Re: Re: Need LCAT hours? Volunteer with Goodwill PROS Rebound

[Guest guest]

Wow, amazing letter you wrote down here that I fully support! Thank you for voicing this out loud! for everyone...unfortunately these times are challenging and everyone is trying to move forward somehow someway. I wish everyone luck and love and divine intervention to make things better for all of us. To:

NYCCAT Sent: Mon, February 7, 2011 8:14:47 PMSubject: Re: Need LCAT hours? Volunteer with Goodwill PROS Rebound

There is nothing in the LCAT requirements that specifically says that this is not allowed, but it is more than a little unsettling to me. No one ever suggests that social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists should volunteer. If organizations start using "volunteer" creative arts therapists why would they ever pay for one? I understand that it is difficult for people fresh out of graduate school to find jobs, but devaluing our field is not going to make it any easier. My creative arts therapy co-workers and I fight everyday to defend the importance and validity of our work to our mental health colleagues. It is distressing to have to defend it to a fellow LCAT. I urge you to think about the larger implications that this will have on the creative arts therapy profession. We should not be working for free. People in all other professions value their work and their time enough to charge for their services, creative arts therapists should be no

different.

>

> Goodwill PROS Rebound located in Astoria, NY is seeking creative arts therapists (all modalities) willing to volunteer their services in exchange for LCAT supervision and hours needed toward licensure. Prospective volunteers will have the opportunity to work alongside licensed art, music and dance/movement therapists as part of a comprehensive treatment team. Population is adults with severe and persistent mental illness and dual diagnosis. Please email resume to kpark@...

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,I have to respectfully disagree.Until recently I felt the same way that you did.  While I was in graduate school I wasn't faced with the reality of the situation.  There are currently more licensed art therapists in New York than there are jobs.  Someone posted a job here on the NYCCAT listserv and within the hour had over 40 resumes, many of them from licensed art therapists - for one job opening.  With that choice, does an unlicensed art therapist really stand a chance?

I just graduated with a masters in art therapy and I am thousands and thousands of dollars in debt.  What am I supposed to do?  If I had another choice, I wouldn't be volunteering, I would be working.  I tried very hard to get a job in anything even remotely related to art therapy.  I applied to countless jobs, went on interviews, tweaked my portfolio, created business cards, networked, did everything you're supposed to do to get a job.

There are more jobs for social workers and their license requires that they get paid for their hours.  It's not a picnic what they go through, either; many of them work terrible jobs and get paid less than a living wage while working on their licenses.  They do get paid, but not much, and they don't have a choice.  We can't romanticize their position.  It is no good for them, either.

You can help by convincing your organization that it's worth it to invest in unlicensed, new graduates.  Once someone applies for their limited permit, they have essentially signed a contract with that organization to stay until the hours are done (at least one year, full time).  It's worth it.  Tell them to invest in us, instead of blaming us for devaluing the field.

Robin

 

There is nothing in the LCAT requirements that specifically says that this is not allowed, but it is more than a little unsettling to me. No one ever suggests that social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists should volunteer. If organizations start using " volunteer " creative arts therapists why would they ever pay for one? I understand that it is difficult for people fresh out of graduate school to find jobs, but devaluing our field is not going to make it any easier. My creative arts therapy co-workers and I fight everyday to defend the importance and validity of our work to our mental health colleagues. It is distressing to have to defend it to a fellow LCAT. I urge you to think about the larger implications that this will have on the creative arts therapy profession. We should not be working for free. People in all other professions value their work and their time enough to charge for their services, creative arts therapists should be no different.

>

> Goodwill PROS Rebound located in Astoria, NY is seeking creative arts therapists (all modalities) willing to volunteer their services in exchange for LCAT supervision and hours needed toward licensure. Prospective volunteers will have the opportunity to work alongside licensed art, music and dance/movement therapists as part of a comprehensive treatment team. Population is adults with severe and persistent mental illness and dual diagnosis. Please email resume to kpark@...

>

[Guest guest]

Totally agree with and on this, this announcement is an open invitation to exploiting our professional qualification and expertise while undermining our field altogether to lesser than other practitioners that have a much easier time finding paid positions. Taking advantage of a constricted job market which makes nearly impossible to find a paid position for newly graduates or new CAT professionals. I can speak all of this in the first person having volunteered in so many places in the last 2 years primarily to add up active experience to my resume and of course to access possible employment opportunities that otherwise would not be available to my rather skim experience in the field. The difference here is that while I have been pursuing these positions on my own rather than sitting and waiting for a miracle job, in this case this position is been advertised first hand, agree it is more than unsettling.

Wow, amazing letter you wrote down here that I fully support! Thank you for voicing this out loud! for everyone...unfortunately these times are challenging and everyone is trying to move forward somehow someway. I wish everyone luck and love and divine intervention to make things better for all of us.

