Minimum Admission Requirements
Degree Requirements
Curriculum Sequence
Graduation Requirements
Practicum

Click Here for a printable information sheet on the M.A. in Counseling Psychology: Art Therapy Program.

Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology: Art Therapy

The Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology: Art Therapy program combines core counseling education and training, the theories and techniques of Alfred Adler, and education and clinical training in the field of art therapy. This program was approved in 1999 by the American Art Therapy Association and the State of Illinois. The program requires 61 credit hours in coursework including 700 hours of art therapy practicum. The art therapy program can be completed in two years with a fulltime course load over three terms for each of the two years.

This program provides students with the academic and clinical training needed to meet the education requirements to apply for registration as an art therapist and to seek counselor licensure in the state of Illinois.

Upon completion of graduate studies, a graduate may work toward completing requirements in order to apply for art therapy registration (ATR). Post-education, the ATR requires 1000 hours of clinical art therapy (direct client contact) including at least 100 hours of supervision or, at least one hour of supervision for every ten hours of direct client contact. A minimum of 500 hours of this work experience needs to be supervised by a credentialed art therapist. Up to 500 hours may be supervised by a clinical supervisor who is credentialed in a related field (e.g. social worker, counselor, or psychologist). After an art therapist is awarded an ATR, she/he may work to complete additional requirements in order to apply for the Board Certification examination. With successful completion of this examination, an art therapist is awarded the credential of ATR-BC.

Immediately upon graduation from this program, a graduate may apply to take the Illinois Licensed Professional Counselor examination. After receiving this license (LPC), a practitioner may work to complete additional requirements in order to apply to take the Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) examination. For students planning to work in another state, the school suggests that you inquire about licensing requirements specific to that particular state because licensing varies state-to-state. An online search on a state's website is a useful source of this information.

Art therapists work in a wide variety of clinical, educational and social service settings including medical and psychiatric hospitals, schools, wellness centers, drug and alcohol treatment programs, community mental health centers, correctional institutions, shelter programs and treatment centers for those who experience interpersonal violence, and community programs for immigrants and refugees.