MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Art Therapy
Location: AU New England
Credits for Degree: 66 semester credits
Standard Mode of Instruction: Online, Low-residency
Standard time to completion: 36 months
Program Overview
This Art Therapy Concentration program is designed in alignment with CACREP and CAAHEP standards. Students develop comprehensive skills in art therapy concurrent with earning a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. The Art Therapy Concentration educational requirements align with CAAHEP standards to prepare students towards art therapy registration (ATR) through the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB). This program prepares students for licensure as a mental health counselor. Students in the art therapy concentration are trained through a variety of core art therapy and counseling courses including foundational counseling skills, professional orientation and ethics, social and cultural diversity, human growth and development, counseling theories, diagnosis & treatment, career counseling, group counseling, assessment and testing, research and evaluation, addictions counseling, crisis counseling, couples and family counseling, developmental & trauma-informed art therapy, history & theory of art therapy, techniques & practices in art therapy, art therapy assessments, and art therapy in diverse settings. The Art Therapy Concentration program promotes the development of a professional identity by encouraging an active and continuous examination of one’s self as an individual, one’s self as an art therapist and professional counselor, and one’s self as a social justice advocate. Students are prepared, as art therapists and professional counselors, to work with individuals, groups, and social systems within a multicultural global community to promote mental health and well-being for all.
The program is offered online with three separate, week-long, in-person residencies held on an Antioch University campus. The CMHC, Art Therapy Concentration MA is designed to be either a full-time, 36 month program cohort model, or a part-time, 48 month program cohort model, both with students entering in the fall semester. Students can expect to commit approximately ten hours per class per week to readings, media, assignments, creating art, peer interaction, and class preparation. The program begins with courses introducing the student to the counseling and art therapy professions while also learning and practicing basic art therapy and counseling skills and techniques. During the second year of the program, students continue to develop knowledge through more advanced coursework and practice counseling and art therapy skills through a variety of experiential learning opportunities. The program concludes with an Art Therapy Master’s Project and a clinical practicum and internship experience totaling 700 hours (100 in Practicum and 600 in Internship).
Students are required to use Zoom (provided by Antioch University) for class meetings and outside of class meetings to work with peers on class assignments. Students can expect a variety of educational methods such as creating art, recorded lectures, small group activities, written discussions, journaling, and assignments that are experiential in nature. The program includes three, separate, required clinical intensive residencies, typically held in May. The first intensive follows a successful completion of the Foundational Counseling Skills course and focuses on the development and demonstration of students’ basic counseling skills and art therapy within small groups. The second intensive occurs in the second year following successful completion of the Group Counseling course, providing an opportunity to lead and/or co-facilitate an art therapy and counseling group. The third residency provides students an opportunity to present their art therapy master’s projects. Students take the role of art therapy graduate assistant for foundational and group residency art therapy students and develop and lead community art experiences.
Students are required to have access to reliable internet, video, sound, and technology to fully participate in the program. Students are provided with a list of art supplies to have available during class meetings, which includes conventional two- and three-dimensional materials as well as a digital tablet (such as an iPad) and stylus. Students are held to the professional and ethical standards outlined in the Program Handbook, the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics, and the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) Code of Ethics.
Current Tuition and Fees
University Tuition and Fees
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