New campaign aims to highlight professional standards of Arts Therapy

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) has launched a new campaign to promote the statutory regulation of Arts Therapists amongst employers.

The Why Hire an Arts Therapist? (WHAT?) campaign will promote the fact that Arts Therapists are a regulated profession and will also raise awareness of the legally protected titles of Art Therapist, Art Psychotherapist, Dramatherapist and Music Therapist. Anyone using one of these titles is required to meet HCPC standards for their training, professional skills, behaviour and health.

It will target organisations which employ the services of Arts Therapists, such as the NHS; private health organisations; social services; the prison service; charities; and Local Education Authorities.

An art, music or drama therapist encourages people to express their feelings and emotions through art, such as painting and drawing, music or drama.

Jonathan Jones, HCPC’s Stakeholder Communications Manager said: “We have launched the WHAT? campaign in response to concerns highlighted by Arts Therapists about the apparent lack of awareness of their regulated profession. We’re working in partnership with the professional bodies to raise the profile of Arts Therapists by highlighting the benefits of using a HCPC registered professional and their work in improving the lives of service users.”

The campaign has been developed in collaboration with the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT), the British Association for Dramatherapists (BADth) and the British Association for Music Therapy (BAMT).

For more information about the campaign and more case studies visit www.hcpc-uk.org/artstherapists or search #WHAT? on Twitter and Facebook.