Misconceptions of Art Therapy
When I was in high school, I heard about a career called art therapy. It immediately intrigued me. I knew I wanted to study art in some way, but didn’t want to be that “starving artist.” So I set out a course to find out more about this field. Then one day, there was an article in the newspaper about an art therapist. I was definitely going to study this, how great is this combining art and psychology to help people!
I studied art at the undergraduate college. The reason was because, in order to be an art therapist, you had to have a masters degree. Once I earned by BA in art, I applied to graduate school. I had to take a few psychology courses to get caught up to be in the Masters program. Then onward to long days and hours with balancing work and school.
I had to complete a certain amount of hours of clinical training and internship hours. Then write a thesis and then I graduated! It was finally here my dream job.
But wait, you mean I can’t find a job in art therapy? Ughh, I graduated during the 2007 recession, people were loosing their jobs, their homes and feeling broke. The exhaustion of studying for those extensive years, (It took me 7 years to finish my masters degree, because of working full time, travelling out of the country and just needed a break), I was now scrambling for a job.
Hold on, I am going to get to the misconceptions, keep reading….
A nursing home, was my first job as an art therapist. It was ok, it had it’s issues. I was not able to do art therapy the way I want to. It was a difficult time, when I wanted to do more in it with a different type of client. I decided I was ready to take the state counseling license. I passed the exam. And my next job was at a mental health agency. I really liked that job. I loved working with those with trauma, grief and depression. I was able to use some art during the sessions, after I had to convince them that it can benefit the agency.
Then I was ready to venture to a private practice. I liked it, but noticed that it was not giving me what I wanted, more clients who want art therapy. I want to be an ART THERAPIST!!!
So that is when I turned to online art therapy business. I can’t believe I am a business owner. I can’t wait to get this established and make my dream come true and help others through the art making process. I finally arrived.
About the misconceptions as I titled this post, is the misconception that art therapy is for children. Yes it is. But it is for all, all ages, all types of issues. ALL! We loose art making when we are about 7 years old. At that time school has conformed us to a system of reading, writing and math and now technology. Music and art and theater, seem to not be a focus, unless you are from parents who keep it in your schedule.
Art making for adults can be a challenging barrier to overcome. I heard so many comments about how they are not good at art, that they have not done art since elementary school, that a teacher said they were not good. Oh, how I cringe when I hear this. Art therapy does not care if you can’t draw, don’t know how to mix paint correctly, or know anything about art and art history. Although, I will help you along the way to understand more about the medium, if you want that. Art Therapy is about trusting the process, trusting the art therapist to walk you through the directives and allowing yourself to be open for the processing. The processing of the art is not about how well you drew it. It is about talking about what we see in the art, talking about the inner dialogue you had when making art and learning how to cope or overcoming your barriers in life. It becomes a visual representation of yourself.
For children, depending on their age level and developmental level, they can do some of the processing. But the younger children get to do more expressive arts. Meaning learning through the art making process, learning how to calm themselves by the art medium. They can develop a story in their art that helps to talk about anger, anxiety, stress, family issues, school issues such as bullying, performance anxiety etc.
For the elderly, art making is about processing their life, grief, end of life issues. It can be a time for them to enjoy the art materials. Maybe they once used to write, but can no longer hold a pencil. What better way to express themselves through art using finger painting, or device brushes to help them hold the brush. Again, it is not about the final outcome, it is about the process to express themselves.
So the misconceptions of art therapy is that you don’t need to know how to draw or paint, it is not only for children, and you don’t need to focus on a finished painting, it’s not art school!
Give art therapy a try, it will be a great experience whether you are in counseling or not.