The Arts in Psychotherapy 36 (2009) 1–4

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The Arts in Psychotherapy

Short communication

Art therapy development in Korea: The current climate

Sunhee Kim, LCAT, ATR-BC1

Seoul Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o

Keywords:Art therapy in KoreaEducational programs of art therapy inKoreaGlobalization of art therapyCross-cultural issues

a b s t r a c t

This brief article presents the art therapy development in Korea and the current climate for providingupdated information on art therapy in Korea, where art therapy is becoming in high demand in the fieldof mental health. It is also for encouraging other art therapists around the world to exchange information,support educational program development, collaborate on research, and connect with professionals inneighboring nations. Korean art therapy has been developed over the past 10 years to include 10 graduate-level schools, 5 undergraduate schools, 14 continuing education programs, and 6 associations. Well-educated and prepared art therapists all over the world are needed not only in their own communities

and countries but also in other countries. For the art therapy profession, we need to support educationalprogram development, wherever there are demands for art therapy, providing human services through

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Globalization of art therapy has been documented recently inhe literature and has also been a topic of discussion at Amer-can Art Therapy Association (AATA) conferences. Art therapyrofessionals in other countries have been introduced to Amer-

can art therapists (Anderson, 2006; Gloub, 2005; Stoll, 2005)nd global art therapy training has been examined (Arrington,005). Many art therapy professionals have traveled to other coun-ries as guest lecturers and researchers. In particular, the rolef the International Networking Group (ING) of Art Therapistsas contributed to the globalization of art therapy by creating atructure for sharing information about art therapy all over theorld.

It seems that there is interest in expanding the globalizationf art therapy by training qualified art therapists through inten-ive art therapy education. According to Stoll (2005), founder ofNG, there are many countries where the “interest in art ther-py is high but financial, human, or educational resources areimited or non-existent” (p. 189). These countries include: “Azerbai-an, Bahrain, Bali, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Congo, Croatia,yprus, Egypt, Estonia, Ghana, Guam, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iran,azakhstan, Kuala Lumpur, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mananos,

alaysia, Myanmar, Okinawa, Pakistan, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia,

hailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe” (p. 189).Detailed information on art therapy development in many other

ountries was provided by Stoll (2005) including universal obsta-

E-mail addresses: shk0612@gmail.com, shk0612@mindspring.com.1 Present address: 2100 Linwood Ave. #18R, Fort Lee, NJ 07024, United States.

197-4556/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.oi:10.1016/j.aip.2008.12.004

© 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

cles in developmental tasks. She pointed out that there weredifficulties in adopting theories, establishing a professional identityand recognition, expanding an art therapy job market, credentialingthe art therapy profession, and developing educational programsin academia. Unfortunately, there was not much information givenon art therapy development in Korea in her article. Stroll providedinformation on only two art therapy associations, the Korean ArtTherapy Association (KATA) and the Korean Association for ClinicalArt (KACA). One art therapy educational program in the categoryof MA, or diploma level, was also mentioned without further infor-mation. It could be easily assumed that there was not a very activeresponse from Korean professionals regarding art therapy develop-ment there.

I would like to present art therapy development in Korea andthe current climate to provide updated information on art therapyin Korea, where art therapy is becoming in high demand in the fieldof mental health. I would also like to encourage other art therapistsaround the world to exchange information, support educationalprogram development, collaborate on research, and connect withprofessionals in neighboring nations.

Art therapy education programs in South Korea

Art therapy has blossomed over the last 10 years in Korea sincethe first graduate art therapy program opened in 1998. Korean arttherapy has great potential to grow further as an important pro-

fession in Korea’s mental health fields. Initially, there were someKorean art therapy students who came to US in the mid-1990s,completed their master’s degrees there, and returned to Korea.Thanks are due to those individuals who bravely opened the doorfor art therapy in Korea; they worked with traditional psychiatrists,

2 S. Kim / The Arts in Psychotherapy 36 (2009) 1–4

Table 1Art therapy programs in continuing education departments in Korea.

