Since becoming one of the first programs in the United States to receive approval from the American Art Therapy Association, the GW Art Therapy Program has been a leader in the field and a top choice for students and faculty.
Our mission is to train exceptionally skilled therapists whose professional practice is grounded in three core areas: the latest theory in clinical art therapy, counseling and trauma; application of leading research and evaluation methodologies; and diverse, integrative, culturally responsive treatment strategies.
The program boasts more than 30 full-time and adjunct faculty and over 700 alumni living and working worldwide. Students benefit from more than 100 internship options in psychiatric, educational, medical, military and community-based settings, and train in state-of-the-art facilities that include our hands-on GW Art Therapy Clinic. While in the program, student artists display their artwork in the program’s contemporary gallery space on campus as well as a virtual gallery space.
Undergraduate and graduate students, including art therapy master’s student Bianca Batar, displayed their scholarly work at the 2024 CCAS Research Showcase.
One of the first graduate programs of its kind, the CCAS Art Therapy Program now has global reach, a local clinic and faculty looking toward the future.
“So many times when I meet with potential students there is this light in their eyes, this aha moment when all of their interests have come together — their love of art, their interest in psychology, their wish to help people — and they discover that art therapy allows them to combine them all.”