246 • Introduction to Art Therapy
character. For example, the program at the Art Institute of Chicago tends to attract those
who are more interested in the artist part of being an art therapist (C. Moon, 2002), while
the program at Eastern Virginia Medical School has a more clinical emphasis. Because of
the development of standards for practice and training, all programs are now required to
have the same prerequisites and to offer courses in the same areas (www.arttherapy.org).
Supervision
Supervision is the most vital and delicate aspect of clinical training in any therapy, including
art therapy. It has only been discussed rather recently in the art therapy literature (Lahad,
2000; Malchiodi & Riley, 1996; Schaverien & Case, 2007). As is true in art therapy educa-
tion, art itself (both that produced by the client as well as the supervisee) is an important
element of the process. The many creative possibilities for the use of art activities in relation
to clinical work are limited only by the imagination of the supervisor (Figure 11.5).
Self-Awareness
The need for students to grow in self-awareness seems to be one on which all art therapy
educators agree. Some insist that only therapy will do it; others feel that self-inquiry need
not take that form. For myself, I think Naumburg and Kramer were right to recommend
that I become a patient in psychotherapy. I have often wondered if being an art therapy
patient would have been an even more useful learning experience. It is my belief that per -
sonal psychotherapy is an essential part of a full educational experience for all therapists,
including art therapists.
The work is so intense, and in some ways so intimate, that blindness about unresolved
personal issues is a real danger. It is easy to rationalize one’s responses, and the only antidote
to acting out on the part of the therapist is self-knowledge. Even after years of therapy, expe-
rienced clinicians often seek consultation or even treatment in regard to difficult cases.
Being an art therapist is not easy, and wishful fantasies of rescue and repair are soon
replaced by a need to accept the inevitable frustrations and failures of the work. Like all
Figure 11.5 Charles Anderson doing supervision.