Today is Mental Health Awareness Day and we interview Jan Bush, ED.D., ATR-BC. A board certified and licensed Art Psychotherapist, Jan will offer “ART ABOUT YOU” via the Creative Arts School at Old School Square’s new virtual classes. Improving one’s mental, emotional, and physical health translates to better overall health! Art therapy is designed to promote feelings of wellness, self-discovery, and creative tools for insight. Weekly classes promise to be fun, motivating and will help you reframe, recharge, and revitalize yourself. Be assured that anyone can participate! You do not need to have any art skills and you do not need to disclose any private information. “ART ABOUT YOU” contains a WOW factor of fun and is guaranteed to help you keep your stress levels low and your contentedness high. Sign up for this virtual class! The Rickie Report shares the details.
REFRAME RECHARGE REVITALIZE
“ART ABOUT YOU”
Four Week Virtual Classes Begin
October 15, 2020
1 – 4 PM
At Old School Square Creative Arts School
USING ART TO
DEVELOP SELF AWARENESS THROUGH
ONE’S PERSONAL SYMBOL MAKING
Jan Bush, ED.D., ATR-BC
305-989-2500
TRR: The Creative Arts School at Old School Square is offering some unique classes, including your “ART ABOUT YOU”. What should a student expect from this class?
JB:
This class will focus on Art Therapy-based directives and is not treatment oriented, as one might find in personal counseling sessions. Instead, this class is designed for wellness and self-enrichment with the leadership of a credentialed and licensed professional who will teach nourishing self-care practices on topics related to self-compassion, self-awareness, self-care, and identification of feelings. If you are interested in any form of artmaking and desire to learn creative approaches with your feelings and communication styles and want to have fun, this class is for you. The art media used is based on a student’s free choice or suggestions that will be offered. I look forward to helping my students learn that in this class, art is something you do—not something you make.
TRR: What is an Art Therapist?
JB:
Credentialed art therapists are healthcare professionals who provide services to people of all ages in a variety of care settings and through private practice. They work in hospitals, clinics, K-12 schools, educational institutions, nursing homes, community programs, prisons, recreation facilities, mental health settings and nonprofit agencies. They often work with other medical professionals to create treatment plans to help people address health and well-being.
TRR: How did you begin your career as an art therapist?
JB:
I began my interest in art and helping others in the late 1960’s. I was in high school in my home town, Miami, where I volunteered at a childrens’ group home. I wanted to pursue professional study of Art Therapy in college, but I learned there was no undergraduate major in the field. I majored in fine arts, education and psychology. And fortunately, I was able to participate in community work at a local private psychiatric inpatient facility where I mentored with a prominent art therapist clinician. Later, I pursued graduate studies at Hahnemann Medical College (aka Drexel University) in Philadelphia and became a registered certified clinician. In 1976 after graduate school, I returned to Miami, and slowly developed an “in” to the Miami Dade County Public Schools. My dream was to bring art therapy to the children in public schools. However, no one had heard of art therapy nor were there any job openings or an employee structure for the hiring of an art therapist.
I became successful in implementing a pilot program which was later accepted in the schools as a full-fledged mental health component for children identified as having behavioral difficulties. I am credited for contributing to the fields of psychology and education as the first therapist in the nation to have laid the foundation for a mental health program in public education, in the field of clinical art therapy for Miami’s Dade County Public Schools. My endeavor established a national model for art therapy in school settings and I subsequently authored the pioneering textbook, The Handbook of School Art Therapy – Introducing Art Therapy into a Public-School System, (CC Thomas Publishers, 1997). Through my long-term and pioneering work, I received a National Distinguished Clinical Services Award from the American Art Therapy Association and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Miami Dade County Public Schools.
I am a Registered-Board Certified Art Psychotherapist with the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) and the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB). My breadth of clinical practice has not only included educational settings but also medical, psychiatric and outpatient settings, correctional facilities and social service agencies helping clients with a range of issues such as depression and anxiety, grief and loss, substance abuse, behavioral disorders, physical disabilities, relationship problems, career and educational concerns, LGBTQ issues and other life events.
Internationally known, I have consulted, presented, and keynoted my work for higher education, hospitals, educational settings, non-profit groups, agencies and professional organizations. Additional professional work has included developing clinical curricula for higher education, evaluating counseling programs, mentoring aspiring art therapists, writing books, clinical guides and articles and pursuing original research. I have been featured in local, state and national print and broadcast media including television shows, radio programs, newspaper and magazine articles, podcasts and NBC’s nationwide network news. Presently, I serve as a consultant in private practice based in Palm Beach County Florida. I have been fortunate to have the superstar nod in the field and have been a popular speaker presenting courses, invited keynotes, workshops and other learning opportunities for educational, medical and business settings across the USA.
TRR: What is art therapy and how does it work?
JB:
Art therapy has been around since the 1940s. Two pioneers in the field, Margaret Naumburg and Edith Kramer used art therapy to help clients tap into their inner thoughts, feelings and experiences through creative expression. Therapists use patient art expressions to encourage them to talk about the images and to begin to look to themselves for meaning and insight. Combined with talk therapy, it can help people deal with emotions, increase self-awareness and self-worth and decrease stress and anxiety.
The basis of art therapy is a means of helping mental and emotional health. It comes from the unique effect of the creative process. While traditional psychotherapy involves a dialogue between a clinician and a patient in need of help, art therapy adds a facilitating tool for expression and analysis of personal issues. Through the creation of art, patients are able to tap into deeper feelings, perhaps things that are difficult to express in words. Every single person is unique, and therefore problems with mental health are similarly personal, but art is known to grant access to different parts of the mind, making it easier to explore a huge variety of issues, ranging from childhood trauma or repressed memories to identity confusion, career struggles or relationship issues.
