This exhibition details the journey of conservation and hints at the power of art to heal. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of art therapy. While the halls and galleries of a Museum are my temple of healing, I would like to experience art’s power to heal in other settings such as classrooms, hospitals or shelters.

I recently had a conversation with two dear friends–one of whom is an art therapist/art teacher at a school for emotionally troubled kids in Virginia and the other of whom has experienced the healing of power of art at a local Indiana treatment center called Selah House. Their insights are shared below:

[Art therapist & teacher]
How do you become an art therapist?
To practice art therapy and to be considered an art therapist, you need to have a Master’s degree in art therapy. There are sometimes other requirements for practicing in various settings, but that is the minimum level. Refer to the American Art Therapy Association Web site for more.

How difficult is it to find work as an art therapist?
Location makes a big difference. It is difficult to be hired directly as an art therapist outside of major cities, primarily because art therapy is a relatively new field. With additional licensure and experience, you can be hired as a counselor, social worker or the like. If you would like to work outside of a major city, you would want to take additional graduate school credits in counseling and seek an LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor).

What do you consider the best and worst parts of your job?
I like working with adolescents who nobody else really enjoys working with. They are the kids who have tried really hard to get the adults in their life to give up on them. They feel like failures. Seeing them find a voice for self-expression in art and become successful at it, and therefore develop a sense of self-worth and more motivation to succeed in other areas of life, makes all the work worthwhile. Good art therapists are artists who have had life-changing or life-defining moments with their own artwork. They are the ones who understand the power that art has to heal.

What are the differences between art therapists and art teachers?
I think there are more similarities between them. I act as both, so I know that it requires more of a desire to help a student develop artistic skills to be an art teacher. Art teachers guide students with lesson plans designed to help them develop these skills. Art therapists guide clients with counseling skills and art tasks designed to help clients navigate whatever waters they are navigating in counseling. They both use art very intentionally.

Therapists need to be willing to look at deep issues. In doing that, you end up exploring a lot of deep emotional material that resonates with your own emotional life and life experiences. Judy Rubin, a renowned art therapist, said, “You cannot take clients where you have not been yourself.” Self-care is crucial, as is having good professional boundaries.

Art teachers need to be able to manage a classroom. You have to be comfortable with yourself as an authority member and being in front of a class. You have to be prepared and on your toes at all times so there is a lot of planning.

What contemporary art lends itself to art therapy exercises?
Dawoud Bey’s photography speaks to my students in a powerful way. They get really excited about it and can relate to it on many levels.

[Former art therapy patient]
What was it like to experience art therapy first hand as a patient?
While I could conceptually imagine what “art therapy” would be like, it was amazing to actually experience it. You think you know exactly what’s in your head…but when you draw and create what’s in there, it can be truly eye-opening. There’s something about taking the intangible and creating something concrete out of it. While it was difficult to dig through all the negative thoughts and emotions in my head, it was an incredibly freeing experience to see them on paper, work through them in therapy, and eventually literally burn them up to let them go.