Art Therapy

Undergraduate

Major

About this Program

Art therapy is a human-service profession that engages clients in using art media (drawing, paintings, sculpture or other forms of artwork), as opposed to verbal-based forms of therapy, as the key component to mental, physical and emotional healing.

Program Overview

A study of art therapy at Hood College will guide you through methods of combining and refocusing therapeutic techniques and approaches. Housed within the Department of Psychology and Counseling, in collaboration with the Department of Art and Archaeology, the program draws on intensive clinical partnerships that are a part of our nursing, social work and counseling programs.

Art therapy blends aspects of science and art, giving you the skills and confidence to guide others through methods of emotional healing. An education in art therapy places you on a path to embody the central message of the College’s mission—to empower you to use your heart, mind and hands.

While this is not a professional degree, it will prepare you for both the master’s degree and then licensure in art therapy, while remaining within the liberal arts through a combination of humanities and social science offerings.

As part of the art therapy curriculum, you will complete a semester-long applied learning experience – in the form of an art therapy internship in a clinical setting – and you may use elective credits to pursue a related course of study (minor or certificate). Sites for internships may include the Center for Integrative Healthcare (Frederick), the Kindred Tree Healing Center (Frederick), Quince Orchard Psychotherapy (Frederick, Germantown and Gaithersburg) and Art with a Heart (Baltimore).