I wrote this post back in June, but never posted it as the outcome of the interview was very unexpectedly successful!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Well I have recently had an interview for an MSc in art psychotherapy. It was a group interview and I was so nervous as I hadn't had this type before. Well we were given a briefing a few weeks before the interview with a long reading list and to take in one piece of art to discuss.
I am writing this blog post because when I googled the interview questions for the course nothing was coming up, so hopefully this will help other find example questions for art therapy interviews.
At the interview I was first with my introduction, and for anyone wanting advice let me just tell you that this is the chance to sell yourself and to go into depth about yourself. Unfortunately I used the lecturers examples of their introduction and gave the facts - my education and then my interest in art therapy, the other candidates then took their turns each delving into very personal accounts of their life experiences. So yes tip number one, work on your introduction - make sure it is relevant and succinct but also shining of your potential and knowledge.
We then had to discuss the reading we had done, this I had also struggled with a little. The group was very forthcoming with their ideas, some were very abstract. I found it difficult to include my own opinion until at the end when prompted. So my next piece of advice is prepare the reading required and practise voicing your opinions of the articles/books read.
Next we shared our art pieces, where I went first. I was able to show my piece and explain the expression of flowing lines with the dyed fabric as a guide and using the stitching therapeutically. But as the others went on, they all but two, showed paintings they had done with their art therapists using colour and brush stroke expressively, photography and imp like drawings. Again we were told to speak for 3 minutes which I did, the others went on and one person I timed spoke for 20 minutes. So the third piece of advice - keep to the timing given!
The other candidates answers and explanations were very good at this stage, using the image they had brought everyone was able to use their introduction and expand on it with the image as an example. So the fourth piece of advice would be - really think about your work and the task asked of you, use academic words to describe your work to impress. Also think about what comments you could make to others or open questions. One girl asked me "is your other work like this?" This showed she was interested in what I create and also that she was a caring individual who would be suitable for the art therapist position.
My last tip would be to not become despondent in the interview if you don't feel you didn't do well. During others' answers I began to doubt myself and to feel out of place because of my lack of experience and not very detailed answers. I then started to think ahead - ok I will stay and do OT so three more years in Aberdeen. I stopped myself and remembered to stay present as all wasn't lost.
To end this unique interview two of my 'rivals' hugged me when saying good bye. I think this maybe shows the type of kind/caring candidates who apply for the course - I would never have thought of this experience with my other interviews I've had.
Here is a picture of my art work I had brought, a cotton scrap that caught my dye splashes and powder spills at a dyeing workshop. I was more inspired by this 'accidental piece' than the others and stitched into it and used quilting at the top where the stars are. I glued it onto a canvas so I could display it.
A week before my interview I was in Ireland visiting family. My great auntie is an artist and we painted poppies together. These are the poppies opening up a day after we cut them from the garden:
I then took a visit around the shops and bought felt and beads. I then created a poppy using the materials and stitched into the petals too. Here are my watercolour paintings and the sewing piece:
..X..x.X..x.X..x.X...x.X..x.X..x.X..
