Art Therapy, Post Master’s Certificate

Student Learning Outcomes

• Understand the historical development of Art Therapy as a profession, Art Therapy theories and techniques, as a foundation for contemporary Art Therapy professional practice.
• Distinguish among the therapeutic benefits of a variety of art processes and media, strategies and interventions, and their applicability to the treatment process for individuals, groups, and families.
• Recognize that Art Therapy, from a multicultural perspective, takes into consideration the specific values, beliefs, and actions influenced by a client’s race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, political views, sexual orientation, geographic region, physical capacity or disability, and historical or current experiences within the dominant culture.
• Select culturally and developmentally appropriate assessment and evaluation methods and administer and interpret results to identify challenges, strengths, resilience, and resources for Art Therapy treatment planning.
• Develop culturally appropriate, collaborative, and productive therapeutic relationships with clients.
• Know federal and state laws and professional ethics as they apply to the practice of Art Therapy.
• Recognize and respond appropriately to ethical and legal dilemmas using ethical decision-making models, supervision, and professional and legal consultation when necessary.
• Recognize clients’ use of imagery, creativity, symbolism, and metaphor as a valuable means for communicating challenges and strengths and support clients’ use of art-making for promoting growth and well-being.
• Recognize the legal, ethical, and cultural considerations necessary when conducting Art Therapy research.
• Apply principles of human development, artistic and creative development, human sexuality, gender identity development, family life cycle, and psychopathology, to the assessment and treatment of clients.
• Understand professional role and responsibility to engage in advocacy endeavors as they relate to involvement in professional organizations and advancement of the profession.
• Continuously deepen self-understanding through personal growth experiences, reflective practice, and personal art-making to strengthen a personal connection to the creative process, assist in self- awareness, promote well-being, and guide professional practice.
• Pursue professional development through supervision, accessing current Art Therapy literature, research, best practices, and continuing educational activities to inform clinical practice.
• Recognize the impact of oppression, prejudice, discrimination, and privilege on access to mental health care, and develop responsive practices that include collaboration, empowerment, advocacy, and social justice action.
• Understand the basic diagnostic process and the major categories and criteria of mental disorders, corresponding treatments, and commonly prescribed psychopharmacological medications.
• Recognize the foundational purposes of research and its application to counseling and art therapy, define methodologies, research design, arts-based research, concepts of validity and reliability, apply research concepts through the completion of a culminating research project.
• Identify and apply theories of effective programs and treatments for individuals and groups in various inter-professional settings, apply strategies for program development, treatment planning and evaluation, understand a systems approach to helping relationships, and appropriate referral processes for accessing community resources.

Admissions Requirements

• Complete the online application and pay the application fee.
• Provide an official transcript verifying an earned baccalaureate and Master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education. Include all transcripts of courses taken outside of the degree that contain prerequisite courses. International applicants should contact graduate admissions for additional guidance (GradAdmissions@pennwest.edu).
• Provide the name, email address, and place of employment for two (2) references (electronic reference requests will be emailed to each).
• Complete and Admissions Essay that is 750-1000 words, written in APA 7th edition format and contains at least two references that addresses:
  • Why do you want to start art therapy at PennWest?
  • In your research, what have you learned about the profession of art therapy?
  • What are the personal and professional experiences that have you led you to choose a career in art therapy?
  • How do you envision your future role as a professional art therapist counselor?
• A link to an online portfolio (ex. Flickr, Dropbox, Snapfish) of 20 images of applicant’s art demonstrating a variety of 2- and 3-D pieces.
• Prerequisites*:
  • A Master’s degree in a related mental health profession.
  • Studio Art Credits: (18) graduate or undergraduate credits in 2- and 3-D studio art areas. Up to six credits can be done as portfolio approval.
• An interview is a requirement of the admission process for the Counseling programs. Once your application is complete, it will be sent to the Program Coordinator for review. If selected for an interview, the Coordinator will be in contact with you. Interviews are scheduled for 30 minutes and are conducted using Zoom.

Curriculum Requirements

Core

• COUN 7500 - History and Theory of Counseling and Consultation in Art Therapy Credit Hours: 3
• COUN 7510 - Media and Materials in Art Therapy Credit Hours: 3
• COUN 7520 - Clinical and Group Art Therapy Credit Hours: 3
• COUN 7530 - Art Therapy Practice & Assessment Credit Hours: 3
• COUN 7540 - Professional Functioning, Standards, and Ethics in Art Therapy Credit Hours: 3
• COUN 7550 - Introduction to Art Therapy Research Credit Hours: 3
• COUN 7560 - Advanced Research and Program Evaluation in Art Therapy Credit Hours: 3
• COUN 7590 - Internship Credit Hours: 6 (total of 6 credits)

Related Electives

Total Number of Credits to Complete the Program: 31