MA in Art Therapy (Coursework)

Purpose

To develop students’ clinical practice and critical knowledge, skills, and academic research capabilities within the domains of the Art Therapy discourse, while promoting creative and imaginative thinking in the visual arts, psychological, psychosocial and therapeutic industries. The Masters programme will equip students with advanced knowledge of Art Therapy theories, research methodologies and outputs, and professional therapeutic and clinical skills. The programme facilitates the process of exploration and critical inquiry, on both an internal and external level, to understand how meaning is created through art making, which can then be applied in a clinical context. The programme facilitates clinical placement and supervision aligned to ethical and professional standards that leads to required registration, as outlined by the appropriate professional governing Boards of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and South African National Art Therapy Association (SANATA). This programme addresses the need for academically adept, discipline-sophisticated, and civic-minded graduates who are able to complete this Masters programme and contribute to the demand for therapists as well as the research outputs for the profession and University.

Admission Requirements

The BA Honours in Art Therapy with a 65% aggregate and completion of Psychology credits 1, 2 and 3.

Selection Process

Selection is based on academic merit of the candidate’s art portfolio, psychological maturity, and capacity to engage creatively with their internal world and external worlds. Applications are approved by the Departmental Committee comprising a panel of assessors from the Visual Art Departmental Committee and Art Psychotherapy specialist lecturers. Candidates will be interviewed and their portfolios assessed by the Visual Art Department’s Selection Committee panel. Candidates who are not accepted may request to receive feedback regarding their unsuccessful submission. Applicants who wish to specialise in Art Therapy are selected by means of an entrance assessment.

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