AT professional credibility/training options?!?!

This is an old, slightly updated post from Petrea Hansen's Art Therapy in Cananda chat forum.

Posted by Toby B. on October 14, 1997 at 02:58:08:

Have any art therapists or art-therapists-in-training at the other end of this server encountered any discrimination (academic/professional; internal/external; overt/covert) towards their professional credibility based upon their having received a master's degree in the expressive therapies? I am very interested in the issue of professional credibility of art therapists within the existing hierarchy and have been feeling like my particular concern may in fact be a non-issue.

Because one does not have to receive a master's degree in the expressive therapies to qualify as a candidate for board certification, there are many avenues to becoming an ATR-BC. I have chosen counseling psych at Lesley College with a specialization in the expressive therapies, yet feel like I am assuming that this is a "wiser" choice as far as professional and/or academic flexibility goes (as opposed to a master's in ex tx). I firmly believe that my education will be a rich developmental experience either way, but will "they" agree, or better yet does this really matter to "them," or is it all just me trying to make an issue out of something that exists solely inside my own skull?

Though I would love to take more courses in art therapy now, I won't lose interest if the formal training is postponed for the purpose of supposed job security. Even though counseling psyc is an exciting foundation from which to build almost any career (egad!), the connections to art therapy are pretty abstract to my relatively new clinical mind.

I would appreciate reading your input into this matter in order to establish a larger sense of professional awareness and community.

Is this something that you've thought about? Do you have any resources to recommend? My hope is that others who are in and interested in the field would find your information useful in either dispelling or substantiating this matter and ones like it. Apart from my practicum supervisor and faculty members, I have found very few venues to discuss these concerns and feel like this would be helpful to students and future art therapists.

Thanks for your input!

Toby Bazarnick sbazarni@student.lesley.edu http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/3729

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