MA in Art Therapy

Graduate & Post-Baccalaureate Degrees
MA in Art Therapy

	Art Therapy Faculty
	Art Therapy Course Descriptions
	MAAT Program Overview Brochure (in pdf format) see also: Graduate Admissions information

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RECENT ART THERAPY THESIS TITLES

Search for Identities Through Nonverbal Communication: Integrating Nonverbal Communication with Art Therapy Art Therapy and Ecopsychology: Art Making as Social and Environmental Action A Male Story of Sexual Trauma, Isolation, and Survival Through the Creative Process Home Sweet Home: Homesickness and Art Therapy in a Psychiatric Hospital Art as a Way of Understanding and Conveying Felt Meaning Dragon Heart: A Fairy Tale Exploring the Therapeutic Process of the Art Therapist Defining a Middle Ground Through Art Including Caretakers in Art Therapy with Children Art Therapy with Dually Diagnosed Individuals in Harm Reduction Setting: The Use of Puppets to Assess and Enhance Motivation for Change “Bad” Art: Building Positive Self-Concepts with Art Therapy If You Had the Chance: Installation Art and Saying Good-bye A Matter of Awareness: Eco-Art Therapy Developing an Art Therapy Assessment for Children Suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Art and Narrative Therapy with Survivors of Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, and Neglect Within the Juvenile Court System Different ways of Seeing: Photo Art Focusing on Nature Art Therapy as Crisis Intervention: Addressing the Emotional Needs of African-American Children in a Pediatric Setting A Shared Studio Experience With Adults Who Have Developmental Disabilities A Box of Ideas: Increasing the Presence, Clinical Skills, and Self-Care Abilities of the Art Therapist Through Creative Writing

Master of Arts in Art Therapy (MAAT)

Office: Sharp building, 4th floor annex
312.899-7481

The Master of Arts in Art Therapy (MAAT) program is one of the oldest professional art therapy programs in the United States and one of the few such programs in the nation offered by a professional school of art and design. The School’s program emphasizes the importance of making art as a means to aid others in gaining or recovering intellectual and emotional clarity.

The highly structured curriculum combines theoretical training and practical experience in the classroom, the studio, and clinical settings. The coursework, including 6 credits taught in affiliation with the Department of Psychiatry at prestigious Rush Medical University, follows a set sequence, while the studio classes, electives, fieldwork, and thesis allow for a wide range of opportunities and experiences. This flexibility is increasingly important as long-term care in hospitals declines and more art therapists work in schools, prisons, hospice, special-needs, counseling, and other contexts. Recent SAIC graduates have been hired by Community Counseling Centers of Chicago and Advocate/Good Shepard Hospital, as well as by the Pediatric Oncology Unit of Cook County Hospital, DuPage County Probation Department, and the Easter Seals Therapeutic School. The curriculum of the Master of Arts in Art Therapy program continually evolves to keep abreast and ahead of changes in the profession.

Students in the program gain more than 900 hours of clinical experience and complete at least two fieldwork placements, one working primarily with children or adolescents and the other with adults or the elderly. This training is supervised by registered art therapists and other mental health professionals, and a faculty of registered art therapists, licensed clinicians, and artists prepares students for registration and certification by the Art Therapy Credentials Board.

Valuing the hybrid nature of the field, the program welcomes candidates with training and experience in the visual arts and human services. Applicants should have completed a minimum of 15 semester-credit-hours in studio art and 12 credits in psychology (including abnormal and developmental) and have taken an Introduction to Art Therapy course. (Since such a course is not available everywhere, it can be taken at the School during the summer before beginning the MAAT program or during the first semester.) Candidates are required to attend one of two group interviews conducted in Chicago, although those living or studying abroad can make other arrangements.

It is the mission of the MAAT program to provide a balanced and comprehensive art therapy education that emphasizes the identity of the artist/art therapist and prepares graduates to provide professional art therapy services in a variety of settings.

See admissions and services for further details.

Master of Arts in Art Therapy Curriculum Requirements

Area Credit Hours

Clinical Courses

Psychopathology 3
Counseling Techniques 3
Human Growth & Development 1
Lifestyle & Career Counseling 1
Substance Abuse 1

9

Seminar

Seminar: Materials Workshop 3
AT Seminar: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives 3
AT Seminar: Assessment 1.5
AT Seminar: Research 1.5
AT Seminar: Groups 3
AT Seminar: Cultural Dimensions 3
15

Practica

AT Fieldwork I 3
AT Fieldwork II 12
15

Thesis

Graduate Thesis I: Art Therapy 3
Graduate Thesis II: Art Therapy 3
6

Art Therapy Studio 3

Electives:

Child Art Therapy or Family Art Therapy 3
studio or other approved course 9
12

Completion of the thesis

Total Credit Hours 60

1. Students have a maximum of four years to complete the degree (this includes time off for leaves-of-absence).

2. A minimum of 48 credit hours must be completed in residence at the School. Up to 12 transfer credits may be requested at the time of application for admission and are subject to approval at that time. No transfer credit will be permitted after a student is admitted.

3. Full-Time Status Minimum Requirement: 12 credit hours.