ARTSblog

Michelle Dean

As we wrap up 2010, I write my last blog installment for ARTSblog, which features an interview with American Art Therapy Association President, Joan Phillips, Ph.D., ATR-BC. Dr. Phillips enthusiastically addressed the three primary elements covered in this blog about art therapy: vision for the future of art therapy; obstacles to achieving that vision; and strategies to overcome those obstacles and make that vision a reality from the perspective of the American Art Therapy Association (AATA). Dr. Phillips discussed the consolidation of the National office to the Washington DC area in order to achieve greater collaboration with policy makers and other officials, which may be a positive influence and advocate for the field of art therapy. She also noted the expansion of the dedicated staff of the organization, which includes a now Full-time Executive Director, Susan Corrigan, and an additional six support staff to better meet the needs of the membership, provide advocacy for the profession, and increase in public awareness about the value of art therapy. Read the rest of this entry »

Michelle Dean

In Part Two, a discussion regarding the vision for the future of art therapy from the Art Therapy Credentials Board’s (ATCB) perspective, Deborah A. Good, ATCB President and Rita Maloy, Executive Director, discussed additional endeavors to support a secure future for the ATCB and its credential holders. In the last blog, opportunities to become credentialed through ATCB were discussed and thus the discussion turns to the vision of mentoring new professionals, while helping those credentials grow credence outside of our profession. It has been noted that effective counselors, [and it could be implied art therapists] do not necessarily make effective supervisors (Dye & Borders, 1990) and so credentialing certifications have been developed to address this need.

First, let me discuss the implementation of the new certification for art therapy clinical supervisors. This credential, the Art Therapy Certified Supervisor (ATCS) is offered to qualified Board Certified Art Therapists, art therapists who in addition to obtaining registration have also successfully completed the board certification examination to earn the ATR-BC designation, and who are interested in demonstrating substantial supervision qualifications. Like the art therapy registration (ATR), the ATCS sets criteria including education, experience, and peer recommendations for potential supervisors with the goal to better prepare supervisors, while providing better tutorage of young professionals. In turn, this action may create a greater retention of professionals and ultimately increase career satisfaction. The ATCB is supporting the art therapy profession’s progress by establishing parity with other mental health professions, which have already established a credential for their supervisors, and that promotes recognition for the unique services art therapists provide while fulfilling the mission of the Art Therapy Credentials Board, to “protect the public through the competent and ethical practice of art therapy.” Read the rest of this entry »

Michelle Dean

What are all those letters after your name? is a frequent question I am asked, to which I often jest I have more letters after my name than in it. In a long-overdue, two-part installment of the blog, I will not only explain what all those letters mean, but also convey some significant changes that the granter of the credentials, The Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB), is making. Deborah A. Good, ATCB President and Rita Maloy, Exective Director, were very generous to grant an interview to discuss the vision for the future of art therapy from the ATCB’s perspective. The ATCB is an organization that credentials art therapists.  Credentialed art therapists must prove competency and are accountable to ATCB in terms of maintaining ethical standards of practice. The organization has recently unveiled an update of opportunities for becoming a registered art therapist (ATR), as along with a new certification for supervisors, the Art Therapy Certified Supervisor (ATCS). Additionally, the ATCB plans to apply for accreditation of the ATR-BC through the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) later this year. Read the rest of this entry »

Michelle Dean

As cited in the Green Pages: Does the intense federal focus on “evidence-based” practices results in a premature dismissal or disregard for therapeutic practices that are beneficial to many populations?

Let’s face it, value placed on evidence-based practices is not just because of federal funding but a cultural bias that values scientific method, in an attempt “to prove” or “validate” what is real. The economic origins of this long-standing bias are beyond the scope of this blog but none-the-less the question remains: How does art therapy fit in this model?  Well, not so well due to its very symbolic nature.  And why should it?

Although there have been great efforts to promote and conduct evidence based treatment (EBT) and research in art therapy, it may be said that art therapy (or any therapeutic relationship for that matter) is a symbolic process, which is embedded in a relation-based therapeutic practice. So when symbols or people in a relationship are taken out of context they lose their meaning. For example, it would be like taking two people in love and removing one person in the couple and plopping them down with someone else and expecting the same amorous feelings – this is clearly absurd.  Sociologist, Durkheim discusses the advantages of being in a relationship as a reduced risk factor to suicide. However, when an art therapist is actually working with a patient, the statistical risk factor is far less important than the qualities and meaning of the relationship. And it is those relationship qualities that are so elusive to measure.  Elkins debunks the validity of empirically supported treatments, by uncovering the insidious economic gains for the insurance and pharmaceutical companies. And Seife points out, in his soon to be released text, Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception, “Our society is now awash in proofiness. Using a few powerful techniques, thousands of people are crafting mathematical falsehoods to get you to swallow untruths”. Who is to say that what is being conveyed by the statistics of EBT are even measuring what they are claiming? Read the rest of this entry »

Michelle Dean

With the emphasis nationwide on access to health care for everyone, art therapists, creative arts therapists and other arts professionals need work to be included in the group of defined providers in national and local health care solutions. In the US, there are five major mental health professions that have occupational regulations, including: psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, counselors, and social workers. Lack of occupational regulations for art therapists in most states creates a challenge for inclusion in healthcare reform and insurance reimbursement.

