The Career of Art Therapy

Art therapy is my second career.  While I could always say that I loved painting and loved making things, I had to make a bunch of mistakes during my twenties before I came around to art therapy.  Going back to school and the career of art therapy is the best thing I ever did for myself.  Now, I am physically healthier, mentally better, and more fulfilled.  Most of all, having a career that makes a difference in peoples’ lives is the best feeling at the end of the day.

My Story

As a kid, I loved painting and art-making, and I was in love with color!  As I became a teenager, my parents encouraged me to “focus on my academics” and to get a liberal arts education at a university instead of going to art school.  Their reasoning was that going to art school would make me a “weirdo” and that a “real” education would help me get a “real” job.

So, I went to a small university and majored in art with a minor in anthropology.  Then, after graduating, I immediately got a job as an insurance agent.  However, I struggled with mild depression that made making art excruciating.  My inner critic was too loud, and likewise, my day job was too draining.

The Dreaded Day Job

I continued to work in the insurance industry for 14 years.  To my surprise, I found that there are actually a lot of unactualized artists and creative types spending their careers in insurance agencies.  Insurance was a stable paycheck and a decent living, however, I felt unfulfilled.

I had been considering art therapy as a career path since 2006 when I had taken a few months of art therapy for myself.  In 2010, I took Abnormal Psychology at the local community college to work on prerequisites.  However, I was too busy and too broke at the time to go back to school seriously though.  In 2013, I hit a point when I knew that everything had to change.  And it did.

Taking the Leap of Faith

First, I did personal therapy to pick up the pieces.  Then, I took prerequisites and the GRE’s.  Next, I applied to schools.  Finally, after deliberating on several school choices, I chose to go to Florida State University for their graduate art therapy program.

AT FSU, I found that the program didn’t have formal art critiques.  My cohort encouraged each other, asked questions out of curiosity and support.  We supported each other and sometimes debated over theory and the discomfort of the tension of holding on to ambiguity.  It’s okay to not know; it’s okay to speak a language of uncertainty in a place of wordlessness.

Reconnecting with my Art

Wow!  Suddenly, my art got better.  It was not because I was practicing all the time, but relaxing the inner critic was a balm to me.  The deeper I get into my art therapy practice, the more I feel like I become myself.  From this, I have reconnected with the joy I often experienced as a child.  Now, I can revel in color again and hold in my hand and heart the mystery of an analogy.

Living the Dream

Dreams were also a big deal to me when I was a kid.  I read everything about dreams I could get my hands on.  Habitually, I used to announce proudly as a child, “My dream world is just as important as my waking world; I love sleeping!”  It comes as no surprise to me now that my art therapy practice also incorporates dreamwork heavily.  If you want to read more about how I do dream work, you can find some of my blogs on dreams here and here.

Art Therapy: A New World

Art can create containers for new energy; art can hold contradictions and paradoxes.  Symbols and themes in artwork and dreams can open your consciousness to the mystery and the promise of a bigger destiny.

In fact, this is the expansive world I get to live in, outside the lines of the risk management spreadsheets.

Looking Forward

I look younger than I did 7 years ago.  Furthermore, I’m healthier; I am thinner, and my cholesterol and blood pressure are in the healthy range now. (they were leaning toward concerning levels).  Additionally, art therapy gives me energy.  Nowadays, I’m excited for my clients both with their art and how it affects their lives.  Therefore, I had more energy for actually living my life.  Money can’t buy you happiness, as I found in the insurance world.  But, being aligned with your gifts and your destiny, absolutely can!

Final Thoughts

Becoming an art therapist healed my relationship with myself and my art.  I found more satisfying work and was able to feel more creative and therefore, more fulfilled.  Art therapy allowed for me to distance myself from the idea of the formal art critique.  Likewise, I was able to reduce the noise of my internal critic.  I found that through art-making and dreamwork,  I was able to become more of myself.  I’m happy to speak more with you about what art therapy can do for you.  You can reach me here.