To: NYCCAT

Sent: Mon, February 7, 2011 8:14:47 PM

Subject: Re: Need LCAT hours? Volunteer with Goodwill PROS Rebound

There is nothing in the LCAT requirements that specifically says that this is not allowed, but it is more than a little unsettling to me. No one ever suggests that social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists should volunteer. If organizations start using " volunteer " creative arts therapists why would they ever pay for one? I understand that it is difficult for people fresh out of graduate school to find jobs, but devaluing our field is not going to make it any easier. My creative arts therapy co-workers and I fight everyday to defend the importance and validity of our work to our mental health colleagues. It is distressing to have to defend it to a fellow LCAT. I urge you to think about the larger implications that this will have on the creative arts therapy profession. We should not be working for free. People in all other professions value their work and their time enough to charge for their services, creative arts therapists should be no different.

>

> Goodwill PROS Rebound located in Astoria, NY is seeking creative arts therapists (all modalities) willing to volunteer their services in exchange for LCAT supervision and hours needed toward licensure. Prospective volunteers will have the opportunity to work alongside licensed art, music and dance/movement therapists as part of a comprehensive treatment team. Population is adults with severe and persistent mental illness and dual diagnosis. Please email resume to kpark@...

>

[Guest guest]



I know several Mental Health Counselors or Marriage and Family Therapists who are doing volunteer post graduate 'internships" to accumulate hours towards their licenses so this problem goes beyond CATs.

Re: Need LCAT hours? Volunteer with Goodwill PROS Rebound

There is nothing in the LCAT requirements that specifically says that this is not allowed, but it is more than a little unsettling to me. No one ever suggests that social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists should volunteer. If organizations start using "volunteer" creative arts therapists why would they ever pay for one? I understand that it is difficult for people fresh out of graduate school to find jobs, but devaluing our field is not going to make it any easier. My creative arts therapy co-workers and I fight everyday to defend the importance and validity of our work to our mental health colleagues. It is distressing to have to defend it to a fellow LCAT. I urge you to think about the larger implications that this will have on the creative arts therapy profession. We should not be working for free. People in all other professions value their work and their time enough to charge for their services, creative arts therapists should be no different.>> Goodwill PROS Rebound located in Astoria, NY is seeking creative arts therapists (all modalities) willing to volunteer their services in exchange for LCAT supervision and hours needed toward licensure. Prospective volunteers will have the opportunity to work alongside licensed art, music and dance/movement therapists as part of a comprehensive treatment team. Population is adults with severe and persistent mental illness and dual diagnosis. Please email resume to kpark@...>

[Guest guest]

All,I'm in the process of becoming a Creative Arts Therapist so I can not make an informed statement about volunteering.I worked with Goodwill for many years in an unrelated department. This program may be very different from my own experience.My obvious advice: I urge for people to do their research before volunteering. Find out if their environment is right for you.Regards,From: HV Psychodrama

To: NYCCAT Sent: Mon, February 7, 2011 9:37:35 PMSubject: Re: Re: Need LCAT hours? Volunteer with Goodwill PROS Rebound



I know several Mental Health Counselors or Marriage and Family Therapists who are doing volunteer post graduate 'internships" to accumulate hours towards their licenses so this problem goes beyond CATs.

Re: Need LCAT hours? Volunteer with Goodwill PROS Rebound

There is nothing in the LCAT requirements that specifically says that this is not allowed, but it is more than a little unsettling to me. No one ever suggests that social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists should volunteer. If organizations start using "volunteer" creative arts therapists why would they ever pay for one? I understand that it is difficult for people fresh out of graduate school to find jobs, but devaluing our field is not going to make it any easier. My creative arts therapy co-workers and I fight everyday to defend the importance and validity of our work to our mental health colleagues. It is distressing to have to defend it to a fellow LCAT. I urge you to think about the larger implications that this will have on the creative arts therapy profession. We should not be working for free. People in all other professions value their work and their time enough to charge for their services, creative arts therapists should be no different.>> Goodwill PROS Rebound located in Astoria, NY is seeking creative arts therapists (all modalities) willing to volunteer their services in exchange for LCAT supervision and hours needed toward licensure. Prospective volunteers will have the opportunity to work alongside licensed art, music and dance/movement therapists as part of a comprehensive treatment team. Population is adults with severe and persistent mental illness and dual diagnosis. Please email resume to kpark@...>

[Guest guest]

There is something seriously wrong with a society that pays huge salaries to people who sit in front of computers for the sole purpose of making money and pay close to nothing to people who want to help others. That's not just true of CATs and beginning social workers, but of teachers too. DaniP.S. I believe that beginning CATs here in Rochester, NY have a better chance of getting employed that those of you who live in NYC and surrounding counties. That is not to say people get jobs specifically designed for CATs. They get hired under different titles. __________________________________________________le Fraenkel, Ph.D., BC-DMT, NCC, LCAT, LMHC, CGPDirector,Kinectionsat Imagine Square718 University AvenueRochester, NY 14607USATel: FAX: www.kinections.com Totally agree with and on this, this announcement is an open invitation to exploiting our professional qualification and expertise while undermining our field altogether to lesser than other practitioners that have a much easier time finding paid positions. Taking advantage of a constricted job market which makes nearly impossible to find a paid position for newly graduates or new CAT professionals. I can speak all of this in the first person having volunteered in so many places in the last 2 years primarily to add up active experience to my resume and of course to access possible employment opportunities that otherwise would not be available to my rather skim experience in the field. The difference here is that while I have been pursuing these positions on my own rather than sitting and waiting for a miracle job, in this case this position is been advertised first hand, agree it is more than unsettling.Wow, amazing letter you wrote down here that I fully support! Thank you for voicing this out loud! for everyone...unfortunately these times are challenging and everyone is trying to move forward somehow someway. I wish everyone luck and love and divine intervention to make things better for all of us. To: NYCCAT Sent: Mon, February 7, 2011 8:14:47 PMSubject: Re: Need LCAT hours? Volunteer with Goodwill PROS Rebound There is nothing in the LCAT requirements that specifically says that this is not allowed, but it is more than a little unsettling to me. No one ever suggests that social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists should volunteer. If organizations start using "volunteer" creative arts therapists why would they ever pay for one? I understand that it is difficult for people fresh out of graduate school to find jobs, but devaluing our field is not going to make it any easier. My creative arts therapy co-workers and I fight everyday to defend the importance and validity of our work to our mental health colleagues. It is distressing to have to defend it to a fellow LCAT. I urge you to think about the larger implications that this will have on the creative arts therapy profession. We should not be working for free. People in all other professions value their work and their time enough to charge for their services, creative arts therapists should be no different.>> Goodwill PROS Rebound located in Astoria, NY is seeking creative arts therapists (all modalities) willing to volunteer their services in exchange for LCAT supervision and hours needed toward licensure. Prospective volunteers will have the opportunity to work alongside licensed art, music and dance/movement therapists as part of a comprehensive treatment team. Population is adults with severe and persistent mental illness and dual diagnosis. Please email resume to kpark@...>

[Guest guest]

Unfortunately, when someone signs the "contract" for the limited permit, it does not guarantee the permit it and of itself. Be very aware of speculations, its the experience and the final product that counts and no one can guarantee the License even if you sign the paperwork. Just be aware....To: NYCCAT Sent: Mon, February 7, 2011 9:25:32 PMSubject: Re: Re: Need LCAT hours? Volunteer with Goodwill PROS Rebound

Hi ,I have to respectfully disagree.Until recently I felt the same way that you did. While I was in graduate school I wasn't faced with the reality of the situation. There are currently more licensed art therapists in New York than there are jobs. Someone posted a job here on the NYCCAT listserv and within the hour had over 40 resumes, many of them from licensed art therapists - for one job opening. With that choice, does an unlicensed art therapist really stand a chance?

I just graduated with a masters in art therapy and I am thousands and thousands of dollars in debt. What am I supposed to do? If I had another choice, I wouldn't be volunteering, I would be working. I tried very hard to get a job in anything even remotely related to art therapy. I applied to countless jobs, went on interviews, tweaked my portfolio, created business cards, networked, did everything you're supposed to do to get a job.

There are more jobs for social workers and their license requires that they get paid for their hours. It's not a picnic what they go through, either; many of them work terrible jobs and get paid less than a living wage while working on their licenses. They do get paid, but not much, and they don't have a choice. We can't romanticize their position. It is no good for them, either.

You can help by convincing your organization that it's worth it to invest in unlicensed, new graduates. Once someone applies for their limited permit, they have essentially signed a contract with that organization to stay until the hours are done (at least one year, full time). It's worth it. Tell them to invest in us, instead of blaming us for devaluing the field.

Robin

There is nothing in the LCAT requirements that specifically says that this is not allowed, but it is more than a little unsettling to me. No one ever suggests that social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists should volunteer. If organizations start using "volunteer" creative arts therapists why would they ever pay for one? I understand that it is difficult for people fresh out of graduate school to find jobs, but devaluing our field is not going to make it any easier. My creative arts therapy co-workers and I fight everyday to defend the importance and validity of our work to our mental health colleagues. It is distressing to have to defend it to a fellow LCAT. I urge you to think about the larger implications that this will have on the creative arts therapy profession. We should not be working for free. People in all other professions value their work and their time enough to charge for their services, creative arts therapists should be no

different.

>

> Goodwill PROS Rebound located in Astoria, NY is seeking creative arts therapists (all modalities) willing to volunteer their services in exchange for LCAT supervision and hours needed toward licensure. Prospective volunteers will have the opportunity to work alongside licensed art, music and dance/movement therapists as part of a comprehensive treatment team. Population is adults with severe and persistent mental illness and dual diagnosis. Please email resume to kpark@...

>