• Art Therapy and Art as Therapy
• Which arts are Included in Art Therapy ?
• Who are Art Therapists?
• How Did it Begin?
• Art Therapy Research
• Professional Regulation
Art Therapy is a helping profession which uses fine arts as a tool in the expression and resolution of emotions and psychological and emotional conflicts. Art Therapy is practised in individual sessions or in small groups conducted by an Art Therapist. To work as an Art Therapist you have to have satisfactorily completed a University Masters' degree in Art Therapy recognised by the Ate (the Spanish Professional Associaton of Art Therapists).
Art Therapy is a profession complementary to medicine with over seventy years of history. Art Therapy is practised according to a strict methodology and under a defined therapeautic framework or setting. This framework and methodology are based mainly on the theories of Art Therapy, Analytical Group Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic Therapies and Contemporary Art Theory.
To practice within the profession you need to have undertaken three years of postgraduate University training in Art Therapy or Art Psychotherapy.
Art, understood as a therapy in itself (the healing arts), is distinct from Art Therapy as it considers artistic activity to possess therapeautic qualities per se and therefore does not consider specific training to be necessary.
Who is it for ?
As a rule, Art Therapy is particularly suited to people whose circumstances or state of health mean that they find it difficult to verbally articulate conflicts and emotions.
Art Therapy can be used with any group of whatever age as long as there is a willingness on the part the individual to begin a form of psychotherapy in which they will be encouraged to produce art work .
Art Therapy is carried out in group and individual sessions with a wide variety of patients and with a range of therapeutic aims. The form and level of intervention of Art Therapy depends on the needs of the patient.
There are four Art Therapies: Drama Therapy, Dance-Movement Therapy, Music Therapy and Art Therapy. Art Therapy, also known as Art Psychotherapy, incorporates the media of the fine arts, such as performance, installation, sculpture, three-dimensional work, art and language, photography and video, painting, drawing, engraving, etc.
Who are Art Therapists?
According to the ATe (Spanish Profesional Association of Art Therapists), to practice Art Therapy it is necessary to have a degree in Fine Arts, a health-related subject, Teaching, Social Work, Psychology, etc. and have completed postgraduate University studies or a Masters' in Art Therapy lasting a minimum of three years. In addition to this training, Art Therapists must have undergone a process of personal psychotherapy. According to the ATe and equivalent associations and professional bodies, Art Therapists must meet other complementary requirements which are detailed in the Ate website: www.arteterapia.org.es
Art Therapy began simultaneously in the United Kingdom and the United States in the decades before the Second World War. In the UK , Adrian Hill coined the term “Art Therapy”. Some years later the American and British Art Therapy associations were set up (the AATA and BAAT respectively), and with this more and more Universities began to organise postgraduate training programmes in the discipline.
In Spain Art Therapy began in 1997 with the work of two Art Therapists trained in the UK , Joaquim Català and Carles Ramos and a specialist in Art Education, Dr Jose M Barragan. In 1999 the first University Masters' in Art Therapy was established at the University of Barcelona , run by Metafora . The Spanish Profesional Association of Art Therapists (Ate) was founded three years later.
Art Therapy Research
Each year numerous research studies are published covering a variety of aspects of Art Therapy and a range of populations and settings. To find out more about recent research studies we recommend visitng the websites of Universities teaching Art Therapy or consulting databases such as Psychinfo, Educaweb or magazines like Inscape or Art in Psychotherapy.
Art Therapy is a form of psychotherapy and as such is founded on principles which have been extensively researched and for which there is an extensive bibliography. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom , Canada , Israel and the United States , the profession of Art Therapy is registered and regulated by the relevant health authorities.
The Ate (The Spanish Association of Art Therapists) is pressing for regulation of Art Therapy in Spain . In the meantime, however, there is no state regulation of the profession, and to ensure as far as possible best practice in Art Therapy, Metáfora-University of Barcelona adhere to the ATe's recommendations for professional Art Therapy training courses and clinical practice. These rules can be viewed at www.arteterapia.org.es/
