What You'll Do

  • Analyze data to determine the effectiveness of treatments or therapy approaches.
  • Analyze or synthesize client data to draw conclusions or make recommendations for art therapy.
  • Assess client needs or disorders, using drawing, painting, sculpting, or other artistic processes.
  • Communicate client assessment findings and recommendations in oral, written, audio, video, or other forms.
  • Conduct art therapy sessions, providing guided self-expression experiences to help clients recover from, or cope with, cognitive, emotional, or physical impairments.
  • Confer with other professionals on client's treatment team to develop, coordinate, or integrate treatment plans.
  • Customize art therapy programs for specific client populations, such as those in schools, nursing homes, wellness centers, prisons, shelters, or hospitals.
  • Design art therapy sessions or programs to meet client's goals or objectives.
  • Develop individualized treatment plans that incorporate studio art therapy, counseling, or psychotherapy techniques.
  • Establish goals or objectives for art therapy sessions in consultation with clients or site administrators.

Essential Skills

Social Perceptiveness 4.25/5
Active Listening 4.0/5
Speaking 4.0/5
Reading Comprehension 3.88/5
Critical Thinking 3.88/5
Monitoring 3.88/5
Judgment and Decision Making 3.88/5
Active Learning 3.75/5
Service Orientation 3.75/5
Writing 3.62/5
Complex Problem Solving 3.38/5
Coordination 3.25/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to understand the kind of profile this role rewards. It helps you judge whether this career looks like a stronger match than your current role, a nearby move worth exploring, or a broader path to compare more seriously.

Top passions

  • Helper: Supporting people and making a difference matters to you.
  • Artist: Creating original work and expressing ideas feels natural.
  • Analyst: Investigating problems and finding patterns keeps you engaged.

Common styles

Empathy, Cooperation, Sincerity, Innovation, Social Orientation

Want a personal read on fit? Take the free assessment and compare this career to your current role, nearby alternatives, and broader stronger-fit options.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Oral Comprehension 4.0/5
Written Comprehension 4.0/5
Oral Expression 4.0/5
Problem Sensitivity 4.0/5
Near Vision 4.0/5
Speech Clarity 4.0/5
Written Expression 3.88/5
Deductive Reasoning 3.88/5

Technologies & Tools

Adobe Acrobat Adobe After Effects Adobe Creative Cloud software Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Adobe Photoshop Appointment scheduling software Autodesk Maya Case management software IBM SPSS Statistics Image databases Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office software Microsoft Outlook Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Word Trimble SketchUp Pro Web browser software Zoom

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Empathy (High importance: 5.0/5)
  • Cooperation (High importance: 4.79/5)
  • Sincerity (High importance: 4.69/5)
  • Innovation (High importance: 4.57/5)
  • Social Orientation (High importance: 4.55/5)

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How to Become One

This career requires extensive preparation, typically including a graduate degree (Master's or Doctoral) and several years of experience. Most professionals in this field have invested significant time in education and training.

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Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Art Psychotherapist Art Therapist Art Therapy Specialist Arts Therapist Board Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC) Board Certified Arts Therapist (ATR-BC) Certified Art Therapist Cognitive Therapist Creative Art Therapist Creative Arts Therapist Creative Therapist Expressive Art Therapist Expressive Therapist Group Therapist Hospice Art Therapist Licensed Therapist Medical Art Therapist Oncology Art Therapist Registered Art Therapist (ATR) Rehabilitation Creative Therapist Rehabilitation Therapist Therapist

Career Fit FAQs

Is this career a good fit for me

This page shows the role itself. To see personal fit, use the assessment to compare your interests, motivations, and strengths against this career and against the role you are in now.

Can this help if I want to stay in my field

Yes. Many people use career pages like this to compare nearby roles in the same field and see whether they need a full switch or a better-fit version of the work they already know.

What should I compare first

Start with the daily tasks, the preparation level, and the work-style signals on this page. Then use the assessment to see whether this role looks like a stronger fit than your current role or just a different title.