Name Year opened Location Certificate issued by

Dongguk University 1997 Seoul KEAPAa

Sookmyung Women’s University 1998 Seoul KEAPACatholic University of Korea 2001 Seoul KAUCEb

Incheon Catholic University 2001 Incheon KEAPASungshin University 2001 Seoul KAUCEKookmin University 2002 Seoul KAUCEKorea University 2002 Seoul KEAPAKyonggi University 2002 Seoul KEAPAYonsei University Extension 2002 Seoul KEAPADankook University 2003 Yongin KEAPAKangwon University 2003 Chuncheon KEAPACheju National University 2005 Jeju KEAPAHongik University 2005 Seoul n/aK

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Table 3Art therapy undergraduate programs in Korea.

Name Year opened Degree Location

Daegu Cyber University 2002 BA in Art Therapy OnlineBusan Digital University 2005 BA in Art Therapy OnlineDaegu Haany University 2006 BA in Art Therapy Daegu

onkuk University 2005 Seoul n/a

a Korean Expressive Arts Psychotherapy Associations.b The Korea Association for University Continuing Education.

sychologists, and educators who were open-minded about artherapy in this early stage of Korean art therapy development.

The development of art therapy education in Korea evolved inway similar to that of American art therapy education. As Junge

1994) explained about early education in the United States, “Thearly art therapists found training in a variety of ways, often throughheir connections with psychiatrists or psychiatric clinics and oftenon the job,’ inventing new strategies and techniques as they wentlong” (p. 134).

Beginning art therapists in Korea were mostly supervised by psy-hiatrists or psychologists due to the lack of art therapy supervisorsn the field. When the educated and trained art therapists from theS became available around the late 1990s for art therapy educa-

ion and supervision, art therapy education rapidly developed andecame popular for training not only art therapy students but alsother professionals in related fields, such as artists, art educators,sychologists, and counselors.

As of the summer of 2008, there were 14 art therapy programsstablished under continuing education departments in collegesnd universities in Korea (see Table 1). Seven art therapy associa-ions have been actively providing local and national conferencesnd seminars to those who are eager to learn about art therapy inorea (see Table 2). One of the major art therapy training programs

as in the Korean People Artist Federation, but it has been closed

nd recently re-opened in a private training program setting. Therere five undergraduate art therapy programs that exist (see Table 3).ost importantly, there are 10 graduate art therapy education pro-

able 2rt therapy related associations in Korea.a.

ame Year Location

orean Association for ClinicalArt (KACA)

1982–present Seoul

orean Art Therapy Association(KATA)

1992–present Daegu

he Korean People ArtistFederation

1998–2008 (closed) Seoul

orean Expressive ArtsPsychotherapy Association(KEAPA)

1999–present Seoul

orea Artstherapy Institute(KAI)

2001–present Iksan

orea PsychotherapyAssociation (KPA)

2003–present Seoul

orean Academy of Clinical ArtTherapy (KACAT)

2005–present Seoul

a These associations are functioning as national organizations although located inifferent areas in Korea.

Saekyung College 2006 BA in Art Therapy KangwondoJeonju University 2007 BA in Expressive Therapy Jeonlado

grams developed to train professional art therapy clinicians andthree doctoral programs to educate art therapy researchers, whocan lead the academic study of art therapy in Korea (see Table 4).

Seoul Women’s University (SWU), where one of the art ther-apy doctoral programs was established in 2001 along with itsmaster’s program, has implemented its art therapy courses andclinical internships by examining AATA educational standards.Since AATA’s standards have been used to successfully developmany university-based art therapy programs to train qualifiedart therapy professionals and educators over 38 years, the AATAeducational standards can be a valuable resource for art therapyeducational programs not only in the US but also in any other coun-tries.

There are more than 30 art therapy books written in Englishor German that have been translated into Korean and numerous arttherapy books written by Korean art therapists. The popularity of arttherapy in Korea continues growing with plenty of resources fromaround the world. This popularity indicates that it was possible totransform these resources into Korean art therapy through care-ful examination of cultural differences between Korea and othercountries. It is about the time for Korean art therapists to con-tribute to the field of art therapy around the world through its ownexperiences and research data.

Influences of guest lecturers from the United States

Arrington (2005) described her global art therapy training expe-rience by saying, “Traveling and teaching art therapy permitssharing professional skills with people who have had differentexperiences and opportunities. Returning from our travels we bringback more than cherished memories, artistic appreciation, and thesatisfaction of being able to live out our dreams; we bring back asense of global connectedness and spiritual renewal” (p. 194).

