Graduate Diploma in Expressive Arts Therapy

Graduate Diploma
(Postgraduate)

Serves a wide range of professionals in the educational, health and social service sectors.

Graduate Diploma in Expressive Arts Therapy

Applications Open: 16 April 2023

Applications Close: 15 April 2024

Next Available Intake: July 2024

Programme Type: Graduate

Fees: View More Details on Fees

Area of Interest: Social Services

School/Department: S R Nathan School of Human Development

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Meet the Head of Programme at our online dialogue session via Zoom and have your questions answered.

Session NSHD-DG2 : Thursday, 30 Nov 2023, 1.00pm – 2.00pm.

Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) is in a unique position to offer an expressive arts therapy programme as it serves a wide range of professionals in the educational, health and social service sectors, and it is set up to deliver courses for adults already in practice. For many years, requests have been forthcoming for a part-time arts therapy course for those unable to pursue it full-time. Hence, our Graduate Diploma in Expressive Arts Therapy (GDXAT) programme offers not only a part-time and more flexible option, but also includes different art forms like play, art, mind and body work, narrative and storytelling. Through these in-depth opportunities, professionals could employ expressive arts therapy to combine psychology and the creative process to promote emotional growth and healing. This multi-arts approach uses our innate desire to create - via play, art, music, dance, poetry or any other artistic form - as a therapeutic tool to help initiate change.

Our GDXAT creates new connections with emerging Asian models of expressive arts therapy in India and Hong Kong. It presents a psychological approach that is humanistic in orientation. As a Graduate Diploma, graduates will not meet the requirements for full registration as an expressive arts therapist or qualify them to practise as therapists. However, it may form the basis for the eventual development of a full master's programme which will qualify graduates to register as International Expressive Arts Therapists with IEATA (International Expressive Arts Therapy Association) that is based in the US.

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Refer to general admission criteria for graduate programmes.

In addition, applicants will need to meet the following requirements:

Additional Admission Requirements

Competencies in at least two expressive arts form (e.g. visual art, music, dance, theatre/drama, printmaking, sculpture)
Training and certification in at least one therapy model
Should be in the helping profession for at least 2 years, OR volunteering for at least 2 years in the capacity of using the expressive arts forms in the context of therapeutic work. Referral letters from organization(s) to verify experience is required. Experience during undergraduate internship is excluded.
Willing to undergo at least 12 hours of personal counselling or therapy as an additional resource for their own personal and professional development.

Application Submissions (Essay, Portfolio and Certificates)

Evidence of competencies in the two expressive arts form
- Certificates or evidence of courses taken on the training of two different art forms

Submission of portfolio demonstrating the art competencies could include:
- a video of past performance work (music/dance/theatre)
- a series of visual artwork completed (drawing, painting, digital artwork), presented in PowerPoint slides
- artefacts which include ceramic or printmaking artwork, presented in PowerPoint slides
Evidence of training in said therapy model
- Certificates of training undertaken or past courses taken
Essay (at least 1000 words): Why the interest in this programme? Why you think you should be in this programme? What you hope to gain from this qualification?
Those who do not meet full requirements for above may still apply. However, such applications will only be considered on a case-by-case basis, with strong justifications given in the essay.

Admission Interview

Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview.

This programme is currently unable to take in international students, i.e., you must be a Singapore citizen, permanent resident or a resident in Singapore (e.g., Employment Pass holder) in order to apply for admission.

The University offers course fee concession for selected graduate programmes. Please click here for more details.

Students of our GDXAT programme are required to complete 30 credit units (cu) consisting of six core courses, inclusive of a personal creative practice with reflective journalling and some supervised practice, before they graduate. All courses are 5 cu unless stated otherwise.

GDXAT is also stackable towards the Master of Social Sciences, subject to meeting programme requirements

ProgStruc_GDXAT

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Module Types
COMPULSORY	XAT501 Asian and Western Theories of Creativity XAT503 Techniques of Counselling and Therapy in an Asian Context: Core Skills and Methodologies XAT505 Play in Expressive Arts Therapy: Theory and Practice XAT507 Mind and Body Work in Expressive Arts Therapy XAT509 Art Making in Expressive Arts Therapy XAT511 Narrative and Storytelling	30 cu

Practitioners in counselling, social work, teaching, special education, eldercare.

This Graduate Diploma enhances the skill-sets of the abovementioned practitioners to bring about more efficacious therapeutic outcomes in their work with their clients.

How many intake(s) are there in a year for Graduate Diploma in Expressive Arts Therapy (GDXAT)?
We have only one intake a year, in every July
What is the maximum candidature to complete the GDXAT?
The maximum candidature period is 2 years.
How many courses do students take in each semester?
Students are recommended to complete 3 courses per semester.
What is the assessment structure?
There will be two assignments and a written examination or end-of-course assessment for every course. Student will need to achieve a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of at least 2.5 to be awarded the Graduate Diploma in Expressive Arts Therapy.
When are the lessons scheduled?
Lessons are scheduled on four Saturdays per course from 8.30am to 5.30pm, with a lunch break of an hour.
What happens if I do not complete the graduate programmes (e.g. Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, Master) within the candidature period? Can I apply to take the remaining courses via CET pathway?
Students who have not completed their graduate programmes within the stipulated candidature period will not be eligible for the award of the qualification for such graduate programmes. Such students however may apply to take, via the CET pathway, the remaining courses which they did not complete under their graduate programmes as part of their personal learning and development . Such application will be subjected to the CET admission requirement. However, as such students have exceeded the candidature period for their graduate programmes, they will not be awarded the qualification for such graduate programmes even after taking and completing the remaining courses via the CET pathway (“Condition”).

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COURSE, IS ONE OF THE COURSES UNDER A GRADUATE PROGRAMME. THEREFORE, APPLICANTS FOR THIS COURSE ARE SUBJECT TO THE FOREGOING CONDITION. BY SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION FOR THIS COURSE, THE APPLICANT AGREES TO BE SUBJECT TO THE FOREGOING CONDITION.

Graduate Diploma in Expressive Arts Therapy