The 4 Different Art Therapist Career Paths You Can Take
The 4 Different Art Therapist Career Paths
Ok, maybe you just graduated from an art therapy master's program, or you're just thinking about this career.
Today I want to share something about this career that no one really talks about, even in schools, - and that is, the 4 different art therapy career types. Of course, your work may look different within each path, but there are 4 big categories I found within this field.
I’ve been working in this field for a while, and this is something that I had NO IDEA about when I just started. But as I worked and found myself in different work situations, I recognized there were more paths that are available than what most people might realize.
I hope this helps you learn how this career can really look different for each person, for aspiring art therapists but also those who are already working in this field and want to explore more options.
You can also watch this video where I explain in detail:
* And pssst… if you’re curious what type of path fits you the best, you can take my assessment/quiz here.
Without further ado, the 4 paths are described below ↓
Employee
So this is the most commonly known type of path you can take in the art therapy field. Schools or graduate programs often cater their training so that you can fit in this kind of work setting. Sometimes when fresh-off-the-school art therapists finish their training and start their career, they believe this is the ONLY path (of course, it’s not).
If you are on this path, you may find yourself working in hospitals, nonprofits, community centers, clinics, addiction treatment centers, schools, nursing home, prisons, etc. You’ll likely be working alongside other professionals.
Your work hours are usually 9-5, and 40 hours per week (if you’re full-time). You probably will have health insurance (if you’re full-time), set amount of vacation/leave days, and an option to enroll in employer-sponsored retirement plans.
The awesome part of this type of path is that your work is most likely very structured. Your hours, your schedule, your clients are set for you. This is perfect for you if you like having a repeated daily or weekly routine.
The challenge in this path is that I often see high rates of burnout, low pay (or pay ceiling), and sometimes the amount of art therapy work you could do. At times, I’ve seen that half (or more) of the work is non-art therapy - meaning you might be doing more verbal counseling, case management, or social work than actual art therapy.
2. Business Owner
Many people who are interested in becoming an art therapist or are just starting their training imagine themselves opening up their own art therapy private practice. (I imagined this too). The “business owner” path is basically the path that we are thinking about.
This path includes having your own private practice and providing art therapy services to your clients from your own office. You get your own clients, set your own rates (*to an extent since if you work with insurance, then your rate is set for you by those companies), promote yourself, and have your own office.
This path allows you to have many things to be under your control. You have the option to expand your business or do group private practice (hire other therapists to work for you). You’ll most likely do 100% art therapy work (unless you are also licensed as a counselor or therapist and only take clients with insurance).
While you are literally the boss, this also means that you have to take 100% responsibility for your business. This may feel freeing to many, but also burdensome for some people who would rather feel more comfortable relying on an external structure.
You do have to “get” your own clients, promote yourself in some way, deal with instability or uncertainty in your income (especially in the beginning), and take care of your own health insurance and retirement plan.
3. Freelancer
The freelancer path is a pretty hidden path that not a lot of people know about. I stumbled upon this path after working in the employee path for several years, and I was looking for more flexibility and more pay.
Within this path, you basically contract with different organizations or businesses to provide art therapy services to their clients. You are self-employed and work on a contract-basis.
Some unique aspects of this path include:
You don’t need to get your own clients.
Usually higher pay per hour than employees
Time flexibilities
Diversity in your work (you can choose what organizations and thus what type of clients you see)
Some more challenging parts of this path is the increased commute time if you work at several different sites, especially within one day. You may be covered for those travel costs, but you may be not.
Also, just like the business owner path, you most likely have to cover your own benefits (health insurance, retirement plan) since you are technically self-employed.
This path is a relatively unknown path that many people should look into or consider if they don’t want to stay in one place all the time or simply have more flexibility in terms of schedule and pay.
But also know that there are 2 ways you can find this type of work: (1) search job sites (just like finding employee type work), or (2) find where you want to work and reach out to them and propose a contract.
If you go the first route, then unfortunately there’s not a lot of existing freelance art therapy jobs out there (also, it’s hard to identify those kinds of jobs too). That’s why, if you want to work as a freelancer, then you most likely need to go through the second route of “creating your own position.” Which means yes, you may have to “put yourself out there” and create your own job. This is what makes this path similar to the business owner path and the next path I’ll be discussing.
4. Online Entrepreneur
This path is quite an unknown path. Even more unknown than the freelancer path. And that is because it is SO NEW. It is like hot off the press.
I myself never knew this type of work would exist in the art therapy world. But I found myself paving this path for myself, with no other person to really look to for guidance or advice when starting out.
However, there are a few out there who are doing similar work as me and being an “online entrepreneur” art therapist, though I haven’t found anyone who are doing exactly what I do. (There’s a lot of variety within this path).
This online entrepreneur path, which I am on, is essentially creating online content and providing online services, and earning through those means.
The unique benefits about this path include:
Diversified income - You can have multiple streams of income. You can earn through what you share online (video, blogs, ebooks, courses, etc) as well as through your services (1:1, group programs, etc)
Passive income - Many of the income sources that you earn online can be passive (meaning you can earn while not “actively” working or seeing a client). This means you are not trading time for money.
Location independence - Since you are working 100% online, you essentially have a “laptop lifestyle,” working wherever you want. You can also become a digital nomad, traveling and working at the same time.
No pay ceiling - When trade time for money, you are limited by how much time you have on hand, right? And we only have so much time each day to work. So when you have passive income, you can earn without time constraint. Also, you can basically set your own rate and can build your business to whatever scale you want, which means you have no pay ceiling!
Helping people globally - Working online = helping people everywhere in the world. This is one of the most amazing part about this path.
Some challenges about this path include the requirement to be super creative. You have to be really creative, making your own content like videos or blogs, and also put yourself out there. You have to be visible, showing up online and sharing your wisdom.
This type of work asks you to be confident and be comfortable with being visible. When I started out, of course, I wasn’t both of those things. BUT, I worked on myself and grew so much that I love showing up and creating all these content. So it is possible for you to be uncertain in the being but gain more confidence and skills as you go.
The other difficult part about this path is similar to the business owner path - the uncertainty of your income in the beginning, covering your own benefits, and being 100% responsible for your business.
This does take a lot of guts and know-how, but there are definitely upsides that can’t be beat!
So… What Path Fits Me?
Okay, now you have an idea of what the 4 big paths might look like. But how do you know which one is the best fit for YOU?
If you are wondering, I have an assessment/quiz you can take to find out that exact answer!
I know art therapy work/business is confusing to navigate and there’s not a lot of information out there (I feel you!). If you want some real guidance for starting your own online art therapy business, I invite you to my Visionary Business course — in which I give you the strategy and the support you need to start your dream art therapy business & start seeing online clients faster.
With that said, I really hope that this was helpful for you to learn. Thanks and see you next time!
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