Creative Arts Therapy Careers

Succeeding as a Creative Professional

Sally Bailey, Sally Bailey

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000456417
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medien & darstellende Kunst
• Subtopic: Darstellende Kunst & Business

Creative Arts Therapy Careers is a collection of essays written by and interviews with registered drama therapists, dance/movement therapists, music therapists, art therapists, poetry therapists, and expressive arts therapists.

The book sheds light on the fascinating yet little-known field of the creative arts therapies – psychotherapy approaches which allow clients to use creativity and artistic expression to explore their lives, solve their problems, make meaning, and heal from their traumas. Featuring stories of educators in each of the six fields and at different stages of their career, it outlines the steps one needs to take in order to find training in one of the creative arts therapies and explores the healing aspects of the arts, where creative arts therapists work, who they work with, and how they use the arts in therapy. Contributors to this book provide a wealth of practical information, including ways to find opportunities to work with at-risk populations in order to gain experience with the arts as healing tools; choosing the right graduate school for further study; the difference between registration, certification, and licensure; and the differences between a career in a medical, mental health, educational, correctional, or service institution.

This book illuminates creative arts therapy career possibilities for undergraduate and graduate students studying acting, directing, playwriting, creative writing, visual arts, theatre design, dance, and music. It is also an excellent resource for instructors offering a course to prepare arts students of all kinds for the professional world.

CHAPTER 1 Getting started

Sally Bailey, Laura Wood, Kareen King, Teri Holmberg, Mariah Meyer LeFeber, Sarah Edwards, and Denise Boston

DOI: 10.4324/9781003035664-1

A Preview of Coming Attractions: Discovering the Creative Arts Therapies

As mentioned in the Introduction, Chapter One: Getting Started shares stories of how several young artists discovered the creative arts therapies and realized that they offered an exciting and fulfilling way to make a living. Laura Wood begins by offering an essay that overviews careers in the arts: artist, art educator, artist in healthcare, and creative arts therapist. She shares how she found drama therapy and made the transition from theater to therapy.

Next Kareen King, another drama therapist, shares how she had included all the arts – visual, music, and performing arts through puppetry and educational puppet plays – in her work in her husband’s ministry and as a freelance puppeteer. When she discovered there was a drama therapy training program near her, even though she had little formal training in theater, she decided to give it a try to expand her abilities. She found she had been a theater person all along and thrived in the drama therapy world.

Teri Holmberg started as a music educator in the public schools and quickly realized that a master’s degree in music therapy would make her more effective with the students she was teaching. As she says, “music therapy interventions … served as a vehicle for removing barriers to students’ ability to demonstrate skills they already had.”

Sarah Edwards trained in theater, and, while working as a freelance theater educator in Tennessee, discovered how effective drama was for job skills training for people with disabilities. She realized she loved working with this population of people but felt she needed more training to do it ethically and responsibly. Following the suggestion of an undergraduate professor, she got her master’s in drama therapy. Now she is back at Friends Life making a difference in people’s lives.

Mariah Meyer LeFeber double-majored in dance and psychology because, while psychology seemed like an interesting and proper subject to study as an undergraduate, she couldn’t let go of her love of dance. Later she realized she could put the two disciplines together to integrate her passions and help others. This has allowed her to experience a career that gives her joy and allows her to share that joy with her clients.

Finally, Denise Boston writes about the need in the profession of therapy in general, and the creative arts therapies specifically, for therapists who come from and represent marginalized communities. Clients from those communities, whether Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, or Asexual (LGBTQIA+), or persons with disabilities, need to have the option of working with professionals who look like them and share their experiences. This does not mean that BIPOC clients should only go to BIPOC therapists and white clients should only go to white therapists; it means clients should have the option of choosing a therapist who has experienced the same societal struggles they have had.

Tapestry of transformation: Pathways in the arts professions

by Laura L. Wood

Laura L. Wood, PhD, RDT–BCT, LMHC, CCLS is an associate professor at Lesley University, teaching in their Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Expressive Therapy Program. She is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC), registered drama therapist/board-certified trainer (RDT–BCT), and a certified child life specialist (CCLS). Dr. Wood specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, trauma, dissociation, and recovery with different populations. She publishes and lectures on these areas nationally and internationally.

An Overview of Careers in the Arts

We are increasingly understanding the transformative benefits of the arts, as contemporary research finds profound scientific evidence of the arts’ powerful effects on the brain and body (Clift & Camic, 2016). Given this, there is a growing interest in the application of the arts to many different arenas: social, educational, medical, behavioral, and emotional. Thus, there are more opportunities than ever before to find a meaningful career in the field of the arts and healing.

There are many different pathways to consider when thinking about a career in the domain of arts and transformation. Having taught at the undergraduate and graduate level, being connected to local high school Thespian chapters, and taking a few circuitous steps in the arts myself, I have had the opportunity to encounter myriad misconceptions about the different professions in the creative arts and what they encompass. This essay will clarify some of the different professions that involve the arts and transformation, their education requirements, and, I hope, help you get headed in the right direction.

It can be helpful to think of the arts as threads that each get interwoven into society to create a beautiful tapestry that enriches the human spirit, mind, and body. Figure 1.1 helps to visualize some of the various arts professions and a few of the ways that the arts can be used. It is by no means comprehensive. There are also administrators, boards, and other roles that help drive these professions, but these are some core professions that link to the arts directly.

Figure 1.1 Careers in the arts.

Fine arts

The fine arts include drama, music, art, dance, and poetry/literature. Individuals on this pathway most often begin with the intention of becoming a professional actor, artist, dancer, or writer. People called to this career have often been profoundly impacted by the arts and possess a high degree of skill, talent, and innovation. They often aspire to use their craft to touch the lives of others, to create beauty, or change in the world at large (Oakley, Speary, & Pratt, 2008). Although not a requirement, many individuals, hoping for a career as a professional artist, attend a four-year undergraduate degree program that provides both a broad education in their chosen discipline as well as supports students in specializing in a specific technique or style. For example, if you choose to major in theater in your undergraduate studies, you will likely receive a broad education that will introduce you to many aspects of working in the theater, for example, acting, directing, design, and stage management. You will also likely specialize in one of these areas – like acting. And within that specialization, you may even get more specific training, such as focusing on acting for film and television, or musical theater, or a specific approach to acting such as the Stanislavsky or Meisner technique (Hodge, 2010).

The unfortunate joke that is often made to undergraduates (or those considering embarking on this pathway) is to prepare to wait tables or to have a backup plan. Many times, the general public doesn’t understand that whether or not you decide to pursue your craft in the traditional sense, there are many other routes to a creative life that often require, or are strongly enhanced by, a degree in the fine arts. Additionally, sometimes people pursue their craft and end up growing or changing but still desire to apply the arts in their career in other ways. Others decide to deepen their craft and pursue a master’s degree in their specialty area. Whichever way is chosen, a solid foundation in the arts provides many pathways.

Salary ranges for professional artists are vast and often skewed by those who are top earners in their craft versus those who are not. Each discipline has its own union or organization that individuals can qualify for, which will help them better understand salary options and provide community support. While this list is not comprehensive, it provides a good starting point for those who want to learn more (Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2 Organizing bodies and unions for professional artists.

Arts in education

Arts in education includes both being an educator in the arts or a teaching artist. An educator in the arts teaches their craft or the history of their craft in an educational curriculum, including kindergarten through twelfth grade and the collegiate level. Educators in the arts typically have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, usually in their specialty area, as well as a teaching certificate. Many go on to get a master’s degree in teaching within their art’s discipline, which will refine their arts practice and have special emphasis on pedagogy, theories of learning, development, and curriculum planning. Furthermore, many who go on to get master’s degrees in their specialty areas will also specialize in an age group (i.e., elementary arts education, arts in special education, etc.).

The overall role and function of educators in the arts is to deliver developmentally appropriate skills in their discipline to enrich students’ knowledge and growth. And likely, if you are reading this book, you know it goes well beyond that. Educators in the arts often feel called to bring inspiration to students through their discipline, creating community and instilling the deep value that arts play in our culture and society (Karkou & Glasman, 2004). Educators in the arts can be generalists and work with a wide range of students in terms of age, ability, and skill level, or they can work in highly specialized areas, such as at a magnet arts schools or at the college level training pre-professionals. Educators in the arts may also partner with other academics, such as history, English, or science teachers, to use the arts to help approach material and add dimension to learning (Chapell et al., 2007). They typically work full-time in recognized educational institutions.

The O*Net Resource Center is a leading source for occupational salaries (https://www.onetcenter.org). At the time of this writing, the median salary for educators in the arts is US$69,530 with the range depending on geographic location and type of employment institution. O*Net also has a search function for individuals to look at regional differences. At the collegiate level, the starting salary for an assistant professor with an advanced degree (MFA or PhD) was reported by the American Association of University Professors to be US$75,000 in 2018 (www.aaup.org). There are many organizing bodies for educators in the arts, with each discipline having their own subgroups with more comprehensive information. Additionally, information can be found at conferences and in journals that support the profession.

Teaching artists are those who use their craft to support educational or community goals (Booth, 2003). They often hold a strong primary identity as an artist and are passionate about sharing their work and craft with communities to make both small and large changes (www.teachingartistsguild.org). Teaching artists may or may not have a degree in their specialty area. There is strong debate over whether being a teaching artist is a formal profession or a practice (Booth, 2003). Many of the jobs available for teaching artists have varying degrees of educational requirements, but focus on mastery of one’s craft, a strong personal portfolio in one’s discipline, and a proven track record of being able to work with groups of people. Teaching artist jobs range widely in availability, time frame, and salary. Some institutions hire teaching artists to work on a per-diem (by the day) basis, other positions are grant-funded for a specific project or period of time, while others are only an hour or two a week at an institution. The range of how, where, and with whom teaching artists work is as broad as communities themselves. Teaching artists might work professionally as an artist and teach in a community setting, such as a watercolor class at a senior center once a week. Others are devoted to full-time work solely as teaching artists, like being hired to lead a community-based social justice poetry project.

Teaching artist salaries are harder to pin down than other arts professions due to the transient nature of the work and reliance of the economy for grant-funded positions. However, one popular organizing body, the Teaching Artist Guild (https://teachingartistsguild.org), provides a geographical calculator to support teaching artists in calculating fair wages. Payscale.com reported in 2019 that teaching artists’ median hourly salary in the USA was US$20.52 an hour. This website is a wonderful resource to support learning more about the opportunities and the challenges of committing to a career as a teaching artist.

Arts-in-health

The field of arts-in-health, sometimes termed arts-in-medicine, is an umbrella term that encompasses professions invested in using the power of the arts to enhance health and well-being in diverse institutional health care settings. These arts experiences can either be passive or participatory (NOAH, 2017). Arts-in-health professionals are made up of professional artists, artist consultants, teaching artists, creative arts therapists, arts educators, architects, child life specialists, landscape architects, and healthcare arts administrators, each with their unique function in a larger hospital system that subscribes to a lens of the healing value of the arts. An artist-in-healthcare, artist-in-residence, or arts practitioner usually has a formal background in arts training and provides arts experiences to help shape the...