FAQ

BEFORE

Are you thinking about studying art therapy at Metàfora? Do you need help signing up? Would you like to receive more information about our school? Don’t hesitate to contact us! Our advisors are available to help you with the selection and enrollment process.

DURING

Have you already had a course at Metàfora? Are you searching for a place to start your practice? Do you know the difference between “Postgraduate in Art Therapy and Community Art Therapy” and “Master in Relational Art Therapy”? Our team is available to resolve any and all of your doubts or questions from Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

AFTER

After completing this wonderful experience, surely you will have many more questions to ask. If your questions were not answered on this page, please contact us directly. The best response is in the experience, in which all of your questions will be answered.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

If I lack experience in art, can I still participate in the training in art therapy?

Previous experience in art is not required to access the Metàfora courses except if you want to take the Master’s degree.

Can I work and study at the same time?

The training in art therapy at Metàfora is designed to allow students to work and study simultaneously and is carried out part-time in different intensive formats.

Who is the postgraduate/master’s training aimed at?

Mainly to professionals with a degree in Fine Arts. It is also aimed at graduates in health sciences or education with extensive knowledge in visual arts.

Why is it important to have training in visual arts to be an art therapist?

To work as an art therapist it is essential to have the widest possible knowledge of different artistic media. The art therapist uses different media and techniques to work with their patients (painting, engraving, drawing, photography, performance, installation, sculpture, etc.). It is essential to know from experience the limitations and expressive possibilities of each medium in order to know how to adapt the artistic medium to the profile and needs of each patient.

What arts does art therapy include?

Art therapy uses the means of the visual arts to facilitate communication and the exploration of psychological or emotional conflicts. It does not use other arts such as music, dance or theater.

What is needed to access the postgraduate program?

Consult the website of the Postgraduate in Art Therapy and Community Art.

What is needed to access the master’s degree?

Consult the website of the Master in Relational Art Therapy.

If I have a diploma in art (Massana, Llotja, etc) can I take the full training?

To take the postgraduate course, a diploma or similar is sufficient, however, to be admitted to the master’s degree, it is necessary to have a bachelor’s degree or degree in Fine Arts.

Do I have to know psychology to train in art therapy?

It is not necessary to know psychology to start training in art therapy. The contents related to psychology that must be learned to practice as an art therapist are taught during art therapy training.

Who decides what training in art therapy should be like?

Art therapists are the ones who determine what to learn and how to practice the profession. Professional associations are the institutional bodies that represent the will of art therapists and who decide how the training of future professionals should be. In Spain, the ATe and the FEAPA recommend how training should be. The ATe follows similar recommendations as the BAAT in the UK or the AATA in the USA.

Do I have to be an artist to be an art therapist?

It is not necessary to be an “artist” to be an art therapist, just have sufficient knowledge in visual arts, equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree or degree in Fine Arts.

If I have studied psychology or art, will any subject be validated?

Training in art therapy is not divided into subjects, it consists of an integral whole in which various disciplines converge, so it is not possible to validate knowledge or subjects.

What are the prerequisites for entry into any of the informative courses?

Only be interested in learning about art and therapy.

DURING THE TRAINING

What is the difference between the Postgraduate and the Master?

According to the ATe and other related professional associations inside and outside the country, to practice as an art therapist it is necessary to complete a three-year training in art therapy with specific content and methodology. Metàfora offers this training as the sum of two correlative and at the same time independent courses, Postgraduate and Master’s.

If I do the postgraduate course, will I be able to practice as a therapist?

No, only if you have completed the three-year training endorsed by the Spanish Art Therapy Association can you practice as an art therapist.

Why do the postgraduate course?

The postgraduate course itself, regardless of the master’s degree, is a unique and singular educational experience, a place to explore personal creative potential and its connection with the inner world. For people interested in training as therapists, it is both the first step in art therapy training, a place to assess for oneself whether or not one wishes to continue training in art therapy.

What does art therapy training consist of?

The training in art therapy offered by Metàfora is organized as a sequence of courses in which each one is a module of the higher course. For example, the Spring Intensive or the Summer School would be like an introductory module to the Postgraduate in Art Therapy and Community Art, and in turn, the Postgraduate is a module of the Master in Relational Art Therapy.

What is the timing and frequency of the postgraduate and master’s degrees?

In the case of the extensive postgraduate course, it lasts one academic year, from October to June. In the case of the intensive postgraduate course, the duration is 5 months, from February to June.

The master’s degree lasts two years and can be taken both online and blended.

Does Metáfora offer workshop space to carry out personal artistic work?

No, Metàfora does not offer a workshop or studio for students, except the one used during the monthly meetings.

Are there scholarships or study aid?

Metàfora does not currently offer scholarships for these studies, but we do offer a 10% discount for early payment.

In what language are the courses taught?

At Metàfora, all training is offered both in Spanish and English.

If I lack experience in art, can I access training in art therapy?

The theoretical orientation is based on psychodynamics and includes several trends, among which relational psychoanalysis, group analysis theory, art psychotherapy theory, existentialist therapy and phenomenology stand out.

What kind of practices are done and when?

