Art therapy is a sort of expressive therapy in which the arts are used to relieve stress and express feelings. It can also help people improve their cognitive, sensory, behavioral, affective, and physical abilities. Taking one of these free art classes, whether you’re an artist or not, could be just what you need to unwind after a long day.

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After taking our art therapy certification online course you will have a thorough understanding of just how powerful this form of psychotherapy can be. The positive transformative benefits of Art Therapy are rapidly becoming well known and the therapy is being practiced to assist with a growing number of problems.

This form of therapy involves encouraging free self-expression using a variety of art forms including drawing, painting or sculpting. The therapy process uses art media to tap into the creative process, helping participants to improve their mental health through coping mechanisms, stress management, and an improved self-image.

Art Therapy has proved particularly beneficial for mental health clients who need assistance in coming to terms with trauma, depression, grief, loss, substance abuse, severe illness and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfYs7FTBuRY

What you will learn with our Art Therapy Certification Online Course

• Introduction to Psychology
• The Development of Mental Health Treatment
• How did Art Therapy Develop?
• The Basic Concepts of Art Therapy
• How is Art Therapy Practiced?
• Principles of Art Therapy
• Types of Creative Therapy Continued
• Art Therapy and Child Development
• Art Therapy and Mental Health
• Art Therapy Techniques

How can I do art therapy myself?

Deal with emotions like anger and sadness through these helpful exercises.

1. Draw or paint your emotions. …
2. Create an emotion wheel. …
3. Make a stress painting. …
4. Put together a journal. …
5. Make sock puppets. …
6. Use line art. …
7. Design a postcard you will never send. …
8. Create a sculpture of your anger.

Can art therapy be done online?

On Zoom, the camera angles were tricky to figure out, but the benefit of virtual art therapy was easily apparent. Not only did patients like Gougeon feel more protected from the coronavirus, many were also more comfortable sharing personal details in the privacy of their own homes.

Art Therapy Certification Online Course – Requirements

The Art Therapy Certification Online Course is delivered 100 percent online.

To successfully complete this course, a student must:

• Have access to the internet and the necessary technical skills to navigate the online learning resources
• Have access to any mobile device with internet connectivity (laptop, desktop, tablet)
• Be a self-directed learner
• Possess sound language and literacy skills

Quick Course Facts

1. Course content is structured for easy comprehension
2. Registered students gain unrestricted access to the Art Therapy Certification Online Course
3. All course material is available online 24/7 and can be accessed using any device
4. Study online from anywhere in your own time at your own pace
5. All students who complete the course will be awarded with a certificate of completion

Art Therapy Certification Online Course Outline

Module 1 – Introduction to Psychology and Neuroscience

Part 1: What is Psychology?

Psychology is the study of the mind. The brain and how it functions have been studied for many years. We, as a species, used to throw many types of theory and opinion at human behavior.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism focuses on environment as the factor which affects the psychological health of an individual. When a behaviorist focused psychologist works with a client they focus on controlled experiments.

Psychodynamic Psychology

Sigmund Freud was a psychodynamic psychologist. This particular perspective focuses on early experiences in life as a reason for behavior in the current day.

Humanistic Psychology

Two of the most in influential and enduring theories in humanistic psychology in the 1960s are those of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology studies how thought patterns and memories work within the mind. This perspective believes that thinking patterns, including memories and prior learning, cause mental health problems.

Biological and Evolutional Psychology

Biological psychology was initially triggered by Charles Darwin with his belief that we are all a product of genetic influence and the innate, unconscious need to survive as a biological species.

Part 2: The Development of Mental Health Treatment

How did we begin to notice that art and creativity was a great tool for psychological therapy? Before we discuss the grass roots of art therapy let’s take a quick look at the history of mental health treatment in general.

Part 3: Mental Health Treatment Today

Thankfully, we have come a very long way with our approach to mental health. There are a number of therapy types inclusive of counselling, CBT, NLP and variations of them.

Part 4: Neuroscience

In this section, we will discuss the process within which communication occurs in the brain, recent scientific findings on how the brain and body is linked, along with the stance of medical science on how art therapy benefits the brain.

Module 2 – Introduction to Basic Principles of Art Therapy

Part 1: How did Art Therapy Develop?

Art is one of the oldest forms of communication and self-expression. Even in the earliest days of our world, humans created works of art, first in the form of cave paintings and later in less “primitive” manners.

The Rorschach Inkblot Test

Despite its widespread use, it has also been the center of much controversy. It has often proven to be difficult for researchers to study the test and its results in any systematic manner, and the use of multiple kinds of scoring systems for the responses given to each inkblot has led to some confusion.

Part 2: The Basic Concepts of Art Therapy

Art therapy is a form of therapy that uses art as the primary form of therapeutic expression. Therapists in this field can help their clients interpret and understand their feelings and emotions through the art that they create.

Part 3: How is Art Therapy Practiced?

Art therapy is widely practiced in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, psychiatric and rehabilitation facilities, wellness centers, forensic institutions, schools, crisis centers, senior communities, private practice, and other clinical and community settings.

