Call For Papers

Arts in Health Conference:

The Society for the Arts in Healthcare is now accepting abstracts for presentations at our 23rd annual international conference, Arts & Health: A Global View. The conference, one of the foremost learning and networking opportunities in the arts in health field, will be held in Detroit, Michigan, USA, May 2nd through 5th, 2012. Presentations will be accepted in several areas, including: Practice, Healthcare Environments, Research and Evaluation, and Experiential Workshops. For complete information and to submit your abstract, please visit http://www.thesah.org/template/page.cfm?page_id=21.

Abstracts must be submitted by September 16, 2011.

Demystifying the Online Presence: Art Therapists and the Internet

Save the date: August 4th, FREE webinar hosted by AATA with yours truly! Register here.

It’s natural to feel skeptical or overwhelmed about the changing nature of social interaction and marketing. Although disregarding these changes may feel like the safe choice, this also limits your ability to network professionally, reach new clients and help others.

This Webinar, presented by Liz Beck, a Registered Art Therapist (ATR) living in the San Francisco Bay Area, will address common questions asked by art therapists about the benefits and pitfalls of having a digital presence, giving you the tools to decide whether being available online is right for you.

Topics include:
• What it means to have an online presence, and how it’s useful.
• Common questions and concerns about having an online presence.
• Appropriate places for a therapist to build an online presence, including a discussion about Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
• Why having a website is important.
• Why it’s important to keep your online content updated.
• What information is useful to include on a professional website.
• Simple guidelines to keep your professional online presence ethical.

If you know anyone who would benefit from joining this webinar, please encourage them to attend. There are way too many art therapists out there who avoid getting online and using new technology to the benefit of themselves and their clients.

Thank you for your support!

To Dr. or not to Dr.

After reading Cathy Malchiodi’s So You Want to Be an Art Therapist, Part Six: Should I Get a Doctorate?, I felt inspired to discuss my grapplings with the subject.

Getting a PhD is something I’ve considered at different points in my career, for various reasons, mainly as a way to solve my issues with CA licensing. (The LPCC has been passed, but due to budget issues the Board of Behavioral Sciences is not accepting applications, and no one knows when they will).

Here are some of my qualms about going back to school for a PhD of some kind:

• I’m unsure whether there’s a University in my geographical area that is willing to recognize my MA. I haven’t seriously applied and asked my degree to be evaluated, but when I’ve casually talked to representatives of various psyc departments, I didn’t get the supportive feedback I was hoping for. One alternative would be to obtain a PhD or PsyD from an online accredited University program.
• I’m unwilling to take on student loan debt.
• I’m not confident that another 3-5 years study, practicum, post-grad hours and studying for state licensure will bring me any further in my career than waiting to be able to receive the LPCC in CA.
• I’m unsure if I even want a PhD in a counseling or psychology field. I may be more marketable with a degree in occupational therapy or perhaps even nursing (each are recognized licensable fields with lots of job market demand).
• I’m interested in technology, ethics and how it applies to art therapy practice. I’m doing this learning independently with resources I’ve found throughout the internet, such as continuing education courses, message boards and blogs. I’m not convinced that a formal educational institution has the tools to guide my learning any better than what I’m doing myself (other than, perhaps, a teletherapy certification program).

Although my list is overall rather negative (which is why I’m not currently pursuing a PhD!), Cathy makes some excellent points for the positives of continuing your education, including the benefits of such education if your goal is to pursue a career as a researcher. Also, check out the video that she linked to her post—very amusing!

Is an MA in Art Therapy Right for Me?

Here’s a question from a reader, posted with her consent:

Liz,

I, like a few of your readers, came across your blog as I was searching for guidance on whether or not to return to school to study art therapy. I graduated from UC Irvine in 2009 in Arts and Humanities, but I mostly practice photography, mixed media, and 3-d arts. Some of the programs I have researched will require me to take a few classes in more figurative modes of art, as well as psychology (both I am glad to do, and would probably have done anyway, as I really enjoy school), but which would also require that I figure out what I want sooner than later.

I have been interested in art therapy for a few years now, but am also interested in studying non-profit administration. My main concern about going back to school, is investing time and money into a degree in art therapy and then being limited to being an art therapist because of that degree. Have you found this to be a problem for you or any fellow colleagues?

I would love to shadow an art therapist to get a closer view of if I can handle being an art therapist, but I am not licensed, so I am not really sure who would accept me.

Any information or advice you can provide me with would be infinitely helpful. Thanks!

