Art Therapy
Our Master’s program in Art Therapy prepares students to utilize their passion for art making to deliver skillful, compassionate, and clinically focused care to individuals, groups, families and communities.
Art Therapy
Our Master’s program in Art Therapy prepares students to utilize their passion for art making to deliver skillful, compassionate, and clinically focused care to individuals, groups, families and communities. Grounded in social justice, you will be challenged to confront your biases and beliefs, explore new mediums and themes in your art practice, deepen your awareness of yourself and others, and gain the skillsets needed to support diverse communities as a licensed art therapist and ethical leader.
The mission of Lewis & Clark’s Art Therapy program is to prepare competent, creative, and reflective art therapists who are committed to equity-based clinical and community praxis. Students learn to apply relationally and socially attuned art therapy using art making to deepen awareness of self and others within societal and cultural contexts.
Program Overview
Degrees offered: Master of Arts; Master of Science
Total credit hours: 58 semester hours for MA; 62-64 for MS
Program length: MA eight semesters; MS minimum eight semesters
Program Start Date: Fall only
Program director: Mary Andrus →
Students interested in their LPC will also take Career Counseling for an additional 2 credits.
Program Details
Our full-time, three-year Art Therapy program begins in fall and offers both Master of Arts and Master of Science degree tracks to accommodate students interested in becoming mental health practitioners, as well as those planning to conduct research, aspire to publish or pursue a PhD. Applying a social justice lens, you’ll learn to recognize the impact of oppression, prejudice, discrimination, and privilege on access to mental health care, and develop responsive practices that include collaboration, empowerment, advocacy, and social justice action. Through a combination of rigorous academic work, in-depth training, and real-world job placements, program candidates will be prepared to serve diverse communities as qualified art therapists and equity-minded ethical leaders, providing compassionate, clinically focused care to individuals, groups, and families in a variety of settings.
Our small cohort model provides students with opportunities to connect with program faculty and build a network of colleagues who grow with them as they move into professional practice. A pedagogy of learning that includes critical thinking, experiential engagement, dialogue and reflection helps our students to become engaged in deconstructing social norms and developing skills as an socio-culturally attuned art therapist.
Bridging academic theory into practice, our community based art therapy studio, media center and exhibition gallery, provides students hands-on training with licensed supervisors establishing equity based community centered experience and clinically focused internships. The robust offerings of the graduate school in a wide variety of areas allows students to customize their learning through electives that help build their clinical focus based on their interests and specialization (eg. ecotherapies certificate, eating disorder certificate and other special topics).
Featured News
A Growing Hub for Mental Health
Lewis & Clark’s newly expanded Community Counseling Center serves as a training ground for counseling students and a thriving mental health resource for Portland.
Why Choose Lewis & Clark?
Reputation for Academic Excellence
Lewis & Clark’s programs are respected nationwide for their quality and academic rigor. As Oregon’s only degree path to becoming a licensed art therapist, our program provides the training, skillsets, and real-world experience. You’ll learn to serve diverse populations and become a skilled art therapist in just 3 years, with no GRE required.
Focused on Social Justice & Equity
Our core values of social justice, equity, and access are deeply integrated into every aspect of the art therapy program—from the texts we read and culturally attuned training we offer to the creative work and community projects we undertake. You’ll learn to recognize the impact of oppression, prejudice, discrimination, and privilege on access to mental health care, and develop responsive practices for effectively tackling these issues in your work as an art therapist.
Real World, Hands-On Experience
In all three years of the program, you’ll participate in pre-practicum, practicum and internship experiences in a variety of settings across the Portland metro area—allowing you to apply your theoretical and clinical knowledge hands-on, gain real work experience in the field, and continue to deepen your skillset as an art therapist.
Community Studio & Clinic
Starting in 2022 we will launch a new community studio, which will offer low-cost art therapy services to the Portland community, regular art exhibitions, graduate assistantships and access to the studio space for classroom instruction. In this space students will move theory into practice, serving various community groups and individuals. This 3000 square foot space is one of a kind, including a gallery, a digital media room, multiple individual therapy rooms, a community studio and a group room.
Supportive Environment & Community
With small class sizes and tight-knit cohorts, you’ll receive plenty of personal attention and support from faculty members, staff, peers, and professional mentors— all of whom are committed to your success in the program and in your future career. You’ll form meaningful, lasting connections, enjoy a strong support network for the duration of the program, and establish a growing professional network that helps nurture your career for years to come.
Sought-After Graduates & Career Support
Our program’s reputation for producing exceptional art therapists means our graduates are highly sought-after by employers, with most students receiving a job offer shortly after graduating. Oregon is one of only 8 states with licensure specific to the practice and title protection of art therapists. Alumni of our program are regularly provided with information about employment opportunities and remain connected with program faculty.
Accomplished Program Faculty
Our experienced faculty members and supervisors are committed to ensuring our students’ success both academically and in their future careers. As practicing art therapists, counselors, psychologists, and researchers themselves, they bring their unique perspectives, work experiences, and knowledge of the latest best practices directly to the classroom. Plus, as recognized thought leaders, they are regularly published in mental health publications, providing students with the opportunity to assist in groundbreaking research.
