Art Therapy, Creative Arts Therapies (MA)
Program overview
The MA in Creative Arts Therapies, Art Therapy option, allows you to combine your passion for art with therapeutic work. Art therapists look at how visual imagery can help people overcome psychological issues and address emotional difficulties in ways that spoken language cannot. You will develop wide-reaching applications for art therapy, working directly with clients alongside departmental supervisors. Placement opportunities include hospitals and health care institutions, community centres, geriatric facilities, and schools. The Art Therapy option is a professional program approved by the Canadian Art Therapy Association and the American Art Therapy Association. Graduates are eligible to become members of the Quebec Art Therapy Association and to apply for the Canadian Certified Counsellor designation offered through the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association.
Admission requirements
- Bachelor’s degree with 24 credits in visual arts (18 credit in studio arts and 6 credits in art history, art theory, art education or approved equivalents); 24 credits in psychology (must include courses in Introductory, Developmental and Abnormal Psychology, Theories of Personality, and Research Methodology, or approved equivalents); and An Introduction to Art Therapy (3 credits).
- Overall grade average of B or better is expected.
- Previous work experience in a clinical, rehabilitative or educational setting is expected.
- Direct experience with the therapeutic process is highly desirable.
- Proficiency in English. Applicants whose primary language is not English must demonstrate that their knowledge of English is sufficient to pursue graduate studies in their chosen field. Please refer to the Graduate Admission page for further information on the Language Proficiency requirements and exemptions.
Other programs of interest
- Thesis
- Course-based

Draw on personal experience to develop your own philosophy of art education by connecting your studio practice with pedagogical theory in a program best suited to your individual academic and professional goals.
Department
Faculty