It’s true! I’ve been asked back for a follow-up to the NorCATA presentation and iPad demo at the Union Square Apple store back in Jan 2012.
It’s also true that I haven’t been practicing art therapy for several years. So, my goal is not review the state of art therapy and technology, but rather to draw upon my experience teaching teachers how to integrate technology into the classroom. I’ll review how to research art making apps, how to assess their usefulness in a therapeutic context, learn some basic skills in Keynote, Book Creator, and Paper 53, and help attendees envision how to use art making apps within their therapeutic practices.
Intuitively, this seems to have an application within the art therapy space regardless of visual ability. I would love to hear from someone who works with photographs within art therapy, and/or photo therapy (i.e.: Judy Weiser), regarding their perspective on using 3D printing in art therapy.
In my previous posts I discussed the changing nature of work in the US. The model that we’re all used to, which was developed in the beginning of the 20th C, is not standing the test of time. The advice our parents and teachers gave us isn’t holding up. It just doesn’t make sense to drown in student loan debt hoping that an inflated government or unionized salary will be waiting on the other side. Wisconsin is just one example of the changes to come.
Got it, Liz. This post is about being hopeful about art therapy’s future – Tell me more about that.
There’s lots to be hopeful for!
For starters, even though we still need more and better outcome research, art therapy has promise to demonstrate what art therapists (and many clients) already know – that art therapy has enormous healing potential and is intrinsically rewarding. With technological improvements allowing us to study the brain in detail, the more I believe art therapy will be validated.
Second, art therapy can be a very rewarding career choice. Helping people is very fulfilling and helping people heal through art is doubly so. At least for me. Art making and helping others comes so naturally, that it feels good to do both simultaneously.
The stigma of therapy is slowly being chipped away in our culture and people are realizing they can benefit from counseling. This is just anecdotal, but I feel that people today are much more interested in self-awareness and self-understanding than in the past. Many people now enter therapy simply so they can become their best selves. If this is indeed a trend, there will be a greater demand for therapists in a private practice setting.
I’m also hoping that with the crumbling Blue Model will come a new way of conceptualizing licensing. My old professor Ron Hayes used to talk about his efforts to get art therapy licensed under the LPC in Pennsylvania. He would say, “licenses are to protect the clients! To ensure that there is a certain standard of education and practice in our field”. While it’s true that I wouldn’t want just anyone messing with my psyche, just like I wouldn’t want just anyone to be my doctor, licensing has gotten completely out of control. At this point, it serves to protect the interests of those who hold the licenses, the educators within the field and credentialing bodies, not the clients. My hope for art therapy’s future is that reciprocity between states will be a simple process so that we can be free to move and work where we want with our hard earned degrees. I also hope that the death of the Blue Model will bring affordable tuition that is inline with the true salary prospects of those practicing in the field.
Lastly, the number of people who contact me to let me know they share my concerns also keeps me hopeful for the future of art therapy. I hope these worries can be transformed into real action so that art therapy will one day once again be considered a “Hot Job”.
That said, I have something to share with you. My feelings about it have been so varied and overwhelming that it’s difficult for me to say – so much so, that I’ve been putting off writing this post. I’m leaving art therapy for the foreseeable future and have accepted a position as the Website Manager at a private all girls school.
I cannot tell you what a tremendous opportunity this is for me, and how grateful I am to have successfully transitioned careers during one of the toughest economies in the past 100 years. But, it’s with a heavy heart that I’m leaving the field because I truly love art therapy and know that with a lot of hard work, art therapy can successfully survive in a post-Blue Model world. But, I cannot wait for these changes to happen and I’ve done my best to feel out how “ready” the field is…and I think we have a long way to go.
For those of you who wonder if you too can make such a transition, I want to let you know it’s absolutely possible. I learned how to design websites by taking online courses starting 2 years ago, built my business and raised twin babies all at the same time. If I could do it (with a little help from friends and family), surely you can to.
I plan to continue blogging, although the topics will become more diverse. I plan to focus a more on work/life balance issues, as well as education. I’ll also do my best to keep up on art therapy related topics, and would be happy to accept guest posts from art therapists who’d like to write a little something for the blog.
As always, I’m so very grateful for your support and I hope you’ll stick with me throughout this transition.
I mentioned the blue model in one of my previous posts, and how we should all be trying to steer clear from these types of jobs because the nature of work is changing. But, I didn’t explain what the blue model is and why I believe we’re not just in a recession – we’re witnessing massive changes to the American (and global) workforce – the type of upheaval that only our grandparents and great-grandparents witnessed.