Art therapy practices are only done during the two years of the master’s degree. In the postgraduate course they are carried out voluntarily of the student’s free choice, but they are not considered art therapy practices. The art therapy practices are carried out in the centers with which Metàfora previously establishes collaboration agreements.

What do the internships consist of?

When enrolling in the master’s degree, students choose an internship location among the more than a hundred that we have available (they can also propose a center of their choice that must meet the requirements for internship centers established by the course).

The master’s degree has 600 hours of practice and 144 hours of supervision divided into two years. A third of these hours are dedicated to direct patient care. Approximately six to eight hours a week is required.

During their internship, students can carry out three individual art therapy treatments or two individual and one group per year.

During the first few months of the course, the student does observation work, then designs a therapeutic intervention project that will be negotiated with the center’s work team, after which several counseling sessions will begin with the users who decide on it, then the treatments that They end in June with the preparation of an explanatory practice memory that will be delivered to the center.

Can internships be done outside of Catalonia?

Internships can be done anywhere in Europe or America with which Metàfora establishes a collaboration agreement. To date, internships have been carried out in Vienna, Paris, London, Bologna, Venice, Zurich and most of the Spanish Autonomous Communities.

How much weekly time will I have to have to do the practices?

To carry out the practices it is necessary to have about eight hours a week between sessions with patients, meetings and taking notes. Approximately it supposes a morning or afternoon in the center plus the necessary time for meetings, work at home, etc.

What does internship supervision consist of?

During the two years of the master’s degree in which the art therapy practices are carried out, the students attend biweekly supervision in small groups; Those who reside outside of Catalonia have the possibility of attending via Skype on Fridays when there is no master’s meeting.

What is the personal didactic therapy that must be carried during the master like?

One of the essential pillars of training during the master in art therapy is to personally attend sessions of psychotherapy. In order to pass the master and be able to exercise art therapy professionally, it is necessary to have attended a minimum of 84 personal therapy sessions (during the training). Said amount coincides with the requirements established by the Spanish Professional Association of Art Therapists (ATe) to be a full member.

The psychotherapists chosen for didactic therapy must meet the minimum training and professional requirements that are compatible with the training provided in the master. The therapy is confidential, is not evaluable in any way, and does not pertain to the course curriculum. The professors and tutors of the master do not maintain any contact with the therapists of their students. Students can choose the therapist.

The requirements that the educational therapist must meet:

Have a minimum training of three years in psychodynamic-oriented psychotherapy, compatible with the contents and orientation of the master’s degree at Metàfora.
Belong to an affiliated professional association.
A minimum of five years have elapsed from the end of their training as psychotherapists to date.
Access to documentation that confirms the student’s attendance at the number of therapy sessions carried out to date.

Why should therapy be done during training?

Didactic therapy is one of the pillars of the training of psychotherapists. It is a place to learn about psychotherapy from the experience itself. It is essential to have done some personal exploration work before dedicating yourself to working professionally with people in vulnerable situations.

What type of therapy is recommended?

One whose methodology is compatible with the one taught in the course, psychodynamics in general.

Why is therapy not included in the training?

Therapy requires a private and intimate space to be effective, away from the rest of the components of the course, which is why teachers cannot be therapists for their students at the same time.

Where can I find a suitable therapist?

There are lists of therapists edited by professional associations, however it is usually more effective to speak directly with the student’s tutor.

What requirements must a didactic therapist meet?

Have completed recognized training and have sufficient clinical experience.

What frequency of sessions should be done?

A weekly session.

How much?

Depending on the therapist approximately between €50 and €85 per session.

Is there a minimum number of sessions?

The ATe and other related professional associations consider that a minimum of approximately 110 sessions in a period of three years is adequate.

WHEN YOU ARE ALREADY AN ART THERAPIST

What kind of degree do I receive in the postgraduate and master’s degrees?

Both the Postgraduate Degree in Art Therapy and Community Art and the Master’s Degree in Relational Art Therapy are Metàfora’s own degrees.

Who certifies the training?

The Spanish Professional Association of Art Therapists, ATe.

What type of document or certificate is obtained?

Metàfora issues a certificate of studies or ‘transcript’ in two languages: Spanish and English. Said document specifies the subjects and the modules or areas of knowledge to which they belong, as well as the number of ECTS credits that correspond to them.

Duplicates of certificates already delivered can be issued to former students who request them for a cost of €20.

Will I be able to work as an art therapist in my country?

The contents of the training that reflects the certificate of studies that is obtained upon completion, are comparable to the requirements that are requested in other countries. The homologation of titles is variable and depends on the regulations of each country. You should ask to the corresponding authority.

Can I work as an art therapist in Spain after finishing my studies?

Without a doubt, it is necessary to have completed the three years of training, postgraduate and master’s degrees.

Are the Postgraduate and Master university courses?

Master’s and postgraduate degrees are Metàfora’s own degrees, currently they are not university degrees.

Is it possible to access the master’s degree without having completed the postgraduate course?

Only if you have equivalent training.

If I do not have a university degree, can I access the postgraduate and master’s?

You can access the postgraduate course but not the master’s degree, you can only access the master’s degree with a bachelor’s degree, degree or equivalent.

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