Advocacy + Public Policy
Art Therapy in Indiana Policy
IndiATA advances professional recognition, title and practice protection, workforce inclusion, and an Indiana licensure pathway for qualified art therapy practice.
For legislators
Sponsor the next art therapy licensure bill
IndiATA is seeking an author and sponsor, plus coauthors and cosponsors, for the 2027 legislative session.
Status as of September 2026
Indiana today
IndiATA is pursuing an art therapy-specific licensure pathway through the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana, with profession-specific representation through an Art Therapy Advisory Council.
That pathway has already appeared in Indiana legislation: SB 338 in 2023 passed the Indiana Senate 47–2 before being referred to House Public Health.
Graduating from an art therapy program or earning an ATCB credential does not create an Indiana license. Some art therapists independently qualify for another professional license, but that is separate from state recognition of art therapy itself.
This pathway reflects statewide discussions about where art therapy fits within Indiana’s professional regulation.
Why this matters now
Indiana already has a significant mental health workforce shortage. All 92 Indiana counties contain federally designated mental health provider shortage areas.
Art therapists are already educated, clinically trained, nationally credentialed, and working in Indiana across mental health, healthcare, education, rehabilitation, community, and independent-practice settings.
Art therapy licensure would not create a new profession. It would give Indiana a state-level pathway to recognize one that already exists.
Indiana Data
Mental Health Need Across Indiana
Federal and Indiana public health data show a broad need for qualified mental health care across Indiana. Credentialed art therapists are part of the workforce meeting it.
25.31%
of Indiana adults had a diagnosable mental illness in the past year, about 1 in 4
6.78%
of Indiana adults had a serious mental illness in the past year, above the U.S. rate of 5.62%
23.68%
of Indiana adults have been told by a health professional that they have a form of depression
47.0%
of Indiana high school students felt so sad or hopeless for two weeks or more that they stopped some usual activities, compared with 39.7% nationally
15.7%
of Indiana high school students attempted suicide in the past year, compared with 9.5% nationally
16.8
suicide deaths per 100,000 Indiana residents in 2024 (age-adjusted), compared with 13.7 nationally
20.8%
of Indiana high school students who felt sad, empty, hopeless, angry or anxious get the help they need most of the time or always
Indiana Department of Health, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2023
In crisis right now? Call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or call 911.
IndiATA licensure position
Art Therapy Licensure in Indiana
IndiATA supports establishing art therapy as a licensed mental health profession in Indiana.
A clear professional pathway for Indiana
Associate or provisional licensure for qualified graduates completing required post-degree supervised clinical experience.
Full professional licensure following required education, clinical experience, supervision, and examination or credential requirements.
Legal definitions of art therapy, art therapist, and the professional scope of art therapy practice.
Title protection connecting professional use of “art therapist” and “art therapy” to defined qualifications.
Practice protection establishing the qualifications required to represent services as professional art therapy.
Education and clinical standards aligned with nationally recognized art therapy education and credentialing standards.
Reciprocity and endorsement pathways for qualified art therapists licensed in other jurisdictions.
Transition provisions addressing qualified art therapists already practicing in Indiana when licensure is established.
Why recognition matters
Professional definition affects the systems around the profession
Recognition gives people and institutions a consistent way to understand what art therapy is, who is qualified to provide it, and where the profession belongs within Indiana’s mental health infrastructure.
Public clarity
A protected professional title helps clients and families understand the distinction between professional art therapy and other art-based, creative, recreational, educational, or wellness services.
Workforce recognition
Defined professional status supports accurate inclusion of art therapists in workforce data, hiring language, job classifications, and planning.
Employer + referral clarity
Employers, healthcare systems, schools, agencies, internship sites, and referring professionals gain a consistent basis for identifying qualified practitioners.
Regulation + Credentials
Licensure and Credentialing Are Different
State Licensure
A professional license is created and regulated by state law. It establishes legal requirements for a licensed profession within that jurisdiction.
Depending on the law enacted, licensure can define professional titles, scope of practice, qualification requirements, supervision, independent practice, renewal, and regulatory accountability.
ATCB Credentials
The Art Therapy Credentials Board administers national professional art therapy credentials and establishes education, supervised experience, and credentialing requirements.
The current credential pathway includes the ATR-P for qualified practitioners completing required supervised post-graduate experience and the ATR after applicable education and supervised professional experience requirements are met.
Professional accountability
The profession maintains its own standards
Ethics
AATA’s Ethical Principles provide profession-specific ethical guidance. Art therapists who also hold another professional license remain accountable to the requirements of that license.
Art media and creative process are part of the clinical responsibility
Art therapy preparation integrates psychological theory, human development, therapeutic relationships, creative process, art media, imagery, meaning-making, assessment, treatment planning, adaptation, ethics, and professional scope.
Policy intersections
Where art therapy intersects Indiana systems
Health + Behavioral Health
Medical care, behavioral health, integrated care, substance-use treatment, rehabilitation, rural health, maternal health, and related clinical systems.
Children + Families
Schools, developmental care, child welfare, caregiver support, family systems, communication, identity, and community-based services.
Community Living + Access
Disability services, neurodivergence, aging, communication access, autonomy, adaptive creative access, caregiver support, and participation.
Recovery + Justice + Veterans
Substance-use recovery, forensic behavioral health, reentry, veteran-serving systems, transition, grief, and family reintegration.
Community + Cultural Systems
Collaboration across mental health, healthcare, education, arts, community, civic, and cultural systems.
Provider recognition
Licensure and reimbursement are connected, but they are not the same
Professional licensure does not automatically create Medicaid or private insurance reimbursement. Payer recognition involves additional laws, regulations, contracts, provider classifications, and coverage rules.
Indiana Health Coverage Programs require providers to enroll under established provider classifications, types, and specialties. Art therapy is not currently identified as its own IHCP behavioral-health provider specialty.
State recognition of art therapy can provide clearer regulatory infrastructure for later consideration of provider classification, reimbursement, state hiring, and other system-level recognition.
Legislative history
Indiana has a history of art therapy legislation
Gogh for Licensure
The IndiATA Advocacy Toolkit
Practical resources for promoting art therapy at the local, state and federal levels. Download it, adapt it for your audience, and bring it with you when you write.
Use it to
- Understand the legislative process and the policy questions that affect art therapy
- Communicate with lawmakers using talking points, draft emails and phone scripts
- Share your story with guidance that respects confidentiality and ethics
- Build coalitions with allied professionals and community organizations
- Host events from templates for workshops, town halls and lobby visits
- Work with media using press release and social media templates
- Track outcomes on sheets for contacts, commitments and follow-ups
Sources
Professional + state references
- Indiana Health Workforce Council Supporting Indiana’s Behavioral Health Workforce to Strengthen Community Wellness
- Indiana Professional Licensing Agency Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board
- Indiana Medicaid / IHCP Provider Classification, Type and Specialty
- American Art Therapy Association States with Art Therapy Licensure · State Advocacy
- Art Therapy Credentials Board Credentialing Standards + Requirements
- Indiana General Assembly Legislative records, bill text, amendments, actions, and votes
Continue from here
Advocacy connects people to action
Art therapists + members
Membership →Legislators + public officials
Sponsor the bill →Employers + professional partners
Art Therapy in Indiana →People seeking care
Find an Art Therapist →
