top of page

ABOUT ART THERAPY

“Art Therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship."

AMERICAN ART THERAPY ASSOCIATION

Stock (2).jpg

ART THERAPY

EXPANDED DEFINITION

Art Therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.

 

Art Therapy, facilitated by a professional art therapist, effectively supports

personal and relational treatment goals as well as community concerns. Art Therapy is used to improve cognitive and sensory-motor functions, foster self-esteem and self-

awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress, and advance societal and ecological change.

 

Art therapists are master-level clinicians who work with people of all ages across a broad

spectrum of practice. Guided by ethical standards and scope of practice, their education and supervised training prepares them for culturally proficient work with diverse populations in a variety of settings. Honoring individuals’ values and beliefs, art therapists work with people who are challenged with medical and mental health problems, as well as individuals seeking emotional, creative, and spiritual growth.

 

Through integrative methods, art therapy engages the mind, body, and spirit in ways that are distinct from verbal articulation alone. Kinesthetic, sensory, perceptual, and symbolic

opportunities invite alternative modes of receptive and expressive communication, which can circumvent the limitations of language. Visual and symbolic expression gives voice to experience, and empowers individual, communal, and societal transformation.”

ART THERAPY ORGANIZATIONS

ASSOCIATIONS
cata_logo.png
aata_logo.png
atwblogo2.jpg
BCATA_logo.png
EXPRESSIVE ART THERAPIES
ahnc_logo.png
ART THERAPY TRAINING IN BC
vati_logo_blue_500.png
Kutenai Art Therapy Institute Logo.png

RESEARCH & FURTHER READING

Can Art

Be Medicine?

The Psychological Benefits of Art Therapy

Where Art Meets Neuroscience

bottom of page