What is art therapy?
Art therapy emerged in the 1930's and was first recognized as a human service profession in the 1950's. Art therapists may provide art therapy services as primary form of treatment or it can be parallel or adjunctive in treatment found in many different settings, such as clinical, educational, rehabilitative, and mental health settings.
Any mental health clinician who has not received a Master's in art therapy may not be a true art therapist. When a clinician has an ATR they are a registered art therapist and have fulfilled the requirements of the ATCB (Art Therapy Credentials Board).
In order to become a Registered Art Therapist (ATR) the ATCB requires the completion of master’s level education (including art therapy core curriculum and supervised practicum and internship experiences), as well as post-education supervised clinical experience.
Today's art therapists come from a wide variety of educational experiences. A board certified art therapist is one who has passed a board certification exam, given by the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB). This exam creates some uniformity in the scope of practice in the field of art therapy. In some states this exam is considered a licensing exam. At this time Oregon does not.
The ATCB states: "The ATCB Board has established the following as related mental health fields: Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work, Psychology, Addictions Counseling, Psychiatric Nursing, and Psychiatry."
Art Therapy Services
Individual Art Therapy
Youth Art Therapy Groups
Insight Oriented Workshops
Art Therapy Education
Art Therapy Internships