First, I want to explain what the blue model is and second, I hope to demonstrate why I believe art therapy is caught within its framework. To be clear, I’m not saying that art therapy is a dead-end career that won’t be supported in a post-blue model economy. Rather, I believe art therapy could be a viable career option in 10 or 20 years from now if we recognize the changes in our economy now and if we analyze how the current model of licensing, civil service and academia is changing. Just as no one could have predicted the internet at the beginning of the industrial revolution, I believe we cannot predict exactly how we’ll come out the other side. But, burying our heads in the sand will cause more disruption and hardship on art therapists and aspiring art therapists than opening our eyes to the reality of what’s happening.
And, I’m not claiming to be an economist or a historian as I write about this issue. I’m merely a person in her early 30s who is reflecting on her current career situation and why the promises fed to her all her life (work hard, get educated and you’ll do fine) are just not panning out…at least not in the way that my family, teachers and mentors always described.
What is the blue model?
The blue model is the post-great depression work structure in the US that most North Americans picture in our minds eye when we conjure up what a stable economy consists of.
My main go-to post-blue model thinker, Walter Russell Mead, explains:
Many people, much smarter than me, say so. But judge for yourself – is it a guarantee that young people will achieve more financial stability than their parents? No. Not at all! Blue collar and government jobs just aren’t around like they used to be. Even if you snag one, many don’t have job security. And if you do because you’re unionized, that won’t be lasting for very much longer. The cost of paying the benefits of unionized workers is getting so burdensome that pretty much no matter where you live in the US, you’ve heard about layoffs and pension cut backs to these types of workers.
But, what if you’re educated? Then you’ll do better than your parents, right? Not necessarily. It depends on the sector you work in and what you’re educated in. Not surprisingly, according to this study of median incomes posted by the Chronicle (hat tip), science and technology related jobs fare the best, while psychology and education jobs fare the worst.
So, are you telling me that I could be paying 40-80K for a BA and then another 40-80K for an MA, only to discover that I could be earning as little as $29K-$55K a year? Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. In many areas of the country that’s barely enough to rent an apartment and have a car, never mind affording to buy a home. Is that doing better than your parents? In most cases, no.
Now, let’s talk a little more about job security. Do you know anyone under the age of 50 who’s only held one job their whole lives? How about someone who’s been at the same company for over 10 years? I know I don’t. In fact, in many areas it’s looked down upon to stay with the same company for too long. It means you’re not growing and risk being “typecast” in your career.
Don’t even get me started on the cost of education, early retirement and other promises of the Blue Model.
But as Walter Russel Mead points out, we’re actually past the collapse of blue industry, as evidenced by the changes that have already taken place and described above. It’s the government (and quasi-government) jobs that are currently being shaken up. At this point, I believe art therapy is a quasi-government job that is at 5-alarm risk of going down with the ship.
Why do I consider art therapy at risk?
Many art therapy jobs rely on government funding. If government jobs are going down, so are the jobs that rely on government money.
Art therapy usually adjunct. If government funding is drastically reduced, anything seen as non-essential will be removed from the services offered by (mental health) institutions.
Art therapists are resistant to integrating new technology into their practice.
Art therapy schools are not listening to students or clients to define their curriculum. For example, students are not taught how to integrate digital art making into their practices or how to ethically navigate online therapy and social media as therapists. We all know that public school education for our kids is inefficient and has difficulty keeping up with the times. But, there is no excuse for programs that charge upward of 60K to learn what I consider the old way of practicing art therapy. To stay modern, art therapists must know how to meet their clients where they’re at – meaning that if clients are better able to connect and reach their therapeutic goals while using a tablet or a computer, then art therapists should feel comfortable in that space. Just as they should feel comfortable introducing clay into a session when it’s warranted, even if the art therapist isn’t an expert on sculpture making.
Tuition to become an art therapist is outrageous in comparison to median earning potential. We will lose great minds and talent in the field simply due to this fact.
Licensing is complicated and oftentimes does not serve the purpose of protecting the client. Instead, it’s used to shut out otherwise qualified professionals and prevent (art) therapists from being mobile. I believe this has a lot to do with the crumbling blue model system – people are trying to stake claim to space on board the Titanic. Again, frustration with these issues will cause people to switch careers to professions that care if you’re competent and qualified, not whether or not you can jump through hoops.
Is there reason to be hopeful?
I believe there are many reasons to be hopeful, and I plan to outline them in my next post. But, allow me to leave you with this inspiring video – there is much to look forward to!
