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Art therapy practitioners seek Ohio recognition

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By TERRY KINNEY, The Associated Press Updated 1:30 PM Sunday, July 5, 2009

CINCINNATI — Art therapists, who use painting and sculpting to help patients deal with emotional and behavioral issues, want more states to set licensing standards to protect the public from scams and make it easier to get reimbursed by insurance companies.

A lawmaker in Ohio has introduced a bill that would establish minimum standards for training and mandate that any practitioner be licensed, much like a family therapist, marriage counselor or barber.

"There's nothing legally out there to protect consumers," said Gretchen Miller, president of the Buckeye Art Therapy Association, which has about 200 members, all of whom have at least a master's degree in art therapy. "We really should be licensed."

Only New Mexico, Mississippi and Kentucky — where legislation was signed in April — license art therapists, according to the American Art Therapy Association. The Maryland Art Therapy Association is seeking state regulation in that state.

Art therapy is conducted in prisons, hospitals, mental health centers and childhood trauma situations, as well as in private practice.

It is most useful among people who have trouble expressing themselves verbally, Miller said, and was widely used to deal with the trauma of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

"We have had some great advances in our field," said Sarah Kremer, director of government affairs for the 5,000-member American Art Therapy Association based in suburban Washington, D.C.

New Mexico was the first state to license art therapists, in 1994, almost 20 years after author and art professor Howard McConeghey founded the art therapy program at the University of New Mexico.

"We wanted people to know who were legitimate art therapists and who weren't," said McConeghey, 89. "It did give us some professional status in the eyes of the public as well as the counselors and social workers who sometimes looked down on us as not quite equal."

Licensing made it somewhat easier to obtain payment on insurance claims, McConeghey said, although most art therapists were certified in other areas of counseling that were accepted by insurance companies.

Still, art therapy is generally not covered by insurance, said Susan Pisano, spokeswoman for the American Association of Health Insurance Plans in Washington, D.C.

"Evidence is lacking as to whether there is research around that demonstrates it's impact on individuals," she said.

State Rep. Michael Skindell, a Democrat from Lakewood, said he agreed to sponsor the Ohio bill because Miller lives in his district and convinced him that licensing would protect the public from scam artists and upgrade the professional status of legitimate practitioners.

Skindell's bill would establish a board to develop and enforce licensing standards, requiring at minimum certification by the art therapy credentials board and three letters of recommendation from professional sources.

He hopes the bill will get a hearing this fall at the House Health Committee.

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On the Net:

American Art Therapy Association: http://www.arttherapy.org

Buckeye Art Therapy Association: http://www.buckeyearttherapy.org

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July 05, 2009 05:29 PM EDT

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