Maryland Art Therapy Association

		Board Members President - Julia Andersen, ATR-BC Vice President - Charlotte Boston, ATR-BC Correspondance and Public Information Chair - Cathy Goucher ATR- BC, LCPC Treasurer - Ann Quinlan, ATR-BC Committee Chairs Ethics - Bonnie Kauffman, ATR Membership - Elizabeth "Biz" Shaner MA Program - Eena Bass-Feld, ATR-BC, LPC Legislative Chair, Amanda Bechtel Please contact Julia Andersen or Cathy Goucher for more information about joining MATA.

Educational Training Requirements to be an Art Therapist

An art therapist's studies are a multi-disciplinary approach combining the fields or art and psychology, with professional entry at the Master's level. These studies explore the integration of the developmental, psychological and creative artistic processes. Training programs require experiential practicums during graduate study totaling 1,000 hours. One must also acquire another 1,000 hours of postgraduate paid experience both under the supervision of an ATR (Art Therapist Registered) along with didactic work in the therory and practice of art therapy. An art therapist also has the option of becoming ATR-BC (Art Therapist Registered and Board Certified) by sitting for an exam. Some areas of valuable interest to art therapist are history, art education, perception, symbols and symbol formation, uses of color and form in communication and the function of art in society.

The closest Masters level art therapy training program to the Baltimore-DC metropolitan area is the Art Therapy Program at the George Washington University: www.gwu.edu/~artx/