Practices and challenges in implementing art therapy in the school system

This study examined the specific characteristics of art therapy practice that takes place within the school system. The study is based on the perspectives of 16 art therapists working in primary schools, as reflected in 113 journal entries that were recorded during 2015–2016. These entries were analysed according to the principles of consensual qualitative research Hill, C. E., Knox, S., & Hess, S. A. [2012. Qualitative meta-analyses of consensual qualitative research studies. In C. E. Hill (Ed.), Consensual qualitative research: A practical resource for investigating social science phenomena (pp. 159–171). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association]. The findings fall into five primary domains: (1) the therapeutic setting; (2) methods, tools and techniques; (3) the therapeutic interaction; (4) themes that emerged in the sessions; and (5) the therapists’ evaluation of the contribution of the therapeutic process. The findings highlight specific gaps between art therapy practices and field training, and the reality of the education system. These suggest changes that could be made as regards the training of school art therapists, that should be broadened to varied modalities and the construction of therapeutic models applicable to the educational setting, including the adoption of more short-term therapeutic approaches.