It used to be that almost no one had heard of art therapy as a regulated mental health profession.  Back when I first announced my intention to become an art therapist at the age of 17, I was discouraged by several adults (none were relatives, thank goodness).

I persevered and became an art therapist, but I had to figure out my own path.

Assessment is a very important element of art therapy and any form of therapy, for that matter.  Assessment drives the entire therapeutic journey ahead, as data from the assessment is used to help the therapist (sometimes in conjunction with the client) develop a blueprint for what the journey will look like or consist of.

Some people think that EMDR and art therapy may be quite comparable for mental health treatment.  But if you’re looking for healing from trauma, there are differences that need to be explored so choices can be made about which kind of treatment is the best for you.

The Expressive Therapies Continuum is a framework for making responsive, outcome-informed decisions in client-centered care.

But what does that really mean?  What is responsive?  What is outcome-informed?  What is client-centered?

Many people have heard of art therapy within the last several decades, but they’re still not sure who’s at the helm of art therapy and what this person DOES.  It helps to know this info if you’re thinking of enlisting the support of an art therapist to overcome anxiety, depression, and host of other emotional experiences.

It’s also helpful to know what an art therapist does if you’re thinking of becoming one!

All good ideas come from somewhere.  The Expressive Therapies Continuum is no different—in a nutshell, it’s a broad framework that is used by some art therapy practitioners to make responsive decisions in the individualized treatment of a vast array of client populations and a wide range of clinical issues.

But using it in this way is contingent upon understanding where it came from, or more accurately, who it came from.  Without understanding the ideas and intentions of the minds that made the Expressive Therapies Continuum, the model easily becomes oversimplified and reduced to something that is a mere shadow of its potential.       

If you’ve been curious about art therapy as a form of mental health treatment for anxiety, depression and other uncomfortable emotional experiences, then read on to learn more!  Art therapy is actually the name of a regulated mental health profession—not a modality—so that means different art therapists are likely to practice in different ways.

In short, what art therapists do and what art therapy clients do will vary according to the art therapist’s training and the client’s needs.

People are increasingly wanting to know where art therapy is used, whether they live in Texas or elsewhere. After all, gone are the days when art therapy was a poorly known treatment for anxiety, treatment for depression, and treatment for stress.

The public is savvy now and is asking for art therapy services. But where is art therapy used?

Therapists have been throwing around the term “burnout” like it’s so much a part of our identity that we don’t even need to understand what it really means, much less what to DO about it. I offer art therapy in Austin and have been monitoring this problem for years, so I’d love to share what I’ve learned with you—because when you’re informed, you are able to make choices and take action in the face of challenge.

That’s RESILIENCE! And resilient therapists stand a much better chance of helping clients develop resilience too.

The words “therapy” and “therapeutic” get thrown around so frequently anymore, it’s hard to tell when they’re used in a way that meets the threshold of something based on assessment and treatment! This brief article will help you tell the difference between art that’s tied to goal-oriented clinical services vs. art that’s tied to personal enjoyment in the moment.