Art Therapy Foundations: Moving from Theory to Practice

Children and teenagers have many ways of expressing themselves. Oftentimes, we lose the opportunity to fully understand them if we only provide an outlet for verbal expression.

As counselors, it is part of our responsibility to help students express themselves in healthy ways, sublimate negative emotions, and develop positive coping skills. For many of our students, the creative process through play and artmaking is a natural form of communication. Even if we ourselves are not comfortable making art, we can harness the power of creative practice as a tool to help our kids flourish.

The major aim of this interactive course is to introduce art therapy techniques, in an ethical and effective way, to counselors who may not be familiar or comfortable with the creative process. These skills benefit all students, but can be particularly helpful for young students, students with language or developmental difficulties, or students who are uncomfortable sharing verbally. By learning through doing, this experiential course will engage participants in lectures and art based activities. Topics covered will include the neurological and fundamental benefits of artmaking, how to build a safe space for artmaking, questions to facilitate conversations while making art, tips on when to use what materials and directives for which students, and how to use art as an assessment tool to track student development, child protection, and overall mental health.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for all counselors working with students from Pre K-12 in the area of social emotional counseling.

Special benefit will come for counselors that work with:

1. Students that have difficulty expressing themselves (ELL, special needs, otherwise speech delayed)
2. Programs with a focus on mental health
3. Both non-artists and artists alike

ISCA Student Standards

Social/Emotional Domain

Standard A: Students will demonstrate the dispositions, knowledge, and skills to develop and maintain positive relationships with self and others.

Standard B: Students will make decisions, solve problems, set goals, and take necessary action to achieve personal goals.

Global Perspective & Identity Development Domain

Standard A: Students will demonstrate the dispositions, knowledge, and skills needed in order to be culturally competent global citizens.

Standard B: Students will examine the complexity of identity development and the impact identity has on relationships with others.

Standard C: Students will advocate for a world where all identities are affirmed and validated

Standard D: Students will demonstrate the dispositions, knowledge, and skills to manage transition effectively

Academic Domain

Standard A: Students will demonstrate the dispositions, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and throughout life

ASCA Professional Standards and Ethical Standards and Practices

ASCA Ethical Standards:

A. 1. Supporting Student Development

School counselors: Provide culturally responsive counseling to students in a brief context and support students and families/guardians in obtaining outside services if students need long-term clinical/mental health counseling.

Ethical Standards for School Counselors

A. 7. Group Work School counselors:

Offer culturally sustaining small-group counseling services based on individual student, school and community needs; student data; a referral process; and/or other relevant data.

ASCA Professional Competencies:

B-PF 1.Apply developmental, learning, counseling and education theories

a. Use human development theories to have an impact on developmental issues affecting student success

c. Use established and emerging evidence-based counseling theories and techniques that are effective in a school setting to promote academic, career and social/emotional development, including but not limited to rational emotive behavior therapy, reality therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, Adlerian, solution-focused brief counseling, person-centered counseling and family systems

d. Use counseling theories and techniques in individual, small-group, classroom and large-group settings to promote academic, career and social/emotional development

Essential Questions

1. How will I be able to use the workshop contents in my own school or organizational setting?

Participants will have knowledge about:

1. Participants will discover the indepth basics of art therapy, and how to utilize it with students.

Additionally covering:

1. The history, benefits and best practices of art therapy
2. Understanding how to integrate art therapy activities into your counseling sessions
3. Building clinician confidence in artmaking with students
4. Understanding and communicating the benefits of art therapy

Participants will be able to:

1. Utilize art based assessments to assess student development and mental health status
2. Develop safe, ethical, evidence based, and meaningful art based activities for students differentiated by their needs
3. Mindfully discuss artwork, and ask questions to facilitate in depth conversations
4. Utilize art making to facilitate effective group work

Sarah Josephine Kwawu

Sarah Josephine Kwawu is a Licensed American Art Therapist. Before her international ventures, she trained and developed her practice in New York City, where she worked in family therapy, and with seniors and individuals with intellectual deficits.More recently she has worked in Ghana, West Africa as a Primary School Counselor, and as a lecturer in Africa’s only masters program in Art Therapy, at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Currently Sarah is working as a Primary Counselor and maintains a private practice in Casablanca, Morocco. Sarah believes in the power of creative self-expression to help people explore their emotions, and in teaching students emotional literacy, advocacy, and self-expression.

Sarah additionally has training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy through the Beck Institute, and holds a Masters degree in Art Therapy and Creative Development from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York

ISCA Member Price: $395

Non-Member Price: $475

Dates and times of offerings:

Option 3: April 20, 27 & May 4, 2026 - 9:00 Am to 12:00 PM UTC

Contact Hours: 9 hours

Time commitment between sessions: N/A

Required Resource(s):Art materials: Paper, pencil, markers, crayons or coloured pencils