Art therapy is a means of expression, a communication tool that represents the imaginary through the non-verbal. The present work is a proposal for a project to be carried out in Universities, in order to try and experiment with students the language of symbols, specifically the paint, draw, shape, dance, write, recite: activities in which all the…

There is a clear need for greater diversity in the field of art therapy, with a particular need to increase the representation of racial and ethnic minorities in educational programs. In a sample of 16 art therapy program directors, strategies and barriers to recruitment were identified through an anonymous online survey. The results of the survey…

Art therapy master's programs are required to include research coursework in their curriculum; however, they differ in content and types of required projects. Students encouraged to conduct studies that increase the evidence base of art therapy may struggle to do so. This article describes a research collaboration that allowed a master's level…

Organizational scholars and neuroscientists suggest that when people are more emotionally engaged, they learn more effectively. Clinical art therapists suggest that the experience as well as the expression of emotions can be enabled or constrained by different materials. So then, what materials can be employed by management educators to achieve…

This study examined the psychological effects of art making in a sample of 57 undergraduate students. One week prior to final examinations, participants were randomly assigned to either an art-making group or a control group. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered before and after participation. Art making activities included painting…

Art making has been documented as an effective stress reduction technique. In this between-subjects experimental study, possible mechanisms of stress reduction were examined in a sample of 52 university students randomly assigned to one of four conditions generated by factorially crossing Activity Type (artistic or nonartistic) with Coping…

This viewpoint presents a reflection on a meaningful relationship that developed between a university art education department and a local art therapy studio. Such partnerships are desirable and mutually beneficial because of the significant interest many art educators have in the field of art therapy. The author, an art educator, describes the…

Simulation is used widely in medical and health professions educational programs. Standardized patients (SPs) are individuals who are trained to simulate specific symptoms or conditions as part of a structured learning experience with students. In this qualitative, phenomenological study the researcher interviewed 8 first-year graduate art therapy…

Assisting every student with special needs to give scope to their talents and to possess healthy personality and mature social skill that advance their careers at their working places is far from being easy. Within the domains of special education, students are placed in relative disadvantage when they bear cultural differences, and mental or…

Multicultural competence is essential to contemporary art therapy practice. Current education standards require that culturally sound theories and practices be taught along with self-awareness, but there is little research on the effects of such training in art therapy. The current study examined data from the Multicultural Awareness, Knowledge,…

This experimental study replicated Curry and Kasser's (2005) research that tested whether coloring a mandala would reduce anxiety. After inducing an anxious mood via a writing activity, participants were randomly assigned to three groups that colored either on a mandala design, on a plaid design, or on a blank paper. Anxiety level was measured…

This article describes a study of art therapy and music education students at a Midwestern university in the United States, who participated in single-semester service-learning assignments prior to their clinical internship or student teaching experience. Undergraduate music teacher-candidates taught music to homeschool students; art therapy…

A student's lack of belief in his or her own ability to do well in school can be a driving component of disengagement. In response, the author created art activities aimed to build students' confidence in their ability to learn, carry out a given art task, and identify a competence; such asset-based thinking approaches encourage students to reach…

This article draws on a participatory photography project conducted with 10 socioeconomically disadvantaged adult learners for six weeks within the framework of production pedagogy. Throughout the project, the participants took photographs about their lives in response to three prompts that I gave: (1) take photographs of people that are important…

This viewpoint asserts that art therapy education is a form of performance art. By designing class sessions as performance artworks, art therapy educators can help their students become more fully immersed in their studies. This view also can be extended to conceptualizing each semester--and the entire art therapy curriculum--as a complex and…