October 18, 2018
Ruth Guttfreund, MA, facilitates self-care workshops with multidisciplinary teams, offers art therapy workshops in her studio, CentrArte, and organizes exhibitions and talks in the areas of arts and health. As the only art therapist in El Salvador, Guttfreund says, “It is an uphill struggle advocating for the profession, not having colleagues or a local Association.” She values her AATA membership for the access to the Journal and networking opportunities that keep her connected to the profession.
Salvadorian by birth and from a migrant Jewish family, Guttfreund has had an internationally focused education and career. In Israel, she studied special education before moving to the United Kingdom to continue her studies in art therapy at the University of Hertfordshire, followed by education in counseling at Antioch University. She has experience in a variety of settings. In London, she worked at a Latin American women’s refuge in special education, at a community centre for youth with Down Syndrome, and in a Psychiatric Hospital. In Israel, she worked at a hostel with children at risk, in special education, at a women’s center, and in private practice.
Guttfreund returned to El Salvador in 2003 to join a violence and juvenile delinquency prevention project as an “arts as prevention” consultant. She has dedicated herself to psychosocial intervention projects, some of which have been financed by international governments and organizations such as the EU, UNDP, UNICEF, and the Spanish Embassy. In the future, Guttfreund hopes to see art therapy “recognized as an important and legitimate profession in every country in the world” and training develop in many more countries.
"Roaming Around the Unconscious” by Ruth Guttfreund. Graphite and pencil on watercolor paper. 2015.