M.A. in Clinical Art Therapy and Counseling

This program provides education and training in Art Therapy and Professional Counseling.

The degree is a total of 60 credits, 48 credits taken in the current Clinical Art Therapy program and 12 credits taken from the Department of Counseling and Development.

The program has been designed to allow graduates to be eligible for licensing as a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist (LCAT) in New York State and to sit for the Art Therapy Credentials Board Examination (ATCBE). Additionally, it provides eligibility to apply nationwide for licenses such as Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) outside of New York State. The curriculum meets standards for the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) accreditation standards. Individual students should check with their home states for specific educational requirements regarding LPC licensure.

We have small and intimate class sizes that range from 8 to 22 students. We also have a strong international and national student presence. Emphasis is placed on creating a clinical art therapy community in which students, faculty, the Art, and Counseling Departments, as well as the New York area artist community, contribute to a cohesive and stimulating training experience. The program offers more than 100 clinical training internship sites for students to fulfill the portion of the curriculum. The program offers 30-40 active art therapy internship sites for students to fulfill the required 700 internship hours.

The curriculum's focus is on the practice of art therapy counseling; however, the art process and the art object are continually emphasized as they apply to the clinical practice of art therapy counseling. Consequently, art is made in all foundational art therapy seminars in large art studio settings. Three credits are taken in drawing, painting and clay works for the art therapist. This foundational art therapy course culminates with a gallery opening where students present their 2-D and 3-D work. An art studio elective is required; students may choose from a variety of Art Department offerings that include world-renowned graduate level studio courses in printmaking, painting, sculpture, photography, and ceramics.

The diagnostic and therapeutic value of painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture is explored in-depth within this clinical and diagnostic curriculum. You will focus on children, adolescents, and adults with disabilities in art therapy clinical classes that utilize the latest research findings, theories and techniques.

Research is one of the hallmarks of this clinical program. Our students are required to take nine credits in research and thesis preparation. Often our students present their findings at national conferences or in publication or video format to fulfill the thesis requirements. Our students have also written grants that are implemented after graduation. Our faculty is internationally known within the art therapy community for their research efforts across a range of clinical topics. Some of our recent student publications can be found in journal and on line journal format.

The emphasis of the use of art as a therapeutic tool is demonstrated in this program's commitment to multicultural methods of art therapy treatment. Our students not only come from many locations within the U.S. but also from Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, Israel, India, Trinidad, Brazil and the Bahamas. Our core faculty routinely presents and teaches internationally as well. Yearly, our graduate students engage in a social action project. As a group, faculty and students work with underprivileged populations engaging in community art therapy experiences. In 2012 and 2015, the LIU Post Art Therapy community visited Nicaragua and worked in orphanages. In March 2013, we traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to work in orphanages and meet with Russian Art Therapy organizations. In May 2016, we had the opportunity to serve various populations in South Korea. In 2013, the LIU Post Art Therapy community visited Nicaragua and worked in orphanages. In March 2014, we traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to work in orphanages and meet with Russian Art Therapy organizations. Additionally, we had the opportunity to serve various populations in South Korea (2016) and Israel (2017).