Art Therapy Interview
How would you encourage a resistant or fearful patient to participate in art therapy?
Demonstrates the candidates patience, compassion, communication skills, and ability to gain patients’ trust.
What are some of the common misconceptions regarding art therapy?
Demonstrates the candidates understanding of the role.
What measures do you take to ensure that you don’t become too involved in patients’ problems?
Demonstrates the candidates ability to remain impartial while providing appropriate care.
How do you approach empathising with patients’ problems?
As in all forms of therapy, art therapists aim to remain impartial to their patients emotions so that they can provide an objective perspective. Your potential employer likely wants to learn more about how you can balance engaging with the patients concerns and maintaining emotional distance from them. You could consider your professional education as a resource for this answer and determine what the currently accepted practices are.
Example: I like to use the patients art as a form of separation between us. That way, I can comment on the meaning of their artwork as it pertains to our current therapeutic discussion and allow the patient to engage with those interpretations. This can make the patient feel understood without making the conversation too personal.
In what artistic media do you specialise?
This question allows your potential employer to understand what your artistic specialities are, as they can define your boundaries as an art therapist. For example, if you mainly know how to paint and draw, your art therapy sessions may only involve drawing and painting. List the media you prefer to work with to set your employers expectations appropriately.
Example: I prefer to work with watercolours and pencil sketches, as these are the media with which I have the most experience. Ive also worked with oil paints, but I find them to be a challenging, restrictive medium that complicates my sessions. Im also willing to engage with other forms of visual media as required.
What lessons can you learn by reviewing your patient’s artwork?
This question focuses on your ability to approach a patients piece of art from a therapeutic perspective. Using your formal education on the subject, consider providing a brief overview of the ways that you can interpret a patients work as part of their therapy session. You could also ask your potential employer for more information on the theoretical patient, as that may help you provide your answer.
Example: There are many lessons I could learn from a patients work, depending on the patient. If they have difficulty communicating conventionally, I focus on the ways that their artwork incorporates explicit messaging about how they feel or what theyre currently thinking. If theyre clinically depressed, I would review the types of colours they prefer to use and determine what they may say about their mood or their relationship with the artwork.
Example: “In my last role, I worked with a client who suffered from depression. During our sessions, we focused on using different colors to express emotions and feelings. For example, red was used to represent anger or passion while blue represented sadness or calmness. By focusing on these color schemes, my client was able to overcome her depression by expressing herself through art.”
The interviewer may ask this question to assess your knowledge of the medical terminology used in mental health treatment. This can help them determine whether you have a strong background in art therapy and how much experience you have working with patients who are struggling with mental illness. In your answer, try to explain that you understand the terms well enough to use them when discussing treatment plans with patients and their families.
This question can help interviewers understand your experience with the art therapy process. It also helps them determine if you have a background in the types of art that they offer at their facility. When answering this question, it can be helpful to mention specific projects or techniques that you’ve used in the past and how they helped clients.
Example: “I think that the most important thing for art therapists to remember when working with clients is that we are all unique individuals. I once worked with a client who was struggling with depression and anxiety. He had been using his artwork to express himself but felt like he couldn’t do anything else because he didn’t feel good enough. We talked about how everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and no one person is exactly like another. By talking through this concept, my client realized that he could use his artwork to express himself while still being proud of his other skills.”
Example: “I am a certified art therapist with the American Art Therapy Association. I earned this certification after completing my master’s degree program at the University of California, Los Angeles. During my studies, I completed an internship where I worked under a professional art therapist for two years. This helped me gain valuable experience working with patients who were facing mental health issues.”
Interview – Question & Answer
I went to undergraduate school as a psychology major and fine arts minor. I have a B.A. in Fine Art. I’ve truly always been an artist at heart, but my family insisted I get a degree that wouldn’t cause me to be a “starving artist.”
FAQ
What questions should I ask an art therapist?
- Q: Do I need art training or experience to participate in art therapy?
- Q: What kind of training should my art therapist have?
- Q: What kind of art will I make in art therapy?
- Q: Will the art therapist “interpret” my artwork?
What questions do you have about the job of an art therapist?
- What are the advantages of art therapy over conventional psychotherapy? …
- What are some of the common misconceptions regarding art therapy? …
- What measures do you take to ensure that you don’t become too involved in patients’ problems?
What questions are asked in an art interview?
- Tell me how you’ve developed your art career so far. …
- Why do you want to make and sell art? …
- Describe your dream project. …
- How do you collaborate with other artists? …
- Do your other interests influence your art? …
- Describe the best piece of art you’ve created.
What questions do they ask in a therapist interview?
- Can you tell me what DSM is and how therapists use it in practice?
- How do you track mental health data, and why is it important to your work?
- What would you consider to be the leading causes of mental health issues today?
- How do you approach insurance billing and client expenses?
