Art Therapy Evaluation in Miami

The Purpose of an Art Therapy Evaluation

An art therapy evaluation is used to determine eligibility for art therapy, interest level in art therapy and art-making, observing social skills, and ability to build a relationship with the therapist. It also helps determine your child’s artistic developmental level, and gain insight into the status of your child’s emotional well-being.

The evaluation done with an Always Keep Progressings board-certified art therapist will help to assess all of these areas and to design a personalized list of goals for your child’s treatment plan across the upcoming 6 months. It also gives you as a parent the opportunity to speak with the therapist about your concerns and what your goals are in therapy.

Is Art Therapy Suitable For Your Child?

Look out for the following signs to determine if your child might benefit from Always Keep Progressing’s Art Therapy services:

• Your child is struggling to communicate and express themselves and their emotions
• Your child is demonstrating delays in overall emotional regulation, socialization, motor skills, and attention.
• Your child demonstrates an interest in expanding creativity and creative expression

What to Expect During an Art Therapy Evaluation

In your first evaluation, you should expect an introduction with you, your child, and your therapist. Here, you will begin establishing a rapport and getting to know each other. You will participate in a caregiver interview, in which you will discuss art therapy, expectations, and your child’s background (medical, educational, therapy history). This is the perfect time to let your therapist know about your concerns in other settings and your goals for therapy.

Next, your child will participate in the “assessment portion” of the evaluation. Depending on your child’s ability to engage the assessment, this part may be more formal or informal.

A formal assessment will include:

A house-tree-person assessment is conducted for clients who are appropriate. This helps the therapist formally understand your child’s emotional, cognitive and social functioning.

In the house-tree-person assessment, the art therapist will either choose or allow for the client to choose the preferred art materials. This may include pencils, colored pencils, markers, crayons or paint on paper. The therapist asks the client to first draw a house, then and on a new piece of paper, a tree and the same for a person. The therapist will observe the client’s art-making process. The therapist will then ask the client questions about the drawing  and listen to  any story the client may have of the drawings made. 

An Informal assessment will include:

Involving the use of different materials to explore creativity and engage with the therapist. This helps the therapist understand child’s artistic developmental level, interest in the art-making and overall ability to engage in art therapy sessions.

The art therapist will have varied art materials on the table for the client to choose. Depending on the child, the therapist may only give the client’s two options. These may include paint, markers, colored pencils, model magic, crayons or construction paper. This writer will observe the way in which the client chooses the art material, how they use it and will engage with the client through art-making as well. This helps the therapist see the client’s ability to engage with others in art-making or desire to engage more independently. This also allows for the therapist to see the client’s ability to engage with the art material, observing fine and gross motor skills and creative abilities.

Why Always Keep Progressing?

Always Keep Progressing is one of the few clinics in Miami that incorporates Art Therapy services on site in addition to other therapy services. We will create and execute a personalized plan of care that will be specifically tailored to your child’s needs. Our qualified staff use research-based art therapy techniques to help your child meet their goals. Carolina Cordovez is a board-certified, registered art therapist who is trained to treat children of all ages. If you believe your child may benefit from these supplemental services, reach out to our onboarding team at 786-206-4151 for more information.