I went to small private catholic university in pa. i decided to go here because they offered me a descent scholarship. i spent the first semester undecided but interested in the arts. i then heard a little about art therapy and did a little research and found it interesting. on the school’s website it was listed as being a 5 1/2 year masters program. i joined the program and didn’t have my first art therapy class until sophomore year. the whole 4 year program only required 3 art therapy classes one internship class and then senior year you could choose to take an art therapy grad class each semester. at the end of junior year we were told that to do anything with art therapy u must get your masters degree. you also must do 1000 hours of client contact hour internship after and then take a test to be board certified. totaling close to 8 years of "schooling" before you can get a job as an art therapist. then the average art therapist only makes around 40,000 a year. aka 100,000s in debt for a long time.

then last semester of senior year i was told by the director of the art therapy program, that when i graduate i should not know enough about art therapy to get a job. that the program was designed like this.

also the american association of art therapy openly does not agree with having art therapy as an undergraduate program. but my school still does

oh and better yet…. the director of my program is on the board of directors of the american association of art therapy!!!

and in ny they have banned undergrad art therapy programs because they have realized its pointless

anyways now i owe a ton of money from student loans and i cant even get an internship or assistant position with my degree.

what do i do?

can i sue my school?

any suggestions?

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Does someone have to get a bachelors degree before getting into an occupational therapy program, or is occupational therapy itself a four year program? I am a college freshman and very interested in occupational therapy. I’m also in love with art, so I would like to somehow combine the two in a major or career….maybe art therapy? Thanks for any answers or suggestions!

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I would like honest opinions on which Masters degree program would offer the best potential for decent employment upon graduation?

My current profession is in social work, as a case manager. I am only one class shy of a Masters in Education, but obviously that is irrelevant within my field.

I was a teacher for five years, but taught out of the country and my license became inactive. In lieu of going back into teaching, I decided to make a transition into social work and move into another career.

I want to work as a therapist, dealing with clients on a more personal and detailed level.

Many people have told me that a Masters in Art Therapy is just a "trend" and doesn’t really offer as many job possibilities as the MSW or a Masters in Counseling. I personally believe in Art Therapy, but do need to consider my future and financial situation as well.

I live in the tri-state area of PA, where NJ or NYC is a reasonable commute. I am open to relocating.

I hope that I will get a few serious responses.

Thank you in advance.

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Technorati Tags: art therapy, case manager, decent employment, degree program, financial situation, graduation, job, masters degree, masters in education, msw, possibilities, profession, social work, transition, tri state area

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