Defining Community-Based Art Therapy: How Art Therapy in School Settings is Facilitating Community-Based Art Therapy

This research explores the overlap between community-based art therapy and school-based art therapy through the surveyed experiences of art therapists working in school settings, and informed by community-based art therapy components and characteristics identified in A Model for Art Therapists in Community Practice by Dylan Ottemiller and Yasmine Awais. A literature review focused on five components and characteristics identified within the community-based art therapy literature, and informed the review of school-based art therapy literature based on the community-based art therapy themes. A qualitative survey approach was utilized through the distribution and data analysis of an electronic survey and findings were enriched by the researcher’s participation in the development and implementation of a brief community-based art therapy program providing an art therapy experience to families receiving services at a domestic violence intervention center. Analysis of the data revealed three major themes and specific areas where school-based practice is facilitating community-based art therapy (CBAT) components and characteristics. The findings discuss which CBAT components and characteristics are and are not being facilitated within school-based practice, and in conclusion the research offers ways school-based art therapy programs may offer opportunities for community-based practice.