A new book about the current situation of Art Therapy in Switzerland
In Switzerland Art therapy has been re-regulated and is now an official profession. Soon it will be possible to conclude the studies with an Advanced Federal PET Diploma. The Swiss professional associations for art therapy created the umbrella association KSKV-CASAT which together with the federal government developed a job description for art therapists.
Art therapy today consists of five disciplines:
For all these disciplines there are different training Institutes. Each Institute has its own methods, theories and approaches. The different methods are represented in this book giving both lay and professional readers an understanding of the profession, its application and its effectfulness.
Any discipline and method of art therapy can be applied within many different fields such as physical or psychological treatments, often psychosomatic troubles but also for personal development and wellbeing.
Common to all methods is the importance laid on personal interaction within the chosen medium. This allows for direct experience and thus generating new and immediate insight and understanding through personal acting. Such experiences become the solid ground for new practices.
The articles were written by persons representing the institutes. All the institutes are members of the VBK/AIFA, Swiss Association of Training Institutes for Art Therapy (www.kunsttherapie-ausbildung.ch). They all have invested years of work in developing the theory and practice of their methods. The articles therefore represent the diversity of the art therapy landscape existing in Switzerland. The variety of methods corresponds to the variety of people who can benefit from them.