Introduction to Art Therapy

Catalog description

Introduction to Art Therapy is designed to introduce undergraduates to the philosophical, pragmatic and historical bases of the human service field of art therapy, with emphasis on current applications in the field of art therapy. This course provides a brief introduction to art therapy globally, with emphasis on art therapy within the United States, and other expressive therapies and their application to the overall mental health and human service professions. Art experiences, class discussions, case studies and study of artistic productions will be utilized to explore the relationship between art and healing. Students will relate material learned in class to their community by producing a community art project that will address their local community social or cultural needs. The intellectual frameworks and methodologies of art and psychology will be explicitly outlined and drawn upon within the course lessons. Weekly discussions include prompts to stimulate integrative thinking and additionally, reflective visual journaling will be required. Drawing upon the curricular materials of both INART 1 and PSYCH 100 (though not prerequisite courses), assignments for each lesson will include both reading and written discussion about art therapy. While students will acquire knowledge of part of the practice of art therapy, they will not study to the extent of a graduate program in the field. The narrowing of scope allows for a more basic introduction to the field of art therapy, as well as providing a solid foundation for those interested in practicing to pursue a graduate degree. And while students will acquire considerable knowledge of the major approaches in the field, as articulated in selected readings, they will not complete the work necessary to become a practicing art therapist. Instead, the selected readings will allow students to reflect on the relationships and connections between case studies and their own life experiences. The main objectives of the course are to explore the scope and practice of art therapy as a human services profession, art and art making act as a non-verbal benefit to communication, how to become an art therapist, credentials and prerequisites, multiple forms of expressive therapies, and community needs that can be addressed through art making.