;ve noticed occupational therapists and social workers do\nsimilar work to what I do but there are more jobs and it&#8217;s easy for\nsomeone in social work to pick and move to another state. Art therapy\ndoesn&#8217;t have that potability since each state has a different phrase\nor program for it. Before getting into the field, I thought about\nbeing a writer, photojournalist, and a variety of other professions. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What do you feel your career as an\n\tart therapist requires of you the most?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It requires me to be on my toes all the time for any misinterpretations of what art therapy is. I think the worst of it was when a businessman said that I got my clients naked to paint their portraits. He left the conversation upset after that.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I also find that each client is different so they learn differently and will pick up some things quickly and struggle with other things. I use my knowledge on a variety of subjects every day to assist with their healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How do you view the current job\n\tmarket for art therapy? Why do you feel this way?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The way that it has always been for art therapists is to knock on doors, give a good case for why art therapy is needed at a certain place and hope that other art therapists join with you. This is the tried and true method. However, many people going through art therapy programs believe that someone will offer them an art therapy job and that to take something less than that would be nonsense. There were a few art therapy positions and maybe one new opportunity every few years in CT as they create more programs that involve the arts. When one position becomes available, there are more than 100 people who could fill it; most likely, it goes to the person next in line, though, so those 100 people have to find a job somewhere else, if it exists.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Did your college experience\n\tprepare you properly for the career?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It prepared me as much as the program could prepare me. I use some of the theories. If I worked in an agency, I probably wouldn&#8217;t have too much more to worry about. But I chose to open a business so, I had to learn lots of the business aspects on the fly.  School did not prepare me for private practice. It&#8217;s its own beast, honestly, but I think, it&#8217;s the most rewarding experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What kind of bachelor degrees do\n\tyou think provide the best base for an art therapy graduate degree?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I had my\npsychology degree with the required art classes. My classmates who\nhad art degrees with the required psychology classes did just as\nwell. I&#8217;m not sure if there&#8217;s one way that&#8217;s better. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do you feel you had anything give\n\tyou a leg up in your entry into the field?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I had supportive\nenvironments and lots of self-reflection, which I think helps with\nthe way I interact with my clients too. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What\/where is the best form\/place\n\tto network?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s different\nfor everyone and every place. I&#8217;ve run the gambit on networking and\nat this point, I can connect people with others and they can connect\nto me very easy but I can&#8217;t pinpoint one place that was better than\nanother. It&#8217;s also a great idea to have interests outside of therapy\nso that you&#8217;re around people who aren&#8217;t just about therapy and\nnetworking. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What has been your greatest\n\tstruggle in your career?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve gotten in my own way more than I can count.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I also think that the expectations that I had in grad school compared to what I actually do. In grad school, I read about a person who went to Ireland to do an art therapy retreat and wrote about their experiences. While that&#8217;s fantastic, the reality is that I find pleasure in the success of getting a couple to work together on an art directive after many sessions of talk therapy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Was there ever a point where you\n\tfelt you might not \u201cmake it\u201d as an art therapist? Do you still\n\thave that fear?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were many points but at each check point, I had come so far and people had known me and supported my goals. They wouldn&#8217;t have done that if they thought that it wasn&#8217;t for me. Again, one of those points where I got in my own way and had to overcome it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At this point, I do a majority of talk therapy sessions so, I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;m &#8220;making it&#8221; in the way I thought I would as an art therapist&#8211; mainly continuously to find people who are interested in having art therapy sessions.  But I love when I do an art therapy session and it turns out great. However, I receive many more calls for people with insurance who just want to talk it out. They typically see results so, I continue with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Are there certain states where art\n\ttherapy is more prevalent and\/or sought after?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each state has\nit&#8217;s own version of art therapy. If you&#8217;re not planning on staying in\nCT, research what that state has as far as expressive therapists,\ncreative arts therapists, etc. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What material do you prefer to use\n\twith client?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whatever they&#8217;re comfortable with.  I have a variety to choose from, including crayons, markers, colored pencils, paints, glitter glue, and collage materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What materials do clients often\n\tgravitate towards?