The essential components of doctoral-level education for art therapists

The purpose of this research was to explore the interaction and influence of cultural, epistemological, and philosophical structures on the development of educational missions, curricular components, and pedagogical methods of doctoral education for art therapists. A modified qualitative case study research design was used to collect data from three primary sources – the literature, interviews, and existing doctoral curricula. The analysis of data resulted in the identification of seven emergent themes that provided constructs for the development of doctoral-level art therapy education. The seven emergent themes that were identified were learning culture, epistemologies, rationale and competencies, interdisciplinarity, research, self- and other knowledge, and pedagogy. A recommendation for the development of a curriculum for a doctoral program in art therapy based upon these seven themes is proposed.