How to Pick a Therapist

The search for a therapist can be overwhelming! There are so many of us out here!

How do you pick?

We have all these letters after our names and acronyms all over our websites, clinical jargon that is confusing, and everyone has a different personal approach.

Well, while I can’t give a definitive process for selecting a therapist, I can give you some information to be aware of when you look.

About Art Therapy!

According to the American Art Therapy Association, “Art therapy is a mental health profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.”

There are a lot of therapists out there who truly believe in the therapeutic benefits and powers of making art. Obviously it’s a thing, or I wouldn’t have a job title haha!

The unfortunate thing is not everyone understands what it takes to become an Art Therapist. “Art therapists are clinicians with master’s-level or higher degrees trained in art and therapy that serve diverse communities in different settings… Guided by ethical standards and scope of practice, their education and supervised training prepares them for culturally proficient work with diverse populations in a variety of settings. They are credentialed mental health care professionals who care deeply about the communities they support, helping to advance people’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being” (AATA).

So what does this actually mean?

This means that to be an Art Therapist and facilitate Art Therapy with individuals or groups or families, I have to have Master’s Degree in Art Therapy. Not a Master’s in Clinical Counseling or Social Work with an intense love and passion for art. Art Therapy programs follow similar training courses to Counseling and Social Work but with a very specific focus on how art works in therapy and how to use art to enhance the therapeutic process.

How to know if someone who says they provide Art Therapy services is actually trained and qualified?

Look at all those letters after their name. Is there an “ATR” or “ATR-BC” or “ATCS”? Those are the credentials put forth by the American Art Therapy Association and Art Therapy Credentials Board. They show that Art Therapists have gone through the training and supervision required to provide ethically safe art therapy services.

Or you can politely ask, is your Master’s degree in Art Therapy? Some Art Therapists choose not to pursue credentials specific to their Art Therapy degree, choosing instead to focus on licensure in their state, whether that be a “LPC” or “LCSW” or “LMFT”.

Please understand that no one is intentionally trying to deceive you or lie about what they do. They often don't understand the amount of training required to become an art therapist.

But now you have a nutshell idea.

If you want more information you can visit http://arttherapy.org/

Go on and use that increased knowledge of Art Therapy and pick you the best therapist for you!

Best of luck on your Quest toward mental health.