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ones that they know best&#8211; markers, colored pencils, coloring pages, and some paints.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Are there any political ideas or\n\tagendas involving art therapy that aspiring professionals in the\n\tfield should be aware of?\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s the same with any psychologist&#8211; if they&#8217;re a Jungian then they will have different ideas\/theories than a behavioral therapist.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The field is filled with many passionate people who have the time to debate about every tiny aspect of art therapy. Sometimes they take the time to be decent people and talk with colleagues. Sometimes, they&#8217;re the hugest jerks you&#8217;ve ever encountered. Just be strong in your ideas and be willing to hear someone out if they&#8217;re actually making points. If they&#8217;re being jerks for no good reason, they are not doing their duty as an art therapist to display professionalism and it&#8217;s perfectly fine to report them to the American Art Therapy Association or to their state licensing board. Professionalism between professionals is a must and is definitely an aspect of ethics in any of the helping and licensed fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As far as\nagendas, the American Art Therapy Association is trying to get the\nword out still about how amazing art therapy is. Most post graduates\nhave to knock on doors and sell themselves as art therapists to get\njobs. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Why did you choose your profession?&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s been so long since someone asked me that that I&#8217;ve mostly forgotten. The reason I stay in the field is because I love seeing people start their healing journey. The look on their face when they do their first artwork and feel so accomplished is priceless. Just a note, I do 95% talk&nbsp;therapy&nbsp;currently and it&#8217;s rare that I do&nbsp;art&nbsp;therapy&nbsp;anymore.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Where did you learn about&nbsp;Art&nbsp;Therapy?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I found out about&nbsp;art&nbsp;therapy&nbsp;through a couple of shows on TV when I was a kid. I wanted to do more than just&nbsp;therapy. And once I found out about&nbsp;art&nbsp;therapy, I knew it was something I&#8217;d like to do. I thought the&nbsp;therapy&nbsp;field would be more difficult than it actually is.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If you could change one thing about your profession what would it be?&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think there&#8217;s a book in this question. The profession is doing well in getting more information out there. The profession is mostly broken and I&#8217;m sorry that this question is just a long answer. I would love it for the people in&nbsp;art&nbsp;therapy&nbsp;to get along and for there to be an actual nationally recognized license, not just &#8220;recognition&#8221; that a person did all the requirements similar to a license but without the benefits of having a license (like being able to be paneled by insurances).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>While in school what was the hardest thing you had to do\/ study?&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grad school for art therapy was, in its entirety, awful. I think internship was the worst but it was all bad.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My experience at the University at Buffalo was an amazing experience, with lots of support. I&#8217;m glad that I went back for an advanced degree so refresh my look at the grad school college experience. It was difficult at times to find internships since I had to do it on my own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Would you recommend going into your profession?&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In art therapy, no, the benefits do not outweigh any of the costs.&nbsp;I have received an advanced degree in mental health counseling and I think the profession is wonderful. There are so many opportunities and I&#8217;ve only experienced, as of now, great and friendly people in the field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What schooling did you go through? (Pre-Art&nbsp;Therapy&nbsp;BA, Psych BA,&nbsp;Art&nbsp;Ed BA,&nbsp;Art&nbsp;Therapy&nbsp;MA, Any minors,etc.)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BA in Psychology at San Diego State, MA in&nbsp;Art&nbsp;Therapy&nbsp;at Albertus Magnus, Advanced Degree in Mental Health Counseling at University at Buffalo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Is there a different path that you wish you would&#8217;ve taken to get into&nbsp;Art&nbsp;therapy?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I wish I would have gotten an LCSW and did a credential or &#8220;recognition&#8221; as an&nbsp;art&nbsp;therapist&nbsp;instead of MA in&nbsp;Art&nbsp;therapy.&nbsp; There&#8217;s stricter ethical guidelines but SO many opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hope that was\nhelpful. Good luck. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"456\" src=\"http:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/self-esteem-1566153_1920-1024x456.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/self-esteem-1566153_1920-1024x456.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/self-esteem-1566153_1920-300x134.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/self-esteem-1566153_1920-768x342.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/self-esteem-1566153_1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How did you come to choose art therapy as your career? I chose art therapy as a career because I wanted to use both art and psychology to teach people coping skills. I also was worried that I would get burned out if I listened to people&#8217;s terrible life stories [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":251,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-61","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362,"href":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61\/revisions\/362"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovescounseling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}