She introduced many American art therapists who presentedin other countries in her article (Arrington, 2005), including someart therapists who were invited to Korea. In the early developmentof art therapy in Korea, the KATA seemed the main host for invit-

Table 4Art therapy graduate programs in Korea.

Name Year opened Degree Location

Daegu University 1998 MA in Art Therapy DaeguYeungnam University 2000 MA/PhD in Art Therapy DaeguWonkwang University 2000 MA in Expressive Arts

TherapyIksan

Seoul Women’s University 2001 MA/PhD in ExpressiveArts Therapy

Seoul

Myongji University 2002 MA in Expressive ArtsTherapy

Seoul

Dongguk University 2003 MA in Art Therapy SeoulSoon Chun Hyang University 2005 MA in Art Therapy AsanPochon CHA University 2006 MA in Clinical Art

TherapyPocheon

Seoul University of Buddhism 2006 MA/PhD inCounseling/ArtTherapy

Seoul

Kyonggi University 2006 MA in Art Therapy Suwon

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S. Kim / The Arts in Ps

ng American art therapists to Korea. Entering the new millennium,owever, other universities such as Wonkwang and SWU startedosting international art therapy workshops and invited guest lec-urers from Europe and the United States.

As of summer of 2008, there were numerous art-therapy-relatedeminars and workshops given in Korea by many guest lecturersrom around the world. In this report, however, only a few selected–5 day art therapy workshops given by American art therapists areresented as illustrations. In 2002, Dr. Frances Kaplan was invitedo teach the 5-day workshop at SWU; she covered different sub-ect areas each day, including art therapy theories, practice, andechniques. The most interesting themes for Korean art therapistsere art and conflict resolution as a new application of art ther-

py and scientific art therapy (Kaplan, 2000). These were fairlyew concepts for the Korean art therapists, and they enlightenedhe workshop participants with a new and expanded vision ofrt therapy. There was careful cultural consideration given dur-ng the workshop. For example, when it came to the concept ofviolence” or “conflict” from Dr. Kaplan, the gun-related violencessue had to be addressed because there is no gun-related violencen Korean culture. It is not legal for Koreans to have a gun, andhere are no licenses to be issued to the general public in Korea.n most cases of violence or conflict, it is domestic violence or con-ict that comes to mind for Korean people. The participants of theorkshop were graduate-level students and professional art thera-ists in the field. Dr. Kaplan’s broad knowledge and experiences

n art therapy practice and education over 30 years, along withhe participants’ enthusiasm to learn from the expert, created anique learning environment with subject-related art making andharing of experiences throughout the whole workshop period.hrough Dr. Kaplan’s workshop, SWU has obtained a clearer visionor art therapy education in Korea and has continued developinguality art therapy programs for future art therapy clinicians andesearchers.

In 2007, Michael Franklin from Naropa University was invited tohe IATW at SWU. The main subject was “Holding Multiple Perspec-ives: The Transpersonal Vision of Art as a Therapy,” which he taughtdays with daily topics. As an expert in the field of transpersonal art

herapy, Michael Franklin led the workshop participants throughherapeutic and creative learning experiences that enhanced theearning of the students and faculty of the art therapy department atWU. It was interesting to experience art therapy based on transper-onal psychology, which has been influenced by Asian indigenouspiritual systems and European philosophical traditions. The work-hop offered the Korean art therapy students a meeting groundhere mindfulness meditation, which has been a familiar part of

raditional meditation practice in Korea, was applied to the field ofrt therapy.

Through those in-depth art therapy workshops, all the partic-pants – including the lecturers – experienced the exchange ofifferent cultures and experiences in art therapy, as well as pro-essional knowledge and skills in an intensive art therapy learningormat.

onclusions

Korean art therapy has been developed over the past 10 yearso include 10 graduate-level schools, 5 undergraduate schools, 14ontinuing education programs, and 6 associations. There are aew other colleges and universities providing some basic art ther-py classes but they are not reported here. There are also many

ther private art therapy centers, institutions, and individual clin-cs in Korea, which are not included in this report. Although artherapy in Korea is growing fast, Korean art therapy is not an excep-ion when it comes to experiencing growing pains. Stoll (2005)escribed

erapy 36 (2009) 1–4 3

Art therapy education and practice standards differ widelyaround the world and are usually adapted to the country’sunique and established practices, yet the growing pains experi-enced in developing a viable art therapy profession are strikinglypredictable (Stoll, 1991). Theoretical conflicts, competition,organizational, practical, credentialing and marketing problemsseem to be universal obstacles in the developmental tasks ofsuch an endeavor. (p. 173)

In terms of Korean art therapy, various art therapy theoriesand approaches have been studied and accepted while taking intoaccount cultural differences without remarkable conflict, in con-trast to the initial conflict over art psychotherapy versus art astherapy in the United States. Rather, the speedy growth of inter-est in art therapy increased art therapy training and educationalprograms under many different schools and associations withoutany unified standards for art therapy as a profession. The grow-ing number of clinics and institutions where art therapy is offeredas a form of treatment indicate that employment opportunitiesfor Korean art therapists are growing. However, strict and unifiedcriteria for becoming a qualified art therapist have not been estab-lished throughout the practice of Korean art therapy that woulddemonstrate the competency and efficacy of art therapists amongother mental health professionals. It is crucial to have qualify-ing credentials for developing and keeping secure employmentopportunities after completing training and education in art ther-apy.

A recent report on the competencies in arts therapies in Switzer-land by Bonin and Müller (2007) stated that there were bothsimilarities and differences in creative art therapists’ status, perfor-mance, and competencies in Switzerland compared to the UnitedStates. They made clear suggestions for the training and furthereducation of therapists. Such suggestions enable art therapistsworldwide to have a more comprehensive vision of the field ofart therapy by knowing how the creative art therapies have beenadapted and developed in different cultures and health care sys-tems around the world. I strongly believe that the experience ofbeing guest lecturers in other countries not only promotes thelearners’ knowledge and experience of other cultures but also chal-lenges the lecturers’ own perception of different cultural dynamicsin art therapy.

The countries of the world are getting closer, with individualsconnected to each other by one click through the internet. Infor-mation can be exchanged without borders. The field of art therapyis not an exception – supervision is possible overseas through freeinternet phone calls and instant messaging technology. It may notbe the best way to share artwork of the supervisee or of his or herclients’ work. However, it is useful enough to pursue and continuesupervision as long as ethical standards are adhered to on the web.

Many professional art therapists have been alerted and havelooked for ways to help when disasters have been reported whetherlocal, national, or global. Effective ways of communication are akey to providing appropriate services to the people and placeswhere art therapy can offer benefit. Well-educated and preparedart therapists all over the world are needed not only in their owncommunities and countries but also in other countries. For the arttherapy profession, we need to support educational program devel-opment wherever there are demands for art therapy, providinghuman services through the creative process.

The professional development of Korean art therapy should notbe limited to Korean art therapists, but bring art therapy to other

Asian countries in the near future. It is a strong suggestion toencourage more interactions and exchanges of information on arttherapy among all art therapy professionals and educators aroundthe world by conveying knowledge of art therapy development andits current climate in Korea.

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Kaplan, F. F. (2000). Art, science, and art therapy: Repainting the picture. Philadelphia:Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

S. Kim / The Arts in Ps

cknowledgements

Many thanks go to Dr. Frances F. Kaplan, who helped me torow throughout the process of preparing this manuscript. I alsohank Hyejin Yoo for her assistance with the updated informationn Korean art therapy educational programs.

eferences

nderson, F.E. (2006). Art therapy in Taiwan: Pioneer Dr. Liona Lu leads the way.ING/AT, 17, 9–10.

rrington, D. B. (2005). Global art therapy training—Now and before. The Arts inPsychotherapy, 32, 193–203.

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Bonin, D. V., & Müller, M. (2007). Competencies in arts therapies: A rating of impor-tance, training and performance by practitioners and referring professionals inSwitzerland. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 34, 11–21.

Gloub, D. (2005). Social action art therapy. Art Therapy: Journal of the American ArtTherapy Association, 22(1), 17–23.

Junge, M. B. (with Asawa, P. P.) (1994). A history of art therapy in the United States.Mundelein, IL: The American Art Therapy Association.

Stoll, B. (1991). Art therapy: From isolation to international visibility. IJAM: Interna-tional Journal of Arts Medicine, 1(1), 27–32.

Stoll, B. (2005). Growing pains: The international development of art therapy. TheArts in Psychotherapy, 32, 171–191.