Art psychotherapy is an internationally recognised intervention for children with mental health difficulties and is utilised across clinical, educational, and private settings. The Vasarhelyi Method of Child Art Psychotherapy (CAP) is a specific method of art psychotherapy for children and adolescents, originally developed in the UK by Vera Vasarhelyi within the context of a multidisciplinary Child and Adolescent Mental Health team setting. CAP is a psychodynamic approach to art psychotherapy, where young people are supported in exploring and processing past experiences and current difficulties at both conscious and unconscious levels. This exploration is done through the medium of art materials in a safe and contained therapeutic space. As described by Vera Vasarhelyi (1990), ‘The symbolic content of images can facilitate a unique insight into the dynamics of the unconscious, and allow the privilege of seeing hidden processes, which would otherwise remain largely inaccessible to exploration.’
The four-year Professional Masters training in CAP meets the requirements to apply for pre-accredited membership with the Association for Child Art Psychotherapy (ACAP). ACAP is independent of the Irish Council for Psychotherapy (ICP) but has adopted their widely subscribed to Standards for Training in Psychotherapy. CORU has launched a State Registration Board for the titles ‘psychotherapist’ and ‘counsellor’ under the terms of the health and Social Care Professionals Act [2005] administered by CORU. The Professional Masters in Child Art Psychotherapy is keeping up to date with developments, and will work to ensure that the qualification meets requirements for State Registration.
UCD Psychotherapy also offers a two-year MSc in Child Art Psychotherapy Studies where the student does not require professional body membership.
UCD Psychotherapy also offers a Graduate Cert in CAP for Child Psychiatrists and Paediatricians.
With its roots in psychodynamic thinking, namely the acknowledgment of unconscious processes of mind and its influence on thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, the Vasarhelyi Method of Child Art Psychotherapy is founded on the principle that images and their creation have a distinct relationship with the unconscious. The CAP modality is an integrative approach to psychotherapy for children and adolescents, drawing from a number of traditions including Psychoanalytic / Object Relations, Humanistic & Integrative psychotherapy, and Jungian analytical psychology, amongst others. The creation of images in the presence of a trained Child Art Psychotherapist assists young people who may struggle to express their difficulties verbally to experience insight, develop understanding, create meaning, and promote positive change in their lives. The client’s feelings and experiences are explored through the simultaneous production of art work and verbal discussion with the Child Art Psychotherapist in a safe, contained therapeutic space. The images and art work created by young people in the psychotherapeutic context are seen as the primary mode of communication between the child and therapist. Working in this way provides a pathway for the child or adolescent to articulate their difficulty and distress.
Students of the programme develop an understanding of the fundamental theories and principles of psychotherapy, and are taught the Vasarhelyi Method of Child Art Psychotherapy. Individual and small group supervision are integral aspects of the course, as are personal psychotherapy, group process, and clinical placements. More information on these elements can be found below under ‘What will I learn’.
For further information about this method and about the theoretical background of the Vasarhelyi method, please watch this short video clip and see the following papers:
The course is designed to provide an understanding of the theory and practice of psychotherapy, with a specific focus on the Vasarhelyi Method of Child Art Psychotherapy. It provides alternative therapeutic skills to enhance clinical practice when verbal methods alone are not sufficient to bring about engagement in a psychotherapeutic process. Students attend a series of lectures by child and adolescent psychiatrists, and learn to recognise and safely respond to serious mental health conditions in children and adolescents.
Years 1 and 2: Teaching comprises lectures, seminars, training in the Vasarhelyi Method of Child Art Psychotherapy and one-to-one and small group supervision sessions. These elements of the programme are delivered each Friday (all day) of the two 15-week trimesters. Students also need to be available one day a week apart from Friday for clinical placement in a CAMHS setting. Years 1 and 2 of the programme are currently delivered in the Catherine McAuley Centre on the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (MMUH) campus, North Inner City Dublin.
Years 3 and 4: Teaching comprises lectures, seminars, and group supervision sessions which are currently delivered one Saturday per month, 10 months per year. The Saturday training days run from 9:30am - 5:00pm and are currently held in St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Elm Park. Students also attend fortnightly individual supervision. Clinical Practice Supervisors are accredited psychotherapy supervisors under ICP (or equivalent) and have extensive experience working with children/young people. A ratio of 1:4 hours of supervision:clinical hours is recommended in line with the Association of Child Art Psychotherapists, (ACAP), the Irish Council of Psychotherapy, (ICP), and the European Association of Psychotherapy, (EAP), guidelines.
