Art Psychotherapy – (M.Sc.)

Art Therapy involves the use of art materials for self-expression and reflection in the presence of a State Registered Art Therapist. Previous experience and/or skill in art is not required as the overall aim of Art Therapy is to enable a client to effect change and growth on a personal level through the use of art materials in a safe and facilitating environment. Art Therapy offers an opportunity for expression and communication and can be particularly helpful to people who find it hard to express their thoughts and feelings verbally.

The discipline of art psychotherapy draws upon the visual arts, psychotherapy and psychology and is applied within psychiatry, special education, social services and the voluntary sector. Art psychotherapists work with individuals, groups and communities.

Art psychotherapists enable clients to access their own image-making abilities. The therapist and their client jointly explore the meaning of the process and image/art object in the light of personal experiences and/ or interpersonal relationships that may sometimes be distressing or troubling. The aim is to facilitate the intra-personal and interpersonal communication of experiences that the client may initially find difficulty in discussing verbally. The art psychotherapists task is to support processes of emotional integration by providing a safe, reliable and containing therapeutic environment within which the client can create and use art making to develop insight and effect change.

The course aims to integrate learning across the theoretical, experiential and practical aspects of the training. It places the student at the heart of the learning process encouraging individual responsibility for learning. As students are mature graduates with many life skills and diverse work experience, the student cohort is regarded as a resource for peer learning and skills sharing. In this course, emphasis is placed equally on academic studies, experiential learning and supervised placements.

Art psychotherapists work with a wide range of clients and communities, individually or with groups, within the public and private sectors throughout the World. The course meets the requirements of the Health Professions Council Standards of Proficiency for Art Therapists. This degree attracts students from all over the world. Graduates work in a wide variety of different settings across the globe including health, education and the voluntary sector.