TRR: What are the benefits of art therapy?
JB:
Art therapy has proven itself to be a valuable tool for facilitating self-exploration and is widely seen as a viable, unique and revelatory therapeutic approach. When words are not enough, we turn to the arts to help repair and to tell our stories. And in doing so, we find pathways to wellness, recovery and transformation.Some of the benefits are:
• art making is healing and life enhancing
• we can more easily express uncomfortable emotions, and work through conflicts, by using images in addition to words
• by making art we enhance communication
• art therapy gives us new perspectives on our problems and at the same time provides an avenue to try out new solutions
• through a variety of simple materials, everyone can find comfort and strength
• the art product gives us a clear look at the issues which are sometimes complex or vague, making them easier to understand
• art gives us a tangible record of change – documenting our story and progress as it unfolds
TRR: How is art used in therapy?
JB:
An art therapist uses a variety of art media such as sculpture, drawing and painting in combination with psychological counseling to treat mental and emotional trauma. The art is used as a helping tool to broaden awareness and discovery. It is the patient’s personal stories associated with the art and the art therapist’s guidance that provides eventual healing.The relationship between a therapist, an individual, and the art process and art products is essential to art therapy and includes purposeful dialogue and specific therapeutic interventions in response to both process and product.
TRR: Is art therapy beneficial to a specific gender or age group?
JB:
No. Art Therapy is applicable to all people of all ages and with many different life issues who have a desire for personal growth and/or who have difficulties in negotiating their tasks of daily living.
TRR: What areas are treated by art therapists?
JB:
Therapists may specialize in various symptomatology although art therapy is applicable to a variety life issues. Signs and Symptoms Include:
Anxiety, Depression, Substance dependency, Stress, Post traumatic stress, Attention deficit, Hyperactivity, Aging issues, Cancer, Compassion fatigue, Heart disease, Anorexia, Bulimia, Eating disorders, Cognitive impairments, Family relationships, Wellness, Relaxation, Delusions, Paranoia, Hallucinations, Inability to cope with daily problems, Trouble understanding or relating to situations/people, Substance abuse, Eating habits, Sex drive, Anger, hostility, violence, Suicidal thinking, Relationships, Distraction, Personal achievement, Empowerment, Self management skills, Improve communication skills, Past traumas, Reduce stress, Improve problem solving skills, and Build self-esteem.
TRR: How has art therapy changed over your career span?
JB:
New and evidence based discoveries in art therapy have created outstanding opportunities for art therapists to practice in new environments and treat patients with diverse conditions. Research has been trending in favor of art therapy in allied health and integrative–mind-body–medicine arenas. The field has also widely embraced discoveries about art and the brain, information that supports the application of specific art-based approaches in the amelioration of stress, integration of trauma memories, treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, reduction in pain and fatigue perception, and improvement in quality of life, especially for those challenged by disability or illness. Art therapy is clearly demonstrating that it successfully addresses many somatically-based conditions including trauma reactions, post traumatic stress and depression as well as many neurological and cognitive disorders. More importantly, art therapy is proving itself to be an effective intervention in improving overall quality of life and in perceptions of wellness.
As seen on a Sussex Directories Inc site
TRR: What are the educational requirements of an art therapist?
JB:
People who wish to enter the field must possess 18 semester hours of art studio courses and 12 semester hours of psychology courses. A bachelor’s degree, often in psychology, art or education is required. They then apply to a master’s degree program in art therapy. According to the American Art Therapy Association, prospective art therapy graduate students must submit a portfolio of their artwork in order to be admitted to an art therapy masters degree program. Art therapy degree programs typically last about two years. Students enrolled in a graduate program for art therapy take classes related to psychotherapy, psychology, human development, ethics, patient assessment and other subjects related to the art therapy field. Graduates of a program typically earn a master’s degree in art therapy. They may also earn a master’s degree in counseling with a concentration in art therapy. Some art therapists return to school to earn a Ph.D. in art therapy or related fields.
TRR: What are the Certification Requirements?
JB:
Art therapists are required to be certified by the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB). After earning a master’s degree and fulfilling post-graduate art therapy experience requirements, new therapists are eligible to earn a certified credential to become a registered art therapist (ATR). Registered art therapists must successfully pass a written exam administered by the ATCB to become board certified (ATR – BC), which is a more advanced credential (www.atcb.org).TheArt Therapy Credentials Board, in alignment with the American Art Therapy Association, manages the credentialing and testing processes of art therapists to ensure the professional and high-caliber practice of the profession. Their mission is to “protect the public by promoting the competent and ethical practice of art therapy through the credentialing of art therapy professionals.” (ATCB, 2017).
Depending on the state of practice, art therapists may need to attain additional licensure in art therapy or a related mental health field. There are only a handful of states requiring licensure at this time, although most states are politically active in pursuing the regulation of the field through licensure. (https://arttherapy.org/credentials-and-licensure/) The American Art Therapy Association supports federal and state policies, legislation, regulations, judicial actions, and initiatives that encourage, promote, and support efforts to gain a professional art therapy license and licensure of art therapists. Until each state has art therapy licensing, individuals hired as art therapists should have a masters degree in the field, their Art Therapist Registered credential (ATR) and their Board Certification (BC) credential, since this is the terminal registration for the field.
TRR: Are art therapist easily accessible to the general community?
JB:
There are only 7500+ art therapists in the USA. Being a small field, there may not be great accessibility to a local art therapist. Hospitals and related care facilities must budget for positions. Often budgets fall short of providing a host of services, especially in the mental health area. Many art therapists have had to create their own positions, much like I did. Some are hired as related service providers and are able to provide art therapy services together with the requirements of their position.
For more information about this class offering or to contact Jan:
Jan Bush, ED.D., ATR-BC
305-989-2500
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