How To Turn Your Passion For Art Into An Amazing Job

Art therapy is a relatively new concept emerging within the last 50 years or so, and just one of the awesome roles you can look into if you’re into art and alternative therapies. Art therapy is part of the human services sector, and focuses on creating a supportive environment for people to be themselves in. It’s a great way of tying two passions together into a neat package; helping people while getting creative. Let’s see if we can get you off to a flying art (see what we did there?).

What Even Is Art Therapy?

Art therapy is a type of psychotherapy where people get to express themselves through drawing, sculpting or painting and can massively help people with depression, overcome anxiety, explore emotions and increase self-esteem.

It’s a specialised area of mental health that uses art materials and creative process healing, and the great thing is you defo don’t need to be an artist to do this kind of work. Although art therapy leads to, unsurprisingly, making art - it is definitely different from your standard art class; art therapy uses art as a tool for reaching therapeutic goals.

It’s used as a process of expression and transformation. Art Therapy isn’t focused on making beautiful art or learning how to create, but to use the artistic process to facilitate healing and self-awareness.

How Art Therapy Can Help People

Art therapy offers a safe space for people to express themselves, and gives a voice to experiences and feelings that might not easily be expressed in words. Creating art can be a tool for self-discovery, and help people acknowledge and recognise feelings that might have been hiding in their subconscious. It also helps develop self-esteem and self awareness, not to mention being a de-stressing and relaxing experience in a supportive environment.

Next Steps

As art therapy programs are nationally accredited, you can do VET courses, degrees and even masters, and art therapists have advanced training specifically in psychotherapy, art processes, and therapeutic practice.

Love the sound of art therapy? Get started with our new academy Positive Humanity to find out all the info you need to start a creative, rewarding and supportive career in the human services sector.