I’m beginning to think about the art therapy board exams. I’m probably about a year away from being eligible to take them, and I’m beginning to wonder about what I need to do to prepare myself. When I checked on the Art Therapy Credentials Board website, they have a list of suggested reading and a few example questions, but that’s about all the advise/guidance I was able to find on preparation for the exam.
I will certainly be discussing this in supervision with the ATR-BC that I work with, but I was wondering dear readers, if anyone has advice, suggestions or words of wisdom for me? This would be greatly appreciated!
I think that empathy is the strongest tooll in art therapy, getting the patient to accept that all original art is therapeutic!
You are correct Daz. Those are some of the key factors of being an art therapist.
Thanks!
I don’t know if they have changed the way the exam is structured but I found that a lot of the material is really problem solving. There are many questions that have a few answers that could work, it’s using your judgement to figure out the best and most ethical solution to the problem.
I had the opportunity to take a review course in my local area which was helpful. Not that anything we discussed was specifically on the exam but the instructors gave us practice tests. These practice tests again were very different from the problem solving solutions on the exam but helped you get in the mode of taking a test. Before that review class, I think it was like 5 or more years since I sat down to take a test! We didn’t take tests in grad school. Also, read a lot of journal articles. And review the ethical guidelines for art therapy.
Needless to say I find that it is very difficult to study for this exam. All of the material I reviewed 6 weeks before the exam helped me prepare myself for thinking in the terms used. There are no straight forward questions like what is xxxxxxx, it’s more about experience and being familiar with different approaches to therapy so you could determine how they would be used in a particular situation. For example, Gestault, object-relations, etc… It’s really about application and ethical solutions.
There is a booklet that an art therapist has published to help guide you in your review. I found it helpful but you really need to do your own research from there on the topics. It’s a starting point.
I just took the test on Saturday, November 6, 2010. I bought the ONE study guide that was for sale online, and the book helped me with about 10 questions out of 200…I knew the material in this book cold, but most of the questions did not relate to the material that I studied. Actually, some of the questions I never even heard of before…
In my opinion, most of the questions are common sense and/or how to handle a situation ethically. There is no straight forward quesations like, “What is Jung known for?”..So be prepared to think!
Remember, client safety is most important.
Thanks for the tip Kevin!