Shannon

Hi Shannon,

Art therapy programs will certainly require certain psyc credits, and sometimes they’re specific about what types of art courses they’d like under your belt (you will need at least 3 formal art courses beyond what you do on your spare time). Some schools will ask you to bring a portfolio to the applicant interview. In terms of picking a school, definitely go to open houses and meet the program directors and teachers. It’ll help you get a better idea re: whether you’re a good fit for the school/program, and help make clear what prerequisites you’ll indeed need to focus on.

I’m not sure what non profit administration entails, but it seems like it maybe something you can learn with on-the-job experience? Art therapists can become a program director or clinical director of a non-profit after a certain amount of experience and licenses obtained. It seems that you’d need to think about what role you’d like to play within a non-profit organization, and research people with those job titles. You may find they have a psyc or medical background.

With an art therapy degree you can become limited in what jobs you qualify for. However, if you make sure you go to a program that not only fits the criteria for you to get an ATR (registered art therapist), but also a state license, such as LPCC, MFT or LCSW, your options will be more plentiful. Also, you should know that it takes several years of post-graduate work in order to obtain the hours to qualify for these licenses (so you won’t have them straight out of school).

Another option would be to get an MA in social work with an emphasis on non-profit work (ie: grant writing) and then do a post-masters certificate in art therapy. However, there are only a few schools that offer a post-masters certificate. Notre Dame de Namur in the Bay Area has this option.

In terms of volunteering, you can try emailing your local chapter of AATA (either NorCATA or SocalATA) and ask them if they know of any opportunities. You can also try to find community organizations that offer art groups to vulnerable populations. These groups most likely will be offered by artists who have a knack for working with the physically or mentally ill, but some maybe free groups offered by art therapists. Either way, it should help you get your toes into a world similar to art therapy.

I hope this helps!

Regards,
- Liz

Montreal- Creative Arts Therapies Week

Creative Arts Therapies Week

Concordia’s Department of Creative Arts Therapies, in partnership with the associations of creative arts therapies of Quebec, is pleased to host numerous activities taking place as part of Creative Arts Therapies week, March 19 to 28, 2010.

Highlights of the week include:

* Creative Arts Therapies Information Fair and Film Festival, March 27
Come see films, live demonstrations, and meet with industry professionals and representatives from organizations and training institutions. For details, click here.

* Creative Arts Therapies workshops, March 13 to 28
For details on drama therapy and dance/movement workshops regarding trauma and social change, click here.

* Creative Arts Therapies Week across Quebec, March 13 to 28
For a complete and bilingual list of province-wide events, click here.

Activities during Creative Arts Therapies week will emphasize the role of the therapist in facilitating and supporting the unique tools and abilities of participant with whom they are working. In workshops, information sessions, film viewings and conferences open to the public, interested individuals will be encouraged to learn first hand how collaborative experimentation in music, theatre, dance and art lead to increased resolution and healing in social, intercultural and interpersonal problems.

Guylaine Vaillancourt, Department of Creative Arts Therapies faculty member and professional music therapist, is proud to introduce author-composer-interprete Gaële as the official spokesperson of Creative Arts Therapies week.

“Her innate sense of the power of creativity and the richness of her songs evoque values from which we also draw, as creative arts therapists.”

For more information on Creative Arts Therapies week, contact Guylaine Vaillancourt by email at g.vaillancourt@concordia.ca or by telephone at 514-848-2424 ext. 5670.

For more information on Concordia’s Department of Creative Arts Therapies, offering Canada’s only two-year Master’s level degree in Creative Arts Therapies, click here.

DSM-5 Proposed Revisions

This list of revisions is not final. See the APA DSM-5′s website for further details.

Structural, Cross-Cutting, & General Classification Issues for DSM-5

Disorders Usually First Diagnosed in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence

Delirium, Dementia, Amnestic, and Other Cognitive Disorders

Mental Disorders Due to a General Medical Condition Not Elsewhere Classified

Substance-Related Disorders

Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders

Mood Disorders

Anxiety Disorders

Somatoform Disorders

Factitious Disorders

Dissociative Disorders

Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders

Eating Disorders

Sleep Disorders

Impulse-Control Disorders Not Elsewhere Classified

Adjustment Disorders

Personality Disorders

Other Conditions that May Be the Focus of Clinical Attention

Moving to California?

The following are portions of an emailed question from Aimee in Philadelphia, PA:

Hi Liz-
I just finished the drexel program (literally, last week finished thesis), and stumbled on your blog today.
Am interested in the art therapy-CA situation- i thought that the ATR was not recognized in CA and/or that it was difficult to get a job there unless also credentialed in marriage & family counseling.

