Herron School of Art and Design at IU Indianapolis is a nationally accredited school of art and design with art therapy program accreditation through CAHEEP. The IU Indianapolis campus is situated in the heart of the city, giving students easy access to a vibrant arts scene, world-class medical facilities, and everything else Indy has to offer.
At Herron, art therapy students have access to our amazing studio spaces and fantastic clinical opportunities. Students complete 200 clinical internship hours in their first year and 500 hours in their second year in which they apply learned classroom content into clinical practice.
Art therapy faculty at Herron come with a wide range of clinical experience, theoretical frameworks, and clinical approaches, affording students an expansive educational experience. The small cohort sizes in Herron's art therapy program create a tightknit community of students, faculty, and alumni.
All students are required to have 18 credits in studio art including courses in 2D and 3D art-making processes. They must have a developmental and an abnormal psychology course.
This certificate prepares you with the necessary undergraduate courses to apply for a graduate program in art therapy. It does not give you a credential that can be used to secure a job or direct admission into Herron’s Graduate Art Therapy Program.
Professional licensure is determined by the state and includes education and experience requirements. Indiana does not have a license for art therapists.
Credentials are managed by a national association that specializes in that field. In the field of art therapy, the Art Therapy Credentialing Board manages credentialing for art therapists across the United States.
Credentials are managed by a national association that specializes in that field. In the field of art therapy, the Art Therapy Credentialing Board manages credentialing for art therapists across the United States.
We are a CAAHEP-accredited art therapy program. This accreditation prepares you for your registration as an art therapist. After graduation, you will apply to be a provisionally registered art therapist (ATR-P) as you work towards your full credential by completing post-graduate clinical hours.
Indiana does not have a license for art therapists. Our program prepares its graduates with the educational and internship requirements to apply for a license in Mental Health Counseling in Indiana.
Every state manages its own licenses. For states with art therapy licenses, our program accreditation is recognized as meeting the educational requirements. For counseling licenses, we cannot confirm that our educational requirements will be accepted.
Our clinical internship coordinator identifies and places all students in internships. Students are not required to find their own internship or supervisor.
Art therapists work with individuals of all ages, genders, and mental health needs. Our internship sites offer a wide range of possibilities from hospitals and mental health clinics to museums and community art studios.
We are a full-time, two year, five semester (fall, spring, summer, fall, spring) program. We accept no more than 12 students per year in a cohort and each cohort moves through the program at the same pace. Students take 9-12 credit hours per semester and complete 10-16 clinical hours per week on their internship site.
We are a residency program and all of our courses are in-person. We do not offer a low-residency or online program. Class schedules are determined by the program director to best meet the needs of the curriculum and internships. Course times and internships are likely to fall during the day.
Our program is a clinical art therapy program with roots in psychodynamic theory. Emphasis is placed on examining artwork and connecting content in client imagery with diagnostic information. Our students are trained in behavioral and humanistic approaches to make them effective clinicians to work in a variety of therapeutic locations.
Writing is an essential program component. Students will gain experience that builds skills in clinical, reflective, and research writing.
Graduate art therapy students can use a shared studio space, but this must be requested at the beginning of the academic year.
Students who are eligible for federal work-study can apply for campus jobs. There are limited opportunities to work in the program and these vary by years and needs.
Our graduate students complete a year-long research study. The research is split into three categories: human subjects studies, literature reviews, and project-based research. Examples of our research topics and completed theses can be found at:
- IU Indianapolis' thesis index
- Herron art therapy graduate video thesis index