Module 3 – Creative Therapy

Part 1: Art Therapy: Two Main Approaches

The course explores art therapy today. We consider how and why art is used as therapy, the benefits and what actually defines art. The objective of this module is to give a student a comprehensive background in this type of therapy.

Two Main Approaches

• The first is to be process intensive.
• The second approach is not to be so concerned with the process of making the art, but with what the person is consciously or unconsciously expressing through their art.

Assessment

Assessment often comes at the beginning of art therapy, and usually happens during the first session that the therapist has with the client. Assessment is used by the therapist to find out what the client is going through, and to gain any other information that he or she may wish to find out about the client.

Treatment in the Beginning

The very first thing that needs to happen during the first session of treatment is for the therapist to establish a good rapport with the client.

Mid-phase of treatment

It is fairly hard to know when the treatment has moved from the beginning portion to the mid0phase, but there are a couple of key differences that do mark the mid-phase.

Conditions Treated

An art therapist is often part of a larger care team for the individual. There may be nurses, doctors and psychotherapists all involved in the larger care plan. Art therapy is utilized in the following areas on a regular basis.

Part 2: Principles of Art Therapy

The principles of art therapy are to offer as many communication mediums as possible to anyone that is suffering, has been through trauma or feels disconnected from the world around them.

• Cognition
• Personality
• Social

Types of Creative Therapy

Although art therapy may seem like it just uses the traditional art methods, this is not true. When we talk of art therapy in general we have to accept all forms of art, inclusive of music, movement and other creative mediums.

Part 3: Types of Creative Therapy Continued

• Dance Therapy
• Dramatherapy
• Music

Part 4: Expressive Arts Therapy

Some practitioners talk about a larger discipline referred to as expressive arts therapy, which combines the visual arts, dance, drama, music, writing and other creative processes to foster deep personal growth and community development.

Module 4 – Mindful Creativity

Part 1: Art and Mindfulness

The course explores mindfulness as part of art therapy. Increasingly accepted as a highly effective treatment for many psychological health problems, mindfulness practice is an essential part of happiness. Art therapy promotes mindfulness and the two work well together.

Coloring

As children, we spend hours creating and coloring. As adults we stop, usually because we think there are better things to do, and often because we overlook the benefits of coloring or creativity.

Stress and Mindfulness

With long working hours, excessive pressure, sedate lifestyles and poor diet, stress has become a condition that can cause severe illness and even be fatal.

Mindful Living

Mindful living is rare with humans in the West. We are raised to believe that to be busy is successful. We go from school to college, where we study and work in the evenings. Then we launch into a career. We meet partners, have children, buy houses and are encouraged to volunteer or get hobbies.

Part 2: Mindfulness and Meditation

Breathing is the first step towards mindful living. We can concentrate on our breath, regardless of the situation, and we can always return to the breath for centered thinking.

• Becoming Mindful
• Meditation
• Mindfulness Based Art Therapy

Module 5 – Color and Creation

Part 1: How Art Therapy Works

Module 5 discusses how art therapy actually works for the individual, along with common art practices. We will also delve into the world of color. The objective of the module is to give the student a better idea of what happens at art therapy sessions.

Art

The art that is created in each session, or the reluctance to do so, is completely individual to the creator. This is the reason that the art therapist must be highly skilled in psychology to some degree before training as an art therapist.

Part 2: Color Therapy

There is a holistic profession called color therapy which is different to the use of color as part of art therapy.

Color Psychology

The psychology associated with color has been a long-explored topic, yet needs further evidence to be fully accepted scientifically.

What Is Color?

Sir Isaac Newton discovered the effects that we call color today. He learned that when pure white light passes through a prism, it separates into the color spectrum that we are able to see.

Part 3: Latest Color Research

Most psychologists view color therapy with skepticism and point out that the supposed effects of color are often grossly exaggerated. Colors also have different meanings in different cultures. Research has demonstrated in many cases that the mood-altering effects of color may only be temporary. A blue room may initially cause feelings of calm, but the effect dissipates after a short period of time.

Module 6 – Art Therapy and Child Development

Part 1: Art Therapy and Child Development

The course talks of art therapy for child development and how art can be used to communicate with and understand children of all ages. The objective of this module is to give the student a thorough grounding in how art therapy works with children.

How Art Therapy with Children Developed

One of the earliest designated ‘art therapists’ to work primarily with children, in the 1940s, was American pioneer Edith Kramer. She considered that it was the art activity itself that had inherent healing properties; that an object could emerge out of destructive and aggressive feelings which would symbolize those feelings and thus prevent them being acted out.

Children and Color

There have been a number of studies on how color psychology affects the learning patterns of children. As a child grows and develops, the neuropathways in the brain are also developing. Color itself can help with this, and it has been discovered that if children are looking through the goggles of their favorite color, they are often more motivated and happier to learn, plus they actually perform better at the task.

Helping Children Cope

Children in particular are very vulnerable, therefore any psychotherapy must be carried out by experts. There are many different problems that can be treated with art therapy.