Your blog is great, Thanks,
Aimee Pugh (I was in same class as Maureen Vita, who did the workshop w/ boxes at ATAA)

Hi Aimee,

Congratulations on finishing your thesis! Pfew!

The CA art therapy situation is looking much better now that ever. The LPCC license just passed, meaning that CA will now have Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors, which is what most art therapists are licensed as in all other US states. The LPCC will not come into effect until next year (Jan 2011), so there will be no jobs advertising LPCCs until then.

The same governing board will be managing the marriage and family therapists (MFT) , social workers (LCSW) and LPCCs. The name of this group is the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Once you are registered with them as a clinician or as an intern (which means you’re completing your post-graduate hours towards licensure) many more jobs become available to you. For example, if you look on craigslist in San Francisco under jobs and type in MFT or MFTI (the I standing for intern) and then do a search for art therapist, you’ll see a huge difference.

The trick is that our degree may not actually qualify for the LPCC- especially since we earned our degree out of state (PA has different licensing requirements than CA). I can’t tell you for sure if your degree meets all of CA’s requirements, because Drexel’s art therapy program has changed it’s curriculum since I went to school there. You should check the LPCC’s website. They have a list of degree requirements plus you’ll find a list of about 6-8 classes you’ll need to take on top of your degree. The courses are pretty much all available online through Alliant University and through JFK Univeristy under continuing education.

In terms of job prospects without a license, there are some out there…but you have to really look around. I managed to get a job just fine, and have been working full time in a great facility.

I hope this is helpful to you!
Happy holidays,
- Liz

Yayayayayyyyyy!

An excerpt from a recent email by Sarah Kremer, ATR-BC, Chair of AATA Governmental Affairs Committee:

CALIFORNIA COALITION FOR COUNSELOR LICENSURE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

September 11, 2009

California’s State Legislature has passed the counselor licensure bill!

SB788 (Wyland-Steinberg) passed on the Assembly Floor on September 8th with a vote of 70-5 and on the Senate Floor on September 10th with a vote of 26-1.

Next, the bill will go to the Governor’s Desk for his signature. The Governor’s desk is the last step in this seven-year effort by counselors to attain licensure in California. If all goes well, a counselor licensure bill will go into effect on January 1, 2010. Grandparenting and reciprocity applications would become available on Janaury 1, 2011.

Trauma Healing and the Arts

Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA hosted a conference last weekend entitled Trauma, Healing and the Arts. The keynote speaker was Linda Gantt PhD, ATR-BC, who also presented a half day workshop on The Graphic Narrative, an art therapy technique for processing trauma.

I attended both Linda Gantt’s workshop and Linda Chapman’s workshop entitled “The Right Hemisphere: Trauma and Art Therapy” (the Bay Area Linda Chapman, not the Toronto based one ;). Both workshops were informative and enlightening in their own way.

Gantt’s Graphic Narrative essentially breaks down the body’s natural trauma response, and uses art therapy to explore not only the step by step external happenings of the traumatic event, but the internal/non-verbal aspects as well.

Chapman discussed the Right Hemisphere of the brain and its role in childhood development, non-verbal experiences and how trauma is stored in the brain. Her work is mainly an integration of cutting edge neuroscience and art therapy theory, helping to demonstrate the role of art therapy and its usefulness in processing traumatic memories. She is in the process of writing a journal article for one of the art therapy journals…so be on the lookout for it, because it’s not only interesting – its groundbreaking work.

One of the best parts of the conference for me, was completely unplanned. Chapman blasted through her presentation, and had about 40 minutes to kill. After a thorough question and answer period, and still having time left over, an audience member asked her to talk about her experience with Vicarious Traumatization. Several other presenters talked about this topic, but since I chose other workshops to attend, this was the first I heard anyone speak of this subject in a public forum. Linda’s story was both touching and shocking. She discussed how after 10 years of working in a highly traumatic work environment (hospital setting), she herself developed PTSD symptoms: nightmares, difficulty sleeping, hyper vigilance, isolation, etc… In her experience, even after leaving her job 8 years ago and living a much more balanced life, she continues to experience symptoms. She made a very strong case for self care, knowing your limits and participating in 1:1 therapy (even if it’s on an as needed basis) to process everything that one maybe carrying around from the workplace.

Here is a link on Vicarious Traumatization or Secondary Traumatization that explains what it is and how to help prevent it.