Professional Identity Perceptions of Dual-Prepared Art Therapy Graduates

Abstract

This article describes a qualitative study of the development of professional identity in art therapists who also prepare as counselors. Graduates from one university's two distinct master's degree programs were interviewed: (a) art therapy (n = 9) and (b) art therapy combined with counseling (n = 11). Most participants regardless of their degree described their professional identities as a combination of art therapy and counseling, and perceived professional identity in a variety of ways based on distinct contributing factors. Recommendations to support graduates negotiating complex professional identities are offered to art therapy educators and graduate students.

Professional identity research in the health professions—a scoping review

“…Forty-five studies (28%) were concerned with the political, social and healthcare reforms and advances. This included the impact on professional identity (35 or 22%) (Bertin & Pantalone, 2019 ; Blomberg, 2016 ; Bludau, 2017 ; Bochatay, 2018 ; Brunton, 2017 ; Carpenter & Platt, 1997 ; Cascón-Pereira et al, 2016 ; Currie et al, 2010 ; Dahl & Clancy, 2015 ; de Meis et al, 2007 ; Feen-Calligan, 2012 ; Frechette et al, 2020 ; Furtaw, 2004 ; Gent, 2017 ; Gomaa, 1999 ; Handy et al, 2020 ; Hendrikx, 2018 ; Hurley, 2009 ; Iglesias & De Bengoa Vallejo, 2011 ; Kyratsis et al, 2017 ; Larsson et al, 2009 ; McMurray & Pullen, 2008 ; Mishra et al, 2012 ; O’Shea & McGrath, 2019 ; Ocek & Vatansever, 2014 ; Piil et al, 2012 ; Porter & Wilton, 2019 ; Sanders, 2019 ; Snelgrove, 2009 ; Takashima & Saeki, 2019 ; Thompson, 2005 ; Thomson et al, 2014 ; Vincifori & Molinar, 2014 ; Wiles & Vicary, 2019 ; Zufferey, 2012 ), the role of professional identity in adjusting to these reforms or advances (8) (Bertrand, 2009 , 2010 ; Dadich et al, 2015 ; Deppoliti, 2003 ; Franco & Tavares, 2013 ; Gregg & Magilvy, 2001 ; Hammond et al, 2016 ; Wright, 2007 ) as well as the broader impact of political and social reform on recruitment and retention of health care workers through professional identity effects (2) (Allen, 2011 ; Deppoliti, 2008 ).…”

“…This internalisation of beliefs, values, and behaviours of the profession (Cruess et al, 2015 ; Jarvis-Selinger et al, 2012 ) dictates the way in which members of the professional group behave (Abrams & Hogg, 2004 ; Beddoe, 2011 , 2013 ; Hogg et al, 1995 ; Smith & Terry, 2003 ; Terry & Hogg, 1996 ). Identification with the professional group thus contributes to the development of competent and confident health professionals (Carrillo & Rubel, 2019 ; Cascón-Pereira et al, 2016 ; Feen-Calligan, 2012 ; Findlow, 2012 ; Ohlen & Segesten, 1998 ; Sawatsky et al, 2020 ) influencing the way in which individual professional identity develops and professional practice is enacted (Slay & Smith, 2011 ).…”

Helpful and Hindering Factors in Psychodrama Field Training: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study of Student Development

“…A decrease was noted in students’ need for occupational and training information as well as the perceived environmental and personal barriers to career decision-making ( Orkibi, 2012a ). Feen-Calligan’s (2012) qualitative study identified a number of factors that fostered the professional identity of art therapy students, including a positive practicum and internship experiences, relationships with mentors, faculty and fellow students, courses taught by renowned art therapists, and experiential or art-based classroom assignments. Edwards (2015) suggested that becoming a music therapist emerges at an individual level (the student’s processing and learning), interpersonal (the dynamic between students as a group and with their trainers), and a broader meta-systemic level which includes the training institute, the faculty or department in which the training program is held, and the external regulating procedures of the state structures and the professional body ( Edwards, 2015 ).…”

What are the factors that have influenced individual music therapists' professional identity and have those factors impacted on their practice and the field as a whole in New Zealand?

“…Music therapy is different in different places and at different times, not just because science moves forward, but because therapy is embedded in culture" (Stige, 2002, p.121) Professional identity is not a stable entity and is one of the multiple social identities an individual holds (Clarke et al, 2013;Hotho, 2008). It is a term used to describe both the collective understanding of a profession held by its members and an individual's sense of self within the professional role (Feen-Calligan, 2012). A key aspect of professional identity is its inextricable link to the personal identity of the individual (Bruss and Kopola, 1993;Friedman & Kaslow, 1986;Ronnestad & Skovholt, 2003;Skovholt & Ronnestad, 1992).…”

“…Their professional roles, and self-concepts in those roles, develop over time and with experience. Furthermore, identities adapt in response to role demands in order to maintain valued aspects of professional identity (Feen-Calligan, 2012).…”