Pediatric Art Therapist

Advocate Health Care; Park Ridge (IL); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Advocate Health Care in Park Ridge, Illinois, is seeking an Art Therapist to provide art therapy services for patients from birth to 18 years. Responsibilities include direct assessment, designing therapy interventions, and collaborating with the interdisciplinary team to meet patients' psychosocial needs.

Applicants should have a Master’s in Art Therapy and relevant experience, demonstrating strong communication skills and knowledge of child development principles.

Qualifications

• ATR required within 2 years; preferred ATR prior to hire.
• One or more years of art therapy experience with children and adolescents.
• Experience in a medical setting, preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provides art therapy services to enhance well-being of individuals.
• Designs and implements art therapy interventions.
• Evaluates progress towards therapeutic goals.

Skills

Art therapy experience

Strong interpersonal and communication skills

Ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment

Knowledge of growth and development principles

Education

Master’s Degree in Art Therapy

Tools

Drawing and painting materials

Digital art tools

Job description

Job Responsibilities

• Provides direct assessment, consultation, and delivery of art therapy services to improve and enhance the physical, mental, and emotional well‑being of individuals birth through 18.
• Assesses individual and/or group psychosocial needs and identifies therapeutic goals based on assessment. Designs and implements art therapy interventions for patient(s), siblings, guardians, and groups of patients. Evaluates progress towards established goals based on developmental level and goals for treatment.
• Responds to referrals from physicians, nursing, child life specialists, music therapists, chaplains, and other hospital staff for group and individual sessions. Develops, leads, and supervises individual and group sessions on all pediatric and neonatal intensive care units.
• Incorporates a working knowledge of psychological theory, therapeutic interventions, and therapeutic principles with a thorough understanding of the creative process. Utilizes knowledge of human development to identify the pediatric patients’ developmental level to formulate the plan of delivering art therapy services for each individual patient.
• Provides initial and ongoing assessments of the individual’s overall coping effectiveness and overall psychosocial functioning. Makes assessments and subsequent treatment plans within the context of patients’ and families’ medical, emotional, social, and cultural concerns.
• Collaborates with the interdisciplinary team in treatment plan formulation by contributing to the assessment of the patient’s and family member’s need from a psychosocial point of view.
• Maintains art supplies and ensures safe handling and appropriate use within the hospital and outpatient settings.
• Practices in accordance with the Ethical Principles for Art Therapists governed by the American Art Therapy Association.
• Coordinates, plans, and implements events with patients and families to ensure typical development and enhance coping while receiving medical treatment.
• Partners with Public Affairs, Marketing, and the Advocate Charitable Foundation to coordinate and implement special events with donors and community partners in order to develop, nurture and maintain relationships. Maintains all in‑kind donations and utilizes restricted funding per donor intent. Manages delivery and storage of all in‑kind donations, toys, and supplies.

Supervisory / Management Responsibilities

This position recruits, interviews, accepts, and supervises all art therapy interns. The art therapist evaluates performance and growth throughout the students’ training and oversees work assignments in relationship to the needs of clinical units and the learning goals of each student.

Minimum Education and Experience Required

• License/Registration/Certification: ATR required within 2 years of hire; preferred ATR prior to hire date.
• Issued by (Governing Body): Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB).
• Level of Education: Master’s Degree in Art Therapy.
• Years of Experience: One or more years of art therapy experience with children and adolescents.
• Describe Type Experience: Art therapy experience with children and adolescents. Preferred art therapy experience in a medical setting, including grief and trauma.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA)

• Working knowledge of how to use a wide range of art materials in therapeutic sessions, including drawing, painting, clay, mixed media, and digital art methods.
• Ability to function in a multidisciplinary environment while providing direct patient/family care.
• Ability to establish supportive relationships with children and their families and maintain rapport.
• Experience and comfort working with hospitalized children, patients diagnosed with mental illness, developmental delay, and/or who display challenging behaviors in individual and group contexts. Ability to adapt interventions to meet the needs of patients with special needs.
• Experience and/or comfort working with patients and families during critical illness and at end of life.
• Must demonstrate knowledge of the principles of growth and development over the life span with expertise in the birth to 18 age range.
• Must demonstrate knowledge of the principles of growth and development over the life span and possess the ability to assess data reflective of the patient’s status and interpret the appropriate information needed to identify each patient’s requirements relative to his/her age‑specific and/or developmentally appropriate needs.
• Understanding, supportive, and empathetic to individual needs of a diverse patient/family population.
• Strong PC skills and understanding of current technologies utilized in the medical setting.
• Works safely and efficiently under stressful and difficult situations.
• Resilient and flexible in an ever‑changing environment.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills (both written and verbal).
• Assessment skills, organizational skills, and knowledge on how to prioritize patients.
• Proven leadership skills, ability to prioritize in a fast‑paced and high‑demand setting, and strong organizational skills.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills as demonstrated through establishing and maintaining positive relationships with patients, parents, donors, and other team members.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

• This position may require travel, thereby exposing the employee to weather and road conditions.
• Frequently required to lift up to 25 pounds without assistance and occasionally required to lift over 25 pounds with assistance.
• Operates all equipment necessary to perform the job.
• Must be able to sit, stand, walk, squat, bend, and reach above shoulders and twist.
• Exposed to a normal office environment.
• Requires direct contact with patients, families, AAH team members in all departments, intern students, volunteers, representatives from community groups and agencies, professionals from other health care institutions, and professional organizations.
• Contact with patients with infectious diseases, which requires special protective equipment, training and adherence to prescribed rules and procedures to prevent and spread infection.
• This position falls into a fast‑paced, rapidly and constantly changing environment.