Ethical Principles for Art Therapists

“The Ethical Principles for Art Therapists is intended to provide aspirational values and principles that cover many situations encountered by art therapists. Its goal is to safeguard the welfare of the individuals and groups with whom art therapists work and to promote the education of members, students, and the public regarding ethical practice of the art therapy discipline”. - American Art Therapy Association

Practice Papers & Useful Guides to Ethical Decision Making

The American Art Therapy Association Ethics Committee provides this series of “best practice” papers as non-binding guidelines to help art therapists interpret and apply the Ethical Principles for Art Therapists”. - American Art Therapy Association

Use of Term ‘Art Therapy’

“Inaccurate use of ‘art therapy’ often occurs due to a lack of knowledge about the profession. Such instances provide an opportunity to offer accurate information and educate the public.

On occasion, non-art therapist practitioners might be found to advertise their services as ‘art therapy’. This is an inaccurate use of the term, as art therapy can only be practiced by an individual who possesses the required training, certification, and/or state licensure. Bona fide art therapy is beyond the scope of practice of non-art therapists“. - American Art Therapy Association