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.
“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.”