Part 2: Child Brain Development

The development of a child’s brain is affected by both the internal and external environment. Studies are showing that genetic in influence can be affected by what happens in the world.

Part 3: Interpretation by Therapists

The book Detecting Child Abuse by Lynne Cantlay provides interpretation to drawings by children. It is vital that whilst we provide you this information for interest purposes, it is not to be used in a therapeutic approach unless you are a qualified therapist, nor assumed that it is completely accurate in any or every case.

Part 4: Art Therapy vs Play Therapy

There is understandable confusion about the distinctions between play therapy and art therapy with children. Here, too, the differences are not always visible on the surface. A session of art therapy with a child or a group might look very much like play therapy, especially if there is any media exploration or dramatization.

Module 7 – Wellness and Art

Part 1: Art Therapy and Mental Health

The course talks of how art can help people to deal with and recover from illness. Art therapy is used in many ways, with people that suffer will both mental and physical illness.

Specific Mental Health Problems

Let’s take a look at how art therapy is currently being used to aid people suffering with very specific mental health problems.

Depression

Depression is diagnosed by a medical expert such as a GP or psychologist. Currently within the UK, GP’s scale depression with an assessment of how serious the condition is and how adversely it affects the patient’s life.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder used to be called manic depression and is an illness that consists of highs and lows in mood or motivation. This is a serious illness that is usually managed by medication. Lows render the sufferer unable to function whilst the manic episodes lead to severe risk taking.

Schizophrenia

Art therapy has been associated with cases of schizophrenia in recent studies. Medical experts have published a number of findings on the benefits of art therapy for the schizophrenia sufferer.

Dementia

Art therapy has also been used effectively for people suffering with dementia and similar cognitive dysfunction.

Grief

Grief is a life changing experience, and art therapy can help people to understand their feelings and channel grief. If grief is not accepted, then it can lead to depression and a lifetime of unhappiness.

PTSD

Sufferers of PTSD are also finding value in art therapy treatment as described here by art therapy.

Part 2: How Art Therapy in Psychiatric Services has Developed

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, some psychiatrists, stimulated by the possibility that what had been thought to be irrational might make sense after all, became fascinated by the spontaneous art of the mentally ill.

Necessary Conditions for Therapists

The prevalence and urgency of severe mental illness challenges therapists to develop hope-inspiring approaches for working with this population.

Module 8 – Art Therapy with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Part 1: What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or series of events, such as combat, in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened, causing feelings of intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

How Art Therapy Can Help

While PTSD was not recognized as a diagnosis until 1980, the use of art expression in trauma intervention appeared in the late 1970s. It was observed that art expression could be useful in the treatment of trauma, particularly for individuals who were unable to communicate their experiences with words alone.

Part 2: Therapeutic Mechanisms

There was considerable agreement among the art therapists whose clinical perspectives were included in the analysis about core therapeutic mechanisms and about conceptual models that explain how art therapy can help reduce positive symptoms of PTSD, such as intrusive thoughts and hyperarousal, and less obvious negative symptoms such as avoidance and emotional numbing.

Part 3: Therapy Methods

There was overall agreement that emotional safety, self-efficacy, and self-worth must be developed as a foundation for further therapeutic work. There were mixed views about whether sessions should be structured or unstructured and whether or not there is a role for free art making without instructions from the art therapist.

Module 9 – Art Therapy with Older Clients

Part 1: Changes Related to Ageing

In this module, we will discuss the changes related to aging and how art therapy can be used to help elderly clients cope with these changes.

Changes Related to Ageing

Changes related to ageing fall into two general categories: physical-biological and psychosocial losses and crises.

Physical-Biological

Physical changes occur to the hair, which thins and grays; visual and hearing acuity declines; skin wrinkles; muscles and bones weaken; joints become inflamed; and sexuality changes with menopause and impotence.

Psychosocial Losses and Crises

In our culture that favors beauty and youth, one’s job status may be lowered in favor of promoting a younger less experienced colleague, leading to loss of self-esteem.

Part 2: How Art Therapy Can Help Older Clients

Whether to touch the past in “life review,” or as a way to find order in the changing present – art can be a veritable lifeline for those whose world has shrunk, and whose days have become heavy with empty time. The sensory aspects of art materials provide pleasure in contact. There is also a sense of pride in having formed something new and beautiful. Art is one way to fill the need for “vital involvement in old age”.

Module 10 -Playtime!

Part 1: Art Therapy Techniques

This module is a collaboration of art therapy techniques that can safely and easily be used at home. During this module, we discuss exercises, types of art and materials that can be used to bring more art into your life and the lives of your family.

Equipment

Why not gather an art box that can be used by everyone? Clay, crayons, pens, pencils, papers, card, chalk and even natural things gathered from outside.

Planning Art Time

Art time is not just something that should be taught at school. It’s a creative outlet that we do not use nearly enough.

Get Scribbling

Scribbling is the first form of creation we ever do. It is also known as free drawing. Scribbling is carried out by taping a large piece of paper to a table top then drawing an unending line for three min