Stunning Campus in a Vibrant, Progressive City
Our beautiful, historic campus is just six miles from downtown Portland, OR with easy access to the city’s cultural offerings, great food, and abundant nature. You’ll quickly discover why Portland was ranked #9 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020-21 list of best places to live.
Social justice means advocating for the rights of others, which includes access, opportunity, and worth. It also means empowering vulnerable peoples with the tools to achieve their potential. As art making and a love for people have been my natural inclinations since childhood, it’s been an honor to learn how to support others through the magic of creation.
Social justice means advocating for the rights of others, which includes access, opportunity, and worth. It also means empowering vulnerable peoples with the tools to achieve their potential. As art making and a love for people have been my natural inclinations since childhood, it’s been an honor to learn how to support others through the magic of creation.
Social Justice Mission
Deeply Committed to Social Justice
At Lewis & Clark, our social justice mission is more than a talking point—it’s fully integrated into every aspect of our programs. We strive to facilitate meaningful conversations around social justice topics and teach you how to incorporate equity into your professional practice to better serve your future clients, mental health organizations, and the larger community.
Recognizing that not everyone in our society has the same access to mental health care, our program aims to increase your understanding of the issues and dynamics in the mental health field across social and cultural lines—illustrating how they can impact the therapeutic process. Students will broaden the scope of their diversity awareness and knowledge, including systems of power and privilege, with special attention given to developing an understanding of the intersectionality of contextual and systemic dynamics related to race and racial inequalities, class, nation of origin and language, spirituality and religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and physical abilities. You’ll be prepared to work with individuals, groups, families, and communities from a variety of cultural, linguistic, and economic backgrounds, at every age level. Applying a social justice lens to your work as an art therapist, you’ll learn how to drive greater equity and access in mental health services, promote healing through artmaking, and have a lasting impact on the clients and communities you serve.
Meaningful Engagement with the Local Community
Art Therapy Open Studio is a virtual studio session providing individuals from all walks of life with a safe place to create art and find community, every Thursday from 3-6 pm. Participants can either start a new art piece using the gentle prompt offered in each session or use the time to work on pieces already in progress.
Register for Art Therapy Virtual Open Studio
Art for Social Change Open Studio is a virtual studio session that focuses specifically on exploring social, racial, or political current events. Partnered with the Art for Social Change Committee, this session is designed to support both individual artmaking and facilitate meaningful group projects.
Register for Art for Social Change Virtual Open Studio
All weekly studio sessions are free and open to the public.
Art Therapy Program Faculty
Practicum
Gain Extensive, Hands-On Experience
Through intensive practicum and internship experiences in all three years of our program, you’ll have the opportunity to learn hands-on—applying your coursework to a real-world environment, establishing professional contacts locally, and in the final year students gain 720 hours of art therapy experience and insights that can only be gleaned by working in the field. As a result, you’ll be better prepared to launch your career in Art Therapy as soon as you’re licensed—with the work experience and references needed to stand out from other practitioners and job candidates.
Applying your theoretical and clinical knowledge hands-on, you’ll work with mental health organizations in practice settings that align with your professional goals and desired focus areas. To increase your practical training and job readiness, you can choose from a wide range of placements throughout the Portland metro area including: elementary schools, hospitals, drug treatment facilities, education centers, nursing homes, day treatment programs, and more. Some organizations offer employment to students, the potential to hire our students directly upon graduation. In addition, as a student of our art therapy program, you may also be eligible for paid research assistantship opportunities.
As a white woman from a lower, middle-class family, I believe it is my duty to use my privilege within society to promote equality and power for those within marginalized communities. I hope to work as an Art Therapist to be an agent of positive change.
As a white woman from a lower, middle-class family, I believe it is my duty to use my privilege within society to promote equality and power for those within marginalized communities. I hope to work as an Art Therapist to be an agent of positive change.
Launching Successful Careers Nationwide
Our Art Therapy program graduates are in high demand with mental health organizations, nonprofits, and community organizations in the Portland metro area and nationwide, with most students receiving a job offer within six months of graduating.
Lewis & Clark art therapy interns bring a new energy and diverse perspectives to our department at the children’s hospital. They are eager to put their hard-won knowledge and skills to use in meaningful and innovative ways, in a setting that is fast-paced and emotionally intense. We enjoy supporting the growth of new members of our field and Lewis & Clark’s program prepares them well for their journey.”
Art Therapy Program Outcomes by Graduation Year |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
Total Graduates |
13 |
11 |
10 |
# Employed |
13 |
9 |
10 |
# Continuing Education or Active Military, but not Employed |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Positive Placement |
13 |
10 |
10 |
Placement % |
100% |
92% |
100% |
Retention % |
86% |
93% |
83% |
Other Resources
- Application Requirements & Deadlines
- Handbooks & Forms
- Licensure Requirements
- News & Events
- FAQs
- 2023 Capstone Presentations & Virtual Art Exhibition
- 2022 Capstone Presentations & Virtual Art Exhibition
- 2021 Capstone Presentations & Virtual Art Exhibition
- 2021 Art Therapy Student & faculty Virtual Art Show
- 2020 Capstone Presentations & Virtual Art Exhibition
Our Art Therapy program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Accreditation Council for Art Therapy Education (ACATE).
This program prepares competent entry-level Art Therapists in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains.
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
25400 US Highway 19 N., Suite 158
Clearwater, FL 33763
727-210-2350
www.caahep.org
