Kacie Karafa is a homeschooling mother who also works part-time as an Art Therapist. Here is what she has to say about her job.

What is the job of an Art Therapist?
Well, Art Therapy is a profession where the therapist uses art materials or art-making in a therapeutic context. An Art Therapist can be in all sorts of different institutions like schools, hospitals, hospices, social services, organizations, etc… Within a therapeutic relationship, the art therapist may guide the client through directives, asking them to draw or create particular things or the client may freely express themselves. The process is just as important as the product.

How long have you been an art therapist and how did you become one?
I’ve been an art therapist for 25 years and I became an art therapist after going through undergraduate education by acquiring enough credits in psychology and art and entering a master’s program in Art Therapy. I attended the school of the Art Institute of Chicago which has a very high studio emphasis since it’s also an art museum.

What institution do you work for and what specifically do you do as an Art Therapist for this job?
I work for Hospice of the Piedmont in Charlottesville, Virginia. I am the coordinator of the kids’ grief and healing program that provides bereavement support for children, teens, and families.

What are some of the different ways you work with your clients?
We work with folks within hospice families as well as people in the community and we use art as a tool to help them express their feelings, express changes that have occurred, hold on to memories, and other bereavement-related topics. We offer two camps a year for the children. We also have individual support for 12-week sessions. We have workshops for children and for teens which currently meet over Zoom since the pandemic.

What would you say is the hardest part of your job?
The hardest part of my job is documenting all the services that we provide and keeping up with the documentation. Another part that’s hard about it is the sad stories that we encounter daily.

What is your favorite thing about your job?
My favorite thing about my job is actually working with the children and being creative with what I have them do. I like seeing how they create, all in unique ways. Also seeing the changes that happen over the period of time that I work with them such that they have an improvement in their effect and are feeling better by the end of our time together. I also really enjoy planning camps and getting large groups of children together to meet other children who have also had a loss so that they see that they are not alone in their grief.