How I Became an Art Therapist

Do you ever stop and look back at how far you’ve come? I did some thinking this week about my journey of becoming an Art Therapist. The career found me BUT it took me years to overcome myself to really step into the role. I am finally fully pursuing it and I’ve learned so much along the way. I’ve learned about myself, what I really wanted, what I needed to overcome and most importantly, what it took to own my gift. Today, in my new video I share every step and misstep I took in becoming an Art Therapist. If you’re curious about my journey or the profession itself, I recommend watching it!

MY JOURNEY IN ART SCHOOL (How I let someone take my Creativity away and how I get it back):

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[oghosameganekhaguosa]

this is so beautiful, i'm 15 and i love art but i don't know what exactly i want to pursue with art. i love reading about physcology and i would love to become an art therapist when i grow up!

[jessicalingo]

Im thinking of pursuing art therapy. For me i struggle with mental health issues. For a long time i didnt know what issues those were (therapists did little help) in my pursuit to finding out why i am the way i am i came to love psychology. Ive had a very tough life with childhood trauma and incarnation later in life. While incarcerated i had nothing to do so i wrote. I wrote stories and i sae that despite the teachers growing up i was pretty good at it. I originally thought i wanted to be a writer of some kind. But then i started to draw as well. That invigorated me like no story was able to. Im autistic so my art is quite usual in its geometric shapes but ive had people say it's amazing. After my incarnation i started to dive deeper into my art more as a therapeutic form for me. Through therapy we did art from an art therapist and it intrigued me very much. I started to do research on it. Given my incarnation background and mental health issues i kept thinking i can never be an art therapist but as im doing more research on the topic i see it is an option i can pursue. Also seeing the ages people started their art therapy path gives me courage to see that i still have time. Thank you

[leanzadoodles]

This is so inspiring! I’ve been creating art my whole life too and took up art school, but the jobs I’ve had are mostly graphic design-based and do not fulfill me... I’ve been very interested in psychology for years and am considering studying it, but now I think art therapy is such a perfect combination of the two, I’m definitely gonna be looking into it!

[atallnobody]

Now I feel inspired; I understand how you feel. I was in art class and felt drained by my perfectionism and criticism; my need to control an outcome. I just graduated with a bachelor in psychology yet I still crave the art life. I was so worried about whether I was enough to handle an art therapy program or others. I find that to be a guide for someone I have to be a living example or living testimony so I like to continue to dream of practicing the healing arts with creativity.

[aida]

Hello Erica, what an incredible story, your blessed to have figured it out early in life and thank you for sharing!! This is weird because I just saw a post about Art Therapy on Instagram, got interested, then just came on here researching "Is Art therapy an in-demand career and is it worth it?" and I was intrigued by your BEAUTIFUL face and video title!! I'm a late bloomer in college (started in 2012), so at 58 years old I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know my purpose in life!! When I was younger I wanted to be an Art teacher and my Mom always encouraged my Art!! But unintentionally, ending up a perfectionist because of bad criticism experiences in school, I haven't done Art in years!! Fast forward to 2019, I've always been read up on mental health and wanted to learn more and, so two years ago I took my first Psychology class and loved it!! We did a presentation on "Anxiety" and one of the therapies was Art therapy!! This same time, I took an Art 100 class and also loved it!! Since then I've been drawn to wanting to try Art therapy because I felt that using Art as a cognitive/behavioral therapy, would help people with mental health issues and I've always loved helping people in some way!! I'm just SO tired of trying to figure out my purpose in life when all along, this is what I believe I should've been doing all of these years!! I'm so sorry for the long message but does this make sense lol, thank you in advance!!🥰🙏🏼🙏🏼

[Stardust.]

this Just confirmed for me that art therapy is the field I'm suppose to be in. that's what I'm being drawn and called to do. thank you so much erica

[handmadebyappy]

I have a bachelors degree in Psychology honors, a masters degree in clinical psychology and have been doing crochet professionally for the past 8 years.. I’m really really keen to study art therapy 😊

[Roxie_J_the_Ruler]

I needed this.. I just saw a random art therapy online class and I was curious if it was something I should do. I’ve been an artist my whole life. A professional tattoo artist for 11 years and I’m experiencing burn out with just tattoos all the time. You have motivated me. I appreciate you! And I subscribed!

[_minaimi]

thank you for sharing your experiences!
i’m currently an undergrad speech and language pathology sophomore and with all my time put into studying with no art involved, i feel like i’m losing my passion and creativity. i’ve been wanting to take fine arts ever since i was young but i was and still am externally pressured to take speech pathology. i’ve recently heard about art therapy as a career (after some research here and there) and i’m planning on taking it after i finish because i just see myself enjoying and making use of my full potential. i really do hope that it’ll all work out when the time comes.

[PriscillaPerez-upru]

Thank you for this!! Ive been an artist my whole life, my dad taught me since 2 years old...I'm 35 now and I've created an online 8 week program to help people know themselves more through art....I basically am doing art therapy without even knowing thats what it is! I just grew this huge love for personal development in 2020 and then decided to share my learnings and tools through the form of art. I am now just getting more clarity that this is a career I am thinking to pursue! Doing my research and trying to find an online school. :)

[meditacionconlorea]

Wóoo finding you in gold! I was so creative that I studied Textile design but University was not very uplifting... I worked as an independent jewellery designer but there was always a " I'm not good enough" thing... After getting some kind of success, I left it all and I became a healer, therapist ... But again, I had that feeling, so this career also didn't work. I decided to travel to India and I became a yoga and meditation teacher. I did a lot of mindfulness, yoga and crafts workshops with children over there, but still didn't feel it was all for me. At the moment I feel a bit confused about which path to take, I spend time painting and creating as it's my way of expressing all my emotions, my kind of meditation. I love psychology but I feel that it's too late to start studying again... And part of me keeps looking at Art therapy as the perfect combination of my path, your story is so inspirational ! Thank you so much for sharing your journey!

[sonarasanders]

i am 18 going into college as a freshman in august. i will be majoring in art therapy and i am very excited! thanks for the video!!

[caseyclark]

Beautiful story. thank you for sharing!! I had a similar story with my art in general. My art was actually through dance. As a child my life came alive through dance as a kid and created many magical moments in my childhood. (I also love making other types of art also). But when I became a college student.. I was aware that other people just had better dance technique. And I was told that it's very challenging to make a living as a dancer. And making other art wasn't a way to make money either ... so then I was lost as a dancer and art creator. basically i felt that society didn't accept how I was and my gifts. What I had wasn't needed on earth... it's very heart breaking. ... Years later I reconnected with art and remembered to value the process. And I became involved with expressive dance classes that were not about technique. I found the joy again. And i'm still finding it. ..

[basicallymystic]

Omg I had the same experience in art school ! I’m pursuing art therapy now too, so cool to hear your journey!!

[Beth]

Wow I am so grateful to have stumbled upon this video. I’m at a point in my life where I’ve had no inspiration to paint- I truly thought I was the only one experiencing this..but your video has inspired me to know everything will fall into place. Thank you

[dianaclift]

I am so glad that I found you on here :-) I am studying a masters of mental health in art therapy and I am so happy that I can combine my love of art and my love of counselling.

[kimariehoard]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story. I have been a first responder for 20 years and the last 6 years focused on self-care for first responders and critical incident stress management. I also discovered mixed media during that time and now I am halfway through a life coaching certification that focuses on art...really excited and now after hearing this I want to get my degree....sending good thoughts and love your way

[DeneMonkey]

1:38 omg i did the same thing when i came depressed and glad i found someone else who felt the same way

[afuama]

Thank you for sharing - I love the part about how you veered away from art and rediscovered in another way, through a red flower. In the opposite - I left psychology and became disenchanted with it, to find art and (funny enough - a year solo traveling the world) to be what brought me back to making and world cultures again. Your words were like a high-five.

[InspireHealthSystem]

Thank you for sharing your path towards becoming an art therapist! ❤🎨 Sounds like a fantastic and meaningful profession to consider! 😊