Art Therapy From an Art School vs. a Psychology Program: What's the Difference?
Key Insights
- Art therapy training generally comes from one of two academic homes: an art school that blends studio art with clinical coursework, or a psychology-oriented graduate program with a stronger research and clinical focus.
- Becoming a board-certified, licensed art therapist requires a master's degree in a content area approved by the Art Therapy Credentials Board, regardless of which type of school grants it.
- Maine College of Art & Design's Graduate Certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy is a non-clinical program for educators, artists, and human services professionals who want to use arts-based approaches in their current work.
Art therapy training doesn't live in one tidy academic department. Some programs sit inside art schools. Others sit inside psychology departments. Both can lead to the same credential. The real question isn't which department houses the program. It's whether you want a clinical license to treat clients, or practical arts-based skills to bring into work you're already doing.
How Art Therapy Training Differs by Program Type
Art school-based programs
Programs at an art college pair a strong studio art foundation with clinical training. Expect coursework in drawing, painting, and three-dimensional media, layered with psychology, human development, and art therapy theory and methods. These programs place studio practice and material-based learning at the center, treating the art-making process as a core clinical skill rather than a supplement.
Faculty are often working artists as well as clinicians, so students get direct feedback on both their art-making and their clinical reasoning. Admissions typically require a portfolio of studio work alongside academic transcripts.
Psychology-based programs
Programs housed in psychology departments lead with clinical theory, assessment, and research methods, with studio art and creative coursework layered on top. This path leans more toward counseling theory, psychopathology, and research than a studio-first curriculum does, and admissions tend to weigh prior psychology coursework and research experience more heavily than a studio art portfolio.
A PsyD or PhD in psychology is a different track altogether. It's aimed at research, teaching, or clinical psychology, not art therapy practice specifically.
What Determines Your Credential: Coursework, Not the Department Name
The title on a program's degree doesn't determine your path to board certification and state licensure, according to the American Art Therapy Association. What determines it is whether that program's classes meet the content requirements set by the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB) and the Accreditation Council for Art Therapy Education (ACATE). A program can call itself art therapy, counseling, or marriage and family therapy and still prepare graduates for the same credentialing path, as long as the coursework covers the required content areas.
ZipRecruiter draws the same line between the two paths. An art therapist typically completes a master's degree plus ATR certification and works directly with clients in hospitals, schools, and private practice. Someone pursuing art psychology instead needs a doctorate and psychology licensure, and tends to work in research or academic settings rather than direct client care.
If You Want to Become a Licensed Clinical Art Therapist
A master's degree is the required entry point for clinical art therapy work, regardless of which department grants it. After graduating, practitioners become provisionally registered (ATR-P), then work toward board certification (ATR-BC) through the ATCB. State licensure as a mental health provider is a separate step beyond board certification, and requirements vary by state. Look specifically for an ACATE-accredited program, and confirm directly with the program that its coursework will prepare you for licensure in the state where you plan to practice.
If You Want Arts-Based Skills Without the Clinical Path
Plenty of educators, artists, and human services professionals want to bring expressive, arts-based approaches into their work without becoming a licensed clinical art therapist. Maine College of Art & Design built the Graduate Certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy for exactly this group.
The fully online, 12-credit certificate teaches expressive arts theory and facilitation strategies for non-clinical settings like classrooms, community programs, and wellness and recreation centers. It's built for people who already have a role in teaching, youth programs, or community arts and want practical tools to use creative practice intentionally within that role. It doesn't lead to professional art therapy licensure.
One required course, Theoretical Foundations and Methods of Expressive Arts Therapies, gives every student a shared grounding in the field. From there, students choose three electives suited to their own setting: Emotional Intelligence & Artistic Learning; Resilient Learning Environments; Adaptive Art: Fostering Inclusive Creative Practices; and Creative Compass: Expressive Arts Therapy and Memory Care, among others. An elementary school teacher, a hospice volunteer coordinator, and a museum educator can complete the same certificate while each builds skills specific to the population they already work with.
Expressive arts therapy coursework runs in accelerated eight-week e-terms. Most students complete the certificate in five to ten months, and because it's asynchronous, they can keep working full-time while they study.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an art background or a psychology background to complete this program?
No. You can pursue the Graduate Certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy if you hold at least an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university.
Does a graduate certificate in expressive arts therapy lead to licensure?
Not at Maine College of Art & Design. The Graduate Certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy is intentionally non-clinical. Anyone seeking state licensure or board certification as an art therapist should instead pursue an ACATE-accredited master's program.
Can I work full-time while completing a graduate certificate in expressive arts therapy?
Yes. Maine College of Art & Design's certificate is fully online and asynchronous, which means coursework can be completed on your own schedule rather than at set class times. Most students keep their current job while completing the program's four courses over five to ten months.
Explore Expressive Arts Training at Maine College of Art & Design
If you're bringing creative, arts-based tools into teaching, community work, or a human services role, rather than pursuing clinical licensure, the Graduate Certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy offers a focused, fully online path to get you there. You'll learn from faculty who practice expressive arts therapy themselves, and you can start applying what you learn in your next class, session, or program. It's a credential that signals real training in arts-based practice to the schools, nonprofits, and care settings that increasingly look for it.
Request more information to see whether the certificate aligns with your goals.
