59-05-032 Proceeding

325 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress These have ranged from relatively informal networking associations to more formal professional bodies such as ANZATA and the Australian Music Therapy Association. The relatively small populations of Australia, New Zealand and Singapore means that it is difficult for each country to sustain its own art or arts therapy association or to have separate associations for each artsmodality. Thus, there has been a strong motivation to join together, along both geographical and creativemodality lines, whichhas led to the necessity for communication andmutual understanding. ANZATA Today Apart frommusic therapy, ANZATA is themain professional association for arts therapists, in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. There are, however, other relevant associations that represent the broader field of the psychotherapies and counselling professions, and/or provide professional membership for graduates fromcourses that are not currently approved by ANZATA (Westwood & Linnell, 2011). Again, because of our small size there have been the opportunities for individuals within these organisations to make connections with each other to agree to meet and work together in the interests of collaboration and cooperation for the overall good of the profession. This is not always an easy process as reconciling differences in training approaches, duration of training and required hours of clinical experience, presentsmany challenges. However, it is vital for arts therapists to create a platform that is inclusive and one that provides mutual opportunities for professional development and cooperation. It is also essential that a unified profession be portrayed to the public, other professions and to governments. Australia has an established ‘Arts in Health’ movement that has recently achieved a high degree of government support (see for example, Arts and Health Australia, 2015). Kapitan (2014) observes that there are thousands of arts projects going on all over the world, with artists, activists, environmentalists, and relief workers using arts for healing and well-being. She argues that it is paramount that the arts therapy profession becomes more connected with this significant global movement. Currently, there are many individuals within ANZATAwho are working to establish links and cooperative relationships with other organisations and disciplines, including advocacy and conducting research, in order to promote the profession. Placement opportunities for the trainees of most of the ANZATA approved programmes are varied and include: special schools; trauma counselling centres; community mental health; school counselling; child and adolescent mental health; medical hospitals; hospice; addiction services; and prisons to name a few. In spite of the difficulties of gaining more recognition in the medical field to date, arts therapists in our region are continuously introducing the profession to new arenas. Full-time permanent specialist arts therapy positions are still uncommon inAustralia, New Zealand and Singapore. Professional ANZATAmembers are often employedunder other titles, such as counsellor, psychotherapist, alcohol and drug counsellor, caseworker, and so on.Themajority of arts therapists working inAustralia, NewZealand and Singapore have gained employment through being flexible, often creating positions from an internship placement, developing projects within