Laura Greenstone, long-time, legislative advocate for art therapy, has worked tirelessly in her role as The Chair (and now Past Chair) of The National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations (NCCATA). As NCCATA Chair, Laura joined the National Arts in Healthcare Advisory Council, which was initiated by the Americans for The Arts, The Society for the Arts in Healthcare, The American Music Therapy Association, and other national arts organizations. The main task of the Advisory Council has been to create issue briefs for Arts Advocacy Day – an advocacy event held each year in DC where over 80 arts organizations and arts advocates gather to lobby in Congress. One can find the latest issue brief on Arts in Healthcare listed here: http://artsusa.org/get_involved/advocacy/aad/issue_briefs/2010/advocacy_issuebrief_011.asp

ARTS IN HEALTHCARE, is a multidisciplinary field dedicated to improving the healthcare experience for patients, families, and caregivers. This rapidly growing field integrates the arts, including literary, performing, visual arts and design, into a wide variety of healthcare settings for therapeutic, educational, and expressive purposes.  Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I was reading the book Looking Ahead, Planning Together: The Creative Arts in Therapy as an Integral Part of Treatment for the 90’s, a compilation of discussions between creative arts therapists at a 1984 symposium.  The text covers both the hopes for the future of creative arts therapies and the perceived obstacles to getting there.  Surprising to some, perhaps, is that many of the same issues discussed then are still being debated among art therapy colleagues today – in workshops, at conferences, and in online discussion forums – over 25 years later!  So, what has and has not changed since 1984?

One of the issues discussed in the book is the importance of education and the ability to “DEVELOP a new level of sophisticated dialogue that comprises many different levels of abstraction and conceptualization,” stated panelist and research psychologist, Martha Davis, (p. 83). Art therapist, Myra Levick responded, “The whole reason for […] communication is to increase our sharing and to avoid isolation.  If we can’t do that, we are going to be in trouble.  If we […] have something special, but we don’t tell anyone, then we do everyone an injustice” (p. 83). Read the rest of this entry »

In terms of relationships and the ability to bridge at least two terrains, I personally like Hermes as a possible mascot for art therapy.  All humor aside, Hermes was most commonly described as a Greek Olympian god of boundaries and travelers who cross them.  He was a translator and messenger from the gods (the spiritual realm) to the humans (an earthly realm). He was a psychopomp, meaning he was a conductor of the soul, on of his responsibilities included bringing newly dead souls (akin to those struck by symbolic illnesses in response to personal conflict or cultural affliction) from the Underworld or Hades (metaphorically – a dark underworld, a shadow world) and was attributed to bringing dreams to the living. Hermes gives us our word hermeneutics, the art of interpreting hidden meaning. 

Art therapy is very much about creating meaning, although too often meaning making is confused with interpretation. Art therapy involves both the creative emergence of meaning and the revealing of existing but veiled meanings. At its best, art therapy is a co-created experience, one in which mutual admiration and respect is given to the art making process and to the symbolic material of the individual, family or group.  It is a therapeutic experience in which art materials are used to facilitate insight, process and integrate experiences. It need not be a set of coveted techniques although they are spoken of frequently as interventions but instead covers an orientation and attitude towards everything that is creative in life. For it is the nature of imagery and creativity, like Hermes, to transcend boundaries, to dissolve them, recreate, and redefine them. Hence art therapy shares this distinctive quality of defying easy definition. Read the rest of this entry »

The quote “Hardening of the categories leads to art disease” is attributed to Kenneth Snelson, and his defiance to define his work as science or art. He described his work, a cross between aesthetic vision and the scientific inspiration behind the engineering of his sculptures, which defy the neat categorization of art or science. Art therapists too grapple with the continuum of the artistic and scientific but it is evident that hardening of any category related to a creative function can lead to a malady and stagnation.

Art, psychology and religion share a fluid symbolic nature. Thus it is the symbol, which is the lens that we may see the world.  It both consolidates and expands. And all symbols are relational, meaning when taken out of context they often lose their significance. Although some have their misconceptions about art and psychology, or should I say stigmas about either as a profession, they are often equally dumb-founded at the mention of combining the two into the profession of art therapy. Most of this is due to unfamiliarity with the concepts. So for clarity sake, let’s start with some of the basics. Read the rest of this entry »

Before we leap into the future visions of art therapy, I am going to spend a little time developing some ideas about the profession and the work itself, which in my opinion are not always one and the same. I am frequently questioned about what art therapy is and how it works. Sure, I have a rote answer I can give on the fly – a 30-second response for people who only offer a half-cocked ear. But I am not going to write about that here.

Reducing the practice of art therapy (and for that matter many things) to sound-bite size pieces of information robs the work of its integrity and diminishes the complexities of process and of people’s lives. Oversimplifications of a subject can dumb it down to the point of being meaningless. What I want to do is convey the depth, significance, and creative life-enhancing power of the work, and the advantages and limitations of this very diverse profession. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the next several months it is my intention to use the Green Paper document as a springboard for discussion regarding the vision for the future of the art therapy profession; obstacles to achieving that vision; and strategies to overcome those obstacles and make that vision a reality. I anticipate the topics will garner lively discussion and much feedback. It is my personal vision that this blog be a welcoming venue for dialog and a platform for exchanging ideas and connection. My goal includes relaying information about art therapy, current trends, and future opportunities, including input from art therapists practicing around the country and possibly the globe.  Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the Green Paper discussion on the future of Art Therapy. We encourage you to read the full Green Paper available in the tab above and make general comments at this time. Be sure to keep your comments brief—Michelle Dean, the Ambassador for this Green Paper will begin deeper, threaded conversations around specific paragraphs, sections or themes that appear in this Green Paper. Follow this conversation thoroughly by adding the Art Therapy feed to your RSS reader!