Climate Change in Future Careers

Taking this class has really made me reevaluate what kind of career I want to go into, and my priorities not only as an individual, but how I can help influence and change the priorities of others and those within my field of choice. Before I didn’t really have any kind of idea what I wanted to do after graduation, I was planning on getting my BFA in painting and then just kinda winging it from there. This class, and really all the classes I’ve taken this year have helped me realize that I want to become an art therapist. Art is so important to me, and I also really enjoy helping people and listening to them talk about their lives, so combining the two just makes sense. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. That being said I am going to have to either double major or minor in psychology, in order to be able to study art therapy in graduate school.

The task of addressing climate change within the art therapy field can be done by providing creative therapy for victims of climate disasters. In October, 2015, there was a lecture/talk about the combination of climate change, art, and therapy put on by the Global Sustainability Institute that sounded like it raised a lot of questions and topic points relating to the benefits and logistics of climate change and art therapy. Here is a prezi explaining how art therapy can and has been used to provide a way for children who have been through natural disasters to better express themselves. From what I’ve found I think that not a lot of therapy, let alone art therapy, is being provided for those who struggled through natural disasters, I don’t think most people think of them as people who might have some form of PTSD or are in need of therapy. Just because it might not be seen as as traumatic as being in a war or a victim of domestic violence by mainstream media, doesn’t mean that these people don’t need or couldn’t benefit from therapy. I am really looking forward to the rest of my schooling and the prospect of going on to graduate school excites me.