Job title: Art therapist

Who does an art therapist work with?
An art therapist, or art psychotherapist, helps children and young people work through difficulties using a wide range of art materials, providing a safe space for them to communicate issues that they may not be able to verbalise. They can work with a wide range of children and young people, including those with learning difficulties, mental health problems, disabilities, young offenders, young carers, children of prisoners, children and young people who have been abused and young asylum seekers. They may see some children for a few weeks and others for a number of years.

Art therapists work with children in a wide range of settings, including schools, prisons, youth centres, children and family centres, hospitals, hospices, child and adolescent mental health teams and private clinics.

What qualifications and training are needed?
Art therapists must hold a master’s-level postgraduate qualification approved by the Health Professions Council – generally an MA or MSc in art therapy or art psychotherapy –which can be completed over two years full-time or three years part-time.

According to the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT), many universities require applicants to have completed a set number of hours working with those who have mental health difficulties, disabilities or related problems. A portfolio of artwork is also usually required. Trainees must undertake personal therapy during the whole of their training and complete 120 days on clinical placement over the duration of the course. They will also study psychotherapeutic and psychological development of the child and their family grouping.

Qualified art therapists must register with the Health Professions Council, and can also register with the British Association of Art Therapists. They are required to carry out continuous professional development throughout their career.

What kind of people take up roles as art therapists?
According to BAAT, applicants to the master’s degree are often graduates in art and design or qualified art teachers, although applications are considered from professionals in the health, social care and education sectors if they can demonstrate ongoing personal involvement in art making.

What kind of salary can be expected?
Art therapists are employed by a wide range of organisations, including the NHS, local authorities, or voluntary organisations, or can set up in private practice, so salaries vary. Art therapists working within the NHS are generally graded at Band 7 (£30,460 to £40,157) with senior clinicians graded at Band 8a (£38,851 to £46,621).

How flexible is the employment?
Art therapists employed by the NHS generally work standard office hours, but private practitioners may work more varied hours, with weekend and evening work. There are opportunities to work part-time and also to do “portfolio” work, for example working for both the NHS and privately, or combining art therapy with other work, such as art teaching or as a community artist.

Although career breaks are possible, art therapists need to keep up-to-date with professional development to remain registered.

What are the rewards and challenges of the job?
Art therapist Avril Neagle is a BAAT member and co-founder of Artscape, a service linking self-employed art therapists with organisations looking to employ them. She says: “We are able to give the troubled or traumatised young people we work with a way to express themselves and communicate.

“Also, it is fun, you are working with children who have had a terrible experience in their lives – trauma, grief, loss – and they are able to enjoy what they are doing while you are working with them.”

The main challenge of the job, Neagle believes, lies in correcting misunderstandings from other professionals. “Some professionals have the impression that you are just doing a bit of art to help calm a child down, and anyone can do it. They don’t realise that we are qualified to a postgraduate standard.”

What is the job market like?
Competition for posts is high, and many jobs are not advertised. “There are not many jobs around, and those that are, are subject to cuts,” explains Neagle. Many art therapists generate their own work through speculative applications.

Find out more

• The British Association of Art Therapists is the professional organisation for UK art therapists. Its website includes information on training and qualifications, and a directory of art therapists. www.baat.org
• The Health Professions Council is the independent UK regulator that keeps a record of those qualified to practice in 15 professions, including art therapy. The organisation will take action against registered professionals who do not meet standards or who use a protected title illegally. www.hpc-uk.org
• The website for careers in the NHS in England includes information on salaries, qualifications, and other aspects of art therapy. www.nhscareers.nhs.uk