ABSTRACT
Working in diverse settings can be as different as working with diverse populations. In any case, the art therapist who works in a school is in a very different kind of situation from the one who works in a clinic, and both are in settings vastly different from an inpatient hospital unit or a drug rehabilitation center. The art therapist’s perception of how best she can be used is also a significant variable, which depends very much on getting to know and understand the needs of the particular setting as well as her own experience and strengths. If the setting happens to include specialists in one or more arts therapies, the potential there, too, is for either destructive competition and envy or constructive collaboration and mutual growth. Outpatient settings are yet another matter, from the clinic waiting room to the offices, conference rooms, and group rooms where the therapeutic action occurs.
