Online Training for Art Therapists
Art therapist accreditation is supported by the American Art Therapy Association. It includes a mentoring program for students interested in pursuing this career path. Art therapy is an excellent field for exposure to cross-cultural boundaries in psychotherapy. Other topics of interest include trauma therapy, cognitive behavior therapy and addiction as influenced through art therapy. There are limited opportunities to study online art therapy while pursuing a degree program.
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Creative Encounters
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Many art therapists have a psychology degree with an emphasis on art therapy. Creative encounters are therapy sessions that involve collaboration of a group of students or an art therapist and an individual client. This approach to art therapy as a collaborative effort requires more than one-way absorption of a reading, simply taking a quiz or assessment of an art work. Ideally, the art therapist and the group contribute to an event in the spirit of creating something together.
Programs
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The only online art therapy program listed by the American Art Therapy Association is at Saint Mary of the Woods College. Many schools offer some coursework online, but most of the programs of study have required attendance. Art therapy is primarily interactions. Evaluation and assessment tools for therapists looking to utilize art in their counseling can find publications through any of the schools offering an art therapy program.
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Technical Support
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Art therapy training depends strongly on group critiques. Online therapeutic information cannot replace the interaction and exchange from working in a group of other artists. Critiques are possibly shared in online classrooms for some coursework. This should be considered when applying for a course through an accredited institution. Website, online courses and instructor availability through the Internet may not be the optimal solution for art therapy trainings.
References
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Many evaluation tools are licensed and copyrighted, such as "The Silver Drawing Tool and Draw a Story" by Rawley Silver. Online training for art therapists is limited due to confidentiality and nature of work of counseling; however, cross-culturally art therapy is an effective tool. Therefore, several online websites exist in many countries regarding the use of art in medicine (see Resources).
Resistance
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Video screening of a creative encounter is encouraged in online trainings. Body language, breathing patterns and eye contact are difficult to measure online or through written forum posts. These keys to resistance in counseling are assessed during a creative encounter. The range of receptivity for feedback has bearing on when and how the feedback is delivered. Online trainings offer information about overcoming defensive attitudes, verbal cues for de-escalation and behavior patterns of resistance, although the practical application requires a visual confirmation.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit therapy stones with flowers isolated image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
