Is becoming an art therapist a waste of time and money?

Hmmm....I'm really not 100% sure what a psychoanalyst is, but I do know the psychology job market is really saturated, and with a massive amount of psychology students graduating each year, I don't think it would get any easier. I don't think a CBT course is maybe the best choice, but I'm still grouping that under the psychology job area, so I'm not sure. Hmm...ever thought about teaching, maybe disabled people with mental illnesses?

Well I guess I could do a CBT course and maybe get work but to be honest I actually think that CBT is being used as a cheap option and that for many people while it may be a useful tool if they have deep seated issues they actually need longer term more indepth therapy to overcome their problems at a fundemental level.

A Psychoanalyst is basically what Freud and Jung were, it is a much more academically intensive training than what you do to become a psychotherapist. Many psychoanalysts are also psychiatrists but you don't need to be one to under take the training. It is rather different to what psychologists do as they are not qualified to give people one to one personal therapy or analysis. However I am sure that a fair number of psychology graduates do go on to train as therapists.

Don't you need a psychology accredited course to do CBT? As much I'd want it to be, (especially in today's climate) I don't think it'd be easy getting a job doing that just with that qualification (if you could do it).

So surely with the psychoanalyst, it would cost a lot of money like the art therapy-but with art therapy you have the previous degrees which will be strongly related (I guess?) -again, surely psychoanalyst training would require a lot of previous experience?

You may be right with the CBT training I think it is most often nurses and doctors that do it. However to become a psychoanalyst you don't need any special previous experiance other than a degree and art is actually considered a good 1st degree for such study. I have been in touch with the institute of psychoanalysis and had an informal chat so I know that they think I would make a good candidate but the training is expensive and you are required to have intensive personal therapy 4 or 5 times a week for a few years so it is a huge commitment.

Obviously art therapy really does appeal but a qualified analyst would probably get more work than an art therapist.

Im not to sure what it means if that food makes your cat sick, maybe try giving it a different type and see what happens.

sounds Mickey mouse.

CBT is a very valid tool of treating depression. It is by no means a 'soft option'

Yes CBT is a good tool for treating depression and especially anxiety and OCD however my father who is a consultant psychiatrist working in the NHS says that it is often used when a more intensive or long term form of talking therapy would be more helpful. He says CBT is similer to managing a problem when psychotherapy can actually uncover the foundations of a problem and effect a cure.
In short CBT is used so widely because it is cheap and quick not because it is easy or because it is the best treatment for the patient. Look at the issue of care in the community, for many patients long term residental care is a much better option but it is too expensive for the NHS hense the huge numbers of mentally ill people in our prisons. These are issues all mental health professionals are aware of.

I have to say that as someone with mental health problems I would laugh so hard if someone thought I should see an 'art therapist'. That kinda **** just doesn't work.

Oh don't get me wrong CBT isn't the be all and end all. I've met a fairly senior psychoanalyst who worked at a children's hospital and from his viewpoint (aware this is an anecdote) it's far from the mickey-mouse sector everyone thinks it is - and he's highly regarded. I just wanted to say that CBT is a very useful tool . Your point is true thoughl.

Well in my opinion you don't know what you are talking about, sorry.

It is a lot of the time, however, I have a good friend whos dad is a very experienced psychiatrist in the NHS, and he has said that there aren't loads of jobs in CBT through the NHS, and that they'd rather choose experienced, very academically strong (Phds etc.) people anyway, and a lot are disappointed after completing a diploma...I wanted to go into CBT, but it seems like more money and education than I could take (especially if I didn't end up with a job).