Elizabeth Beck

Taken from a favorite blog of mine (for obvious reasons), Hapticity.

Has the video caught your interest? Download yourself a free PDF copy here.

Considering writing an article for issue #3? Check out the submission guidelines here.

Creativity Explored, a non profit located in San Francisco, is a studio for developmentally disabled artists. The artists are taught by other professional artists, and their work is sold in the Creativity Explored galley, as well as during art exhibitions.

It’s a wonderful place to visit and the artwork is stunning. In fact, some of the artwork has been purchased by CB2, a furniture company, and is currently for sale on pillows and handbags. A percentage of each of these three items sold will go directly to Creativity Explored…how much of a percentage, I don’t know.

You can also purchase artwork and related Creativity Explored products online. According to the webiste, 50% of the procedes go directly to the artist. The other half, I’m assuming, goes back into the non profit organization itself.

Green Youth Arts and Media Center, an Art in Action sub-project, is set to open in mid January with state of the art computers, high-end software and recording studios. They’re planning to serve more than 200 Oakland inner city youth who are coping with gangs, violence and struggling to stay hopeful. According to the SF Chronicle, the Green Center is being funded by Peapod, a foundation started by the music group the Black Eyed Peas, and Adobe, maker of software such as Photoshop and Illustrator.

Read more about the center in this article by the SF Chronicle.

Here are a few other responses regarding the media’s, bloggers’ and twitterers’ recent comments about art therapy’s role in the rehabilitation of terrorists.

I suppose some bad press about art therapy is kind of a good thing. Finally it’s big enough to be on people’s radar.

Yesterday, it was reported that two released Guantanamo prisoners who received rehabilitation in Saudi Arabia, which included art therapy, were behind the terrorist plot to blow up a plane headed from Amsterdam to Detroit on 12/25/2009. This maybe the same program that I blogged about in early 2008, or something similar.

Not only is the media putting down the idea of using art therapy for the rehabilitation of terrorists, for example ABC news stating,

“Saudi officials concede its program has had its “failures” but insist that, overall, the effort has helped return potential terrorists to a meaningful life.

One program gives the former detainees paints and crayons as part of the rehabilitation regimen.”

But art therapy is also being talked about in the blogosphere. For example, Ann Althouse, the prominent law-professor-blogger, jokes about the use of art therapy and states,

“Whether it was weak art or strong art, it was not something to be prescribed to turn men away from terrorism.”

Do terrorists who underwent art therapy treatment, and still tried to blow up a plane, prove the failure of art therapy? After re-reading the original article I posted from CBC news, I noticed that art therapy was a part of an experimental rehabilitation program that included other types of therapy. I’m certainly not an expert on the rehabilitation of terrorists, but this program was taking on a huge task that has not been undertaken before (hence the term “experiment” in the beginning of the article). It seems as if its goal was to change the deep-seated ideology of people who harbor extreme and violent views and then return them to the same communities that supported this view to begin with. It’s like sending the rehabed alcoholic back in the community without addressing the social aspects of their behavior. Perhaps it’s even dangerous for these “ex”-terrorists to stop conforming with their “ex”-social community. I’m just speculating. As I said, I’m no expert on such matters, but my feeling is that the failure of this program has little to do with art therapy and its efficacy. Rather, it has everything to do with the nature of forcing ideological change, which is unlikely to happen even when one considers the power of art.

Making art therapy out to be child’s play is a misrepresentation of what art therapy is. Crayons and paint can be powerful tools for creation, exploration and self-transformation. Is it a guaranteed cure for all that ails you? Can it make the suicide bomber into Mother Theresa? Of course not. And guess what: any (therapy) program that offers utopia is trying to fool you.

Now—if only we could work on getting more art therapy research out there, so we can actually talk about its efficacy in a meaningful way.

Les Impatients and the Wellington Center in Montreal, Canada, have teamed up to bring art therapy to the Douglas Hospital’s outpatients who receive community mental health and rehabilitation services.

Here’s an article from CTV news and a video describing the new art therapy partnership.

Will art critics ever be replaced with pigeons? Read the article here. (And you were worried robots would eventually take your job…)

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