Art Therapist

Also known as:

Therapist, Art

Introduction

Art therapists use art to help people with psychological or social problems to communicate more effectively and to express their feelings and emotions. They may work with clients who have physical or learning disabilities or mental health problems, in a school, hospital or prison.

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Work Activities

Art therapists use art to help people who have difficulty expressing themselves verbally, who have been through traumatic experiences which they have to come to terms with, or who have lost touch with their feelings. The art therapist aims to ease their clients' emotional distress and improve their quality of life. Some clients may not be able to speak, so artwork provides a valuable means of communication.

Art therapists work with a wide variety of clients including children, people with learning difficulties, asylum seekers, the elderly, psychiatric patients and offenders. They work with individual clients on a one-to-one basis and also with groups of clients.

Therapists work in rooms set aside for artwork. They offer support to their clients and encourage them to use different sorts of materials such as clay, paper, paint and collage. They believe that creating any kind of art is a therapeutic act. They may get their clients to work on their own projects or on group projects.

Art therapists do not judge a client's work, though they liaise with doctors and psychotherapists who may try to interpret a client's work, to help with diagnosis and treatment. The creative process, and the interaction between the therapist and the client, may help the client to take responsibility for their actions, share with other people and do more things for themselves.

However, improvements of this kind may take a long time and not all clients respond positively to therapy.

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Personal Qualities and Skills

You need a warm, friendly and supportive personality. You should be understanding and patient with clients and able to resist making judgements about what they do. You will also need to be a competent artist.

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Pay and Opportunities

National Health Service (NHS) employees are paid on a rising scale within defined pay bands, according to their skills and responsibilities.

In the NHS, art therapists start on Band 6 of the Agenda for Change pay scale. From April 1, 2008 this has been £24,103 - £32,653 a year. An art therapist principal can earn up to £44,527 a year.

Art therapists usually work a basic 37-hour week, which may include some evening and weekend work.

Employers include the NHS and local authority social work departments.

Art therapists also work in special schools, where they help children who may have learning difficulties or emotional problems.

Some therapists work in areas such as child guidance, family therapy and marital therapy, or in drug and alcohol treatment units and prisons.

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Adult Opportunities

It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

For many people this is a second career, which they enter after working in a related area such as art and design, occupational therapy or social care.

New entrants normally fund their own studies, however, it is sometimes possible to get sponsorship from employers or to apply for financial assistance from relevant medical charities and trusts.

• 48% of people in occupations such as art therapist work part-time.
• 10% have flexible hours.
• 2% of employees work on a temporary basis.

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