Engaging in one’s own personal psychotherapy or psychoanalysis is a fundamental component of training in the major modalities of psychotherapy. The Professional Masters CAP programme requires that trainees engage in their own psychotherapy at least weekly with an accredited psychotherapist for the duration of the programme.
Group process work is a component of the Vasarhelyi Method Training and Experiential Modules. Students participate in a process group with an accredited group facilitator every Friday in Years 1 and 2 as part of the training day. Students reflect on their own therapeutic processes, experiences, and group dynamics. Students engage in 90 hours of group psychotherapy over the first two years of the programme.
Clinical placement is an integral aspect of the Professional Masters in Child Art Psychotherapy. In Years 1 and 2, students are placed for one full day per week on a multidisciplinary Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) team. The 18-month clinical placement commences Trimester 2, Year 1 and continues through to the end of summer in Year 2. The clinical placement is arranged by the course coordinator and clinical placement supervisors who work in a variety of child and adolescent mental health multidisciplinary settings throughout Ireland. Fortnightly case management supervision in the clinical setting is provided by a senior member of the CAMHS team, and is provided within the CAMHS setting.
The clinical placement element in Years 3 and 4 is typically arranged with specific Tusla Area Managers or other organisations that are deemed suitable by the Steering Committee of the CAP programme. Clinical placement in Years 3 and 4 is 2 days per week with a caseload of 6 children / young people.
One-to-one, method-specific supervision of Child Art Psychotherapy practice is a focal point of the programme and is provided by programme supervisors. This supervision is provided fortnightly in the teaching centre during Years 1 and 2. In Years 3 and 4 students source their own individual supervisor (subject to approval by the Steering Committee) and attend supervision on their own time.
Trainees put in place their arrangement for individual supervision with an accredited psychotherapy supervisor for years 3 and 4 of training, approved by the Programme Steering Committee.
Method-specific small group supervision is provided by the training programme throughout the duration of the programme. The student’s participation in regular small group supervision amounts to approximately 20 hours over Years 1 and 2, and approximately 40 hours over Years 3 and 4, totalling a minimum of 60 hours. These hours are included in each student’s overall supervision hours.
Trainees are required to allow a considerable amount of extra hours throughout the programme for autonomous learning and specific learning activities e.g. reading of relevant literature, preparation of supervision material, preparation for case presentations, essay on clinical case studies, thesis dissertation, the research protocol assignment, and written and oral examinations.
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Years 1 and 2 of the programme are currently delivered at the Catherine McAuley Education and Research Centre, Nelson Street, Dublin 7. Years 3 and 4 are currently held in The School of Psychotherapy, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4.
Please note: The Professional Masters in Child Art Psychotherapy runs through the summer of all four years. Although there are no lectures during the summer months, students are expected to attend their clinical placement, engage in clinical supervision, and may have written assignments to complete.
The four-year Professional Masters training in CAP meets the requirements to apply for pre-accredited membership with the Association for Child Art Psychotherapy (ACAP). ACAP is independent of the Irish Council for Psychotherapy (ICP) but has adopted their widely subscribed to Standards for Training in Psychotherapy. CORU has launched a State Registration Board for the titles ‘psychotherapist’ and ‘counsellor’ under the terms of the health and Social Care Professionals Act [2005] administered by CORU. The Professional Masters in Child Art Psychotherapy is keeping up to date with developments, and will work to ensure that the qualification meets requirements for State Registration.
Training in Child Art Psychotherapy takes place over four consecutive years in UCD. The Association of Child Art Psychotherapists (ACAP) are the professional organisation and accrediting body for Child Art Psychotherapists in Ireland. Successful completion of the 4-year training ensures that the practitioner has satisfied requirements for pre-accredited membership with ACAP, allowing them to continue working towards the clinical hours, personal psychotherapy, and supervision hours necessary to apply for full Accredited membership with ACAP.
While the course facilitates students beginning the path toward Accreditation with ACAP, some graduates have successfully applied for membership with other professional bodies such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
If you are looking to upskill or if you are already working as an accredited psychotherapist, you can exit with a MSc in Child Art Psychotherapy Studies, which is a two-year, part-time Masters. Visit our site for more information here.
Applications are encouraged from candidates who are working with vulnerable young people or from candidates who are working with young people with behavioural or emotional difficulties. Those who are working with children with long-term physical illnesses may also consider applying to this course. Previous courses have had applicants from a broad range of backgrounds including social workers, social care workers, teachers, nurses working with children, speech and language therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists in training.
For more information on course fees please visit the Fees & Grants Office website.
Email psychotherapy@ucd.ie