DIPLOMA IN TRANSPERSONAL ART THERAPY
Transpersonal Exploration Through Art
Our Diploma in Transpersonal Art Therapy offers students
both preparation for professional practice and a profound
personal development experience. It involves you in a rich creative experience and strong community building.The course has been developed by Dr Rafael Locke and is presented through the IKON International Institute.
Transpersonal Art Therapy is a very popular vocational training course for people who want to use art to help others understand themselves, grow and make the most of their lives. This training program was one of the first art therapy courses to be established in Australia and is still unique with its emphasis on transpersonal experience.
The Diploma in Transpersonal Art Therapy is available to study full time and part time at our Sydney campus only.
To find Transpersonal courses available in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, please click on the link below.
upcoming events @ sydney campus
What is Transpersonal Art Therapy?Transpersonal art therapy focuses on self-realisation, dealing less with curing and more with healing. Curing without healing is a triumph; healing which may entail curing is a necessity.
Transpersonal Art Therapy looks beyond the personality self.
The mind and body is more than just an extremely complex machine. We are also spiritual beings learning from life, searching for meaning in birth, death, and all that precedes and follows our life cycle.
A wide range of artistic expressions are utilised in our art therapy course to express our inner worlds, shapes of life and the body.
The psycho-spiritual traditions of the world's cultures offer us the potential for new models of health and wellbeing. Comparative studies of spiritual and religious systems and transpersonal anthropology are an important part of our art therapy training program.
What You Gain from Transpersonal Art Therapy 
- vocational training that enables you to work in a wide variety of rewarding areas
- a deeper understanding of yourself and others
- a stronger sense of purpose and direction in life
- greater access to personal resources
- life skills for managing transitions
- personal healing and greater sense of self
- deepening of relationships and personal expression
- a supportive network and community beyond the course
Our college also offers courses in Transpersonal Counselling. IKON Transpersonal courses are different! - they value the individual and their life experience
- are focussed on the person as the instrument of healing
- they recognise the importance of self awareness
- value the use of various states of consciousness in healing
- are client centred and based on the model of 'authenticity'
- the programs are rigorous and bridge the medical and traditional models
- they recognise that healing is an ongoing journey of emergence and growth
- they recognise the importance of culture building in a society undergoing severe transitions.
Click here to read about our Transpersonal Short CoursesWhat our students say about our Transpersonal Art Therapy course
"
I am an Art Therapy graduate of IKON. I have embarked on a home practice and I oversee & implement the Art Therapy & Diversional Therapy programs at a residential aged care facility as well as working toward another IKON diploma.
I am empowered & empower others to find resources through a process which supports expression, exploration, transformation, understanding, finding meaning, acceptance of self & others and a healing outcome.
The college broadened & enriched my knowledge of transpersonal practice & principals, shamanic practice, therapeutic process & relationship, group process & dynamic & the power of ritual. The staff are wonderfully generous with their time & energy & there's a real feeling of unity & identity emerging at the College. On many levels I feel I am involved in an equal energy exchange and I am blessed and honoured to be in the company of talented students & some of the most experienced & knowledgeable lecturers in the country.
I have grown as a human being, student & facilitator & am enormously grateful to
all at the College for their support & guidance."
Hali Gabardi, Transpersonal Art Therapy Graduate 2003
Click here to read more testimonials
Study ScheduleTranspersonal Art Therapy is comprised of 11 modules. There is also a non-teaching practical placement that is completed at the end of the course. Transpersonal Art Therapy is offered part time and full time at the Sydney College of Complementary Medicine.
Part time students study each module in a four day block over approximately 21 months. Also, in the part time course there are evening tutorials. Five to six of these are held between most modules. The tutorials are there to help support and guide you through your studies.
Full time students study each module for three days a week over two weeks, then have a week off and repeat the cycle. The full time course runs for approximately 10 months.
DIPLOMA IN TRANSPERSONAL ART THERAPYModule 1. Foundations of Transpersonal Studies: The Spectrum of Consciousness
The foundation module introduces students to the core concepts and theories in transpersonal work through a historical and comparative approach. The central focus is upon establishing a model for transpersonal work drawing upon both cross-cultural perspectives and an understanding of the nature of consciousness.
- models of healing
- states of consciousness
- mythology and healing
- hero's journey
- models of the psyche
- the shamanic model
- the transpersonal approach
Module 2. History and Core Concepts of Art Therapy
Coverage of the major approaches to art therapy over the last century, for example, psychoanalytic, existential, transpersonal. The meaning and application of transpersonal approaches.
- art and culture
- healing and healing images
- the Shamanic template
Module 3. Transpersonal Art Therapy
Concepts, theory and practice in transpersonal work. Existential phenomenological factors in therapy. The nature of soul work at the core of therapy.
- health
- illness, disease and curing
- self-realization
- authenticity and art
Module 4. The Symbolic Thread
Exploring the structure and dynamics of the psyche in ways related to a central concern of transpersonal work: self realistaion. Core notions from psychoanalytic traditions compared with the Shamanic model of art therapy. Explorations of structure and process through:
- masks and mandalas
- dreams and symbols
Module 5. Poetics of the Life Cycle
Exploring the life-cycle and specific challenges associated with its developmental phases. Here, the idea of movement through the life-cycle as a series if transitions which can be understood and enabled, therapeutically, by art therapy is undertaken. The history of the body and the contours of emotional life throughout the life cycle.
- life-cycle
- life-transitions
- emotional and feeling contours
- life of the body
Module 6. Mental Health, Art and Transpersonal Experience I
Mainstream approaches to mental health and human experience. Transpersonal approaches to issues concerning life, death and self realisation. Madness, creativity, mental health and art. The counter-culture in contemporary professional life.
- mental health concepts
- mental health and art
- creativity madness and art
- madness and spirituality
Module 7. Mental Health, Art and Transpersonal Experience II
Transpersonal crises and emergence defined. Methods for working with these factors in art therapy. Notions of the ‘Edge' and mapping the spaces in which transpersonal crises emerge and are resolved.
- life crises
- spiritual crises
- crisis management
- meaning, art and mental health
Module 8 & 9. Transpersonal Therapy Communication and Counselling Skills
These two modules are designed to provide students with a comprehensive foundation in interpersonal skills which are essential to being an effective healer. The fundamentals of communication and counselling skills are extended into transpersonal dimensions of human interaction using a self-realization model.
- client-centred approach
- art therapy practice
- healing relationship
- authenticity and self realisation
Module 10. Paradigms of Transpersonal Art Therapy Practice
Presentation and evaluation of major practice paradigms in art therapy. Developing a personal practice style. Individual and group modalities. Community art therapy. Re-affirming the transpersonal and especially the shamanic template.
- case studies and practical work
- working with clients
- the transpersonal approach
Module 11. Professional Practice Issues
Exploring forms of art therapy practice in Australia. The intellectual and professional climate of art therapy currently. Current climate of professional practice in Australia.
- ethics and legal obligations
- setting up a transpersonal practice
Module 12. Non-teaching Practicum
This section of the course is concerned with practical work in an agency in a supervised environment.
50 hour voluntary community placement. Details of this will be discussed in class.
Click here to read about the College of Complementary Medicine's Lecturers
AccreditationIKON International Institute courses are nationally accredited with the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) which comes under the Federal Government's Higher Education Act, ensuring you receive quality training that meets national standards.
The courses can be found on the National Training Information Service website,
www.ntis.gov.au. The course codes are as follows:
Diploma in Transpersonal Art Therapy 51939 Diploma in Transpersonal Counselling 51942 Click here to visit NTIS website to view our course listing
Upon completion of the courses, graduates may apply for membership with the following organisation with whom our courses are accredited:
- The Society for Natural Therapists and Researchers (SNTR) which also falls under the National Charter for Natural Health covering Australia and New Zealand.
Click here to view information on Transpersonal Art Therapy Associated Colleges