Creative Arts Therapy Careers
Help individuals, families, and groups to achieve optimal physical, psychological, and psychosocial functioning. Creative Arts therapy is focused on communication and expression and concentrates more on emotional processes than the verbal therapies do. Creative Arts Therapists can specialize in Visual Arts, Dance/Movement, Drama, Music, and Poetry, among others.
How much education and experience would I need for this career?
These jobs typically require a Master's Degree or some other post-baccalaureate certification.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Would I like this career?
If you're one of the following types of people, you would probably like this career!
- Artistic - You like work activities that deal with the artistic side of things, such as forms, designs, and patterns. You like self-expression in your work. You prefer settings where work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
- Social - You like work activities that assist others and promote learning and personal development. You prefer to communicate more than to work with objects, machines, or data. You like to teach, to give advice, to help, or otherwise be of service to people.
Determine Your Personality Types
The personality types described in the above section are based on the Holland RIASEC Codes. To find out what type you are, you can take this simple test, or download a more complex interest profiler from O*NET Online. Once you know your primary and secondary personality types, come on back to find the best career in health care for you!
What kinds of things would I do on a daily basis?
- Observe, analyze, and record patients' participation, reactions, and progress during treatment sessions, modifying treatment programs as needed.
- Develop treatment plan to meet needs of patient, based on needs assessment, patient interests and objectives of therapy.
- Encourage clients with special needs and circumstances to acquire new skills and get involved in health-promoting leisure activities, such as sports, games, arts and crafts, and gardening.
- Counsel and encourage patients to develop leisure activities.
- Confer with members of treatment team to plan and evaluate therapy programs.
- Conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being.
- Instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specific physical or psychological needs.
- Obtain information from medical records, medical staff, family members and the patients themselves to assess patients' capabilities, needs and interests.
- Plan, organize, direct and participate in treatment programs and activities to facilitate patients' rehabilitation, help them integrate into the community and prevent further medical problems.
- Prepare and submit reports and charts to treatment team to reflect patients' reactions and evidence of progress or regression.
What skills would I need to be successful in this career?
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.