Arts Therapist
What the work is
Uses the creative process to facilitate the exploration of feelings, improve self-awareness and self-expression, and reduce anxiety for clients.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Works with clients to identify problems or conditions they wish to overcome, and uses the creative process to help clients explore their feelings
- Assists clients to resolve conflicts, develop interpersonal skills, manage behaviour, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and achieve insight
- Develops arts therapy programs based on clients' emotional, cognitive, physical and spiritual wellbeing needs, objectives and preferred forms of artistic expression
- Conducts arts therapy sessions with individuals or groups using a range of creative modalities, such as visual art, drama, dance and movement
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a group home for adults with disability, and the offices of a disability support provider. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A person you support joins an outing they once avoided, and enjoys it
- Support workers tell you that the plan has made afternoons calmer
- A family member says they finally feel they are working with the team
Hard days
- A plan that is on paper looks good, but a tired team does not follow it
- A family and a service disagree, and you are caught in between
- Writing detailed reports while a deadline bears down on you
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 261931, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.