“Art therapy steps in when
verbal therapy isn’t enough”
says Clara Keene of the
American Art Therapy Association.
A modality with no negative side
effects, it can provide the right treatment
for children, teens, adults, and the
elderly. Art therapy can address a broad
range of disabilities or diagnoses. These
can include behavioral or mental health
problems, physical disabilities or illnesses,
neurological conditions, and learning challenges.
A barrier to its greater use may be a lack
of information about what art therapy is
and what it is not. Art therapy is not the
teaching of art, a recreational pastime, or
occupational training.
It is therapy first and foremost, practiced
by degreed professionals. According
to the American Art Therapy Association,
16 DALLAS MEDICAL JOURNAL • February 2021
“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.”
In the state of Texas, art therapists
must have both a master’s in counseling
(an LPC) and earn the Registered Art
Therapist (ATR) credential conferred by the
Art Therapy Credentials Board, Inc., the
only organization in the nation with the
authority to credential art therapists. The
ATR generally takes two to three years of
additional training post-master’s degree,
with a minimum of 1,000 hours in direct
client hours and 100 hours of supervision.
An additional national test is required for
board certification to practice at the highest
level of ATR (ATR-BC). An experienced
ATR-BC with additional training in clinical
supervision may become an Art Therapy
Certified Supervisor. At this last level, one
may supervise art therapists and provide
education to students of art therapy.
The requirements to become and retain
the various ATR designations are demanding.
Each of the art therapists who were
interviewed for this article said that they
were motivated by the positive transformation
they were able to provide in those they
treat. For them, this profession is a calling.
Art therapists work with cancer patients,
military personnel and veterans,
prison populations, stroke victims, and
those suffering from stress, anxiety,
depression, and trauma sourced through
various causes. At Baylor Medical Center
in Dallas, under the auspices of the Art
in Medicine program, art therapist Ashley
Jones maintains an on-site art studio that
serves both in- and outpatient clients. Located
in the Oncology area of the hospital,
she and a colleague provide art therapy
for cancer patients, pre- and post-partum
women, and many others. Working with
patients who are recovering from surgeries
can reform the way that patients think
about their bodies, says Jones. Selfperception
can also be changed from a
PHYSICIAN WELLNESS
What new therapies can
you offer to patients
with stress, anxiety, and
depression when the
old standbys are not
enough?
By Katherine Wagner, CEO,
Business Council for the Arts
www.ntbca.org
Images courtesy of Arts in Medicine, Baylor University Hospital Center