Art Therapy Fund

What is the Art Therapy Fund?

The Art Therapy Fund provides scholarships to individuals who need financial assistance for art therapy. I would like everyone to