Above: Anthony Bodlović and Soyoung Shin: Come to Mind
Art therapy scholarship has historically been a prioritized focus of the department. Faculty members have contributed to the literature of the field, authoring many scholarly articles and textbooks. In 2011 the department created the Art Therapy Research Institute in order to support the scholarship of faculty, students and alumni. In its preliminary stages, it functioned as a meeting space to brainstorm and discuss ways to enhance the research practices of the program. In 2015 the Institute was renamed The Institute for Art Therapy Inquiry, alluding to its carefully articulated mission to support the knowledge-disseminating, systematic inquiry projects of art therapy faculty, students and alumni, including scholarly, clinical and artistic methods. In 2018, we changed it back, to the Art Therapy Research Institute to include a thoughtful inquiry into a process, encompassing the inclusivity of the diverse creative ways of knowing.
The Institute's Mission
The Institute's mission is to support the scholarly endeavors of the department by providing resources for faculty, engaging alumni and mentoring students.
The Institute develops supportive resources for faculty to develop and complete art therapy inquiry projects. Among the resources are:
- peer review
- IRB support
- brainstorming workshops
The Institute develops pedagogically sound procedures for facilitating student research learning and engagement. Among the procedures are:
- research curriculum refinement
- collaborative clustering support
The Institute develops mechanisms for engaging LMU MFT alumni in art therapy inquiry projects. Among the mechanisms are:
- review processes
- library access
- mentoring possibilities
The Institute includes:
- The Journal of Clinical Art Therapy
- Art Therapy Alumni Research Collaboration
- Art Therapy Research Symposium
- Art Therapy Student Accomplishments, Visiting Scholars, and Faculty Talks
The Institute’s Community of Art Therapists
The Institute for Art Therapy Inquiry includes the entire community of art therapists engaged in the scholarly, clinical and artistic investigations of our field. Collaborating with the faculty, students and alumni of the Graduate Department of Marital and Family Therapy, our community is augmented by the clinicians in the Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic, the staff of the Art Therapy in Mexico program, the editors of The Journal of Clinical Art Therapy and the participants in The Art Therapy Alumni Research Collective. With our continued efforts at diversification and decolonizing research, interdisciplinary collaboration continues to be a focus of the Research Institute as we are engaging with Cedars Sinai Medical Center, and activating community outreach and engagement through the department’s Active Cultural Engagement Committee (ACE).