We work with anyone developmentally delayed, anybody with a learning disability as well as children at risk with behavioral problems or an emotional disturbance. We also use art therapy with those in facilities for the elderly and correctional institutions and residential centers. Art therapy, just like talk therapy, deals on an individual level and also with groups having common problems. Artmaking is known to be life-enhancing. We have developed visual literacy and use art media to help people ameliorate their problems.
Art therapists have the skill to work with a wide range of people with a wide range of problems.
And like other psychiatric therapies, art therapy may be conducted from one session or longer depending on the progress of the client, she said. Basically, it is the client who determines whether he feels he is capable of dealing with his problems. Basically an art therapist is trained at the master's or post- master's level with the master's being in art therapy or counseling or a related field. Her Art Therapy Institute offers postgraduate training for mental health professionals who seek the Art Therapist Register designation. One such trainee, Jane Avila of Fort Worth, is now serving her internship dealing with high-risk kids at Handley Elementary School in the Fort Worth Independent School District.