Centre for Educational And Clinical Art Therapy

Art Therapy is still in its early stages of development in Australia and only four universities offer an extensive program. CECAT is committed to contribute to the training in art therapy and presents a solid foundation for those people who may not be able to study with one of the Universities.

Art therapists assist people to access their own image-making abilities. They do this by jointly exploring the meaning of the processes and images in the light of personal experiences and relationships that may be nurturing or distressing. The great advantage is that the art therapist can facilitate for children and adults communications of their inner world that they may initially find difficult to verbalise.

The art therapist supports the processes of emotional integration and growth by providing a safe, reliable and containing therapeutic environment within which the client can create and use images to develop insight and achieve change.

Over the last years there has been an increasing interest shown by professionals to go beyond the Cognitive-Behaviour-Therapy (CBT) paradigm. Many clinicians find that some clients require insight as part of their healing rather than just discussing their thoughts and behaviours. The ability to access the unconsciousness through art therapy is not only an exciting process but may also enable a significantly more comprehensive assessment and treatment approach.