Admissions Policy

Admission to the BC School of Art Therapy (B.C.S.A.T.) is determined by a selection committee appointed by the School. A maximum of 12 new students can be accommodated each year. Applicants will be notified if they are to be granted an interview. After the interview, an applicant will be notified of acceptance within two weeks.

Prerequisites

1. 1. For the Post-Bachelor's Diploma in Clinical Art Therapy, a Bachelor Degree or its equivalent in the humanities field is required. Special consideration may be given to mature students or foreign students as deemed appropriate by the Selection Committee.
   2. For the Post-Master's Certificate in Clinical Art Therapy, a Master's Degree in the humanities field is required.
   
   
2. The following additional prerequisites must be satisfied either within, or additional to the applicant's degree program:
   1. Developmental psychology courses totaling 78 hrs including: one 39 hour course in Infant and Child Development comprised of an overview of research examining psychological processes from conception through about 12 years of age. Topics will include prenatal development, physical growth, perceptual and cognitive processes, language acquisition, personality development, and social processes.

      And

      one 39 hour course in Adolescent Development comprised of an overview of research examining psychological processes during adolescence. Topics will include physical development, cognitive processes, emotional development, social processes and psychopathology.

      Or

      one 39 hour course in Adult Development and Aging may be substituted for one of the above if the student has a particular interest in this area. The course will comprise an overview of research examining psychological processes during adulthood and aging. Topics will include biological processes, perceptual and cognitive processes, personality and social processes, sources of stress, psychopathology, and death.

   2. Abnormal psychology course totaling 78 hours which includes definitions and models of the behavior disorders and the study of behavior disorders with regard to social attitudes, origins, development, manifestations, assessment and treatment. Emphasis is on both the behavioral and humanistic approaches to problems in abnormal psychology. Tentative structure of the course includes volunteer experience in the community with a community agency, or a formal term paper.

   3. Personality course totaling 39 hours comprised of an introduction to personality theory and its application. A survey of several major strategies followed in conceptualizing personality, e.g. psychoanalytic, dispositional plus emphasis on measurement of personality, current research, and approaches to personality change.
      (sometimes offered as a Directed Study through BCSAT)

   4. Counselling skills:
      one 78 hour course in Group Processes which includes an analysis of group decision making; discovery and discussion methods in group learning; study group interaction in classrooms, family life, counselling, and mental health. First portion of course is devoted to skill development, second part to analysis, theory and research.

      And

      one 78 hour course in Counselling Techniques comprised of the study of helping relationships in the classroom, counselling, family life, and mental health. Includes theories of personal effectiveness; analysis and practice of effective relating skills. The course is conducted as a participatory seminar and includes skill-building laboratory experience.
      (NEED Crisis & Information Line, Hospice or Citizen's Counselling training may be accepted as an equivalent to a course in counselling techniques.)

   5. Fine Arts prerequisites:
      i) Drawing studio course totaling 39 hours which includes an introduction to concerns and methods in contemporary drawing. Students will gain experience in a range of studio practices, as well as theoretical issues, through projects and critiques.

      ii) Painting studio course totaling 78 hours with an emphasis on oils and/or acrylics with an introduction to painting and related areas.

      iii) Sculpture/3D studio course totaling 78 hours with emphasis on Handbuilding with Clay

      Acceptable fine arts courses are those taken either at a college or university with an art teacher, or privately with a qualified artist.

3. Students are expected to have completed at least one year of individual and group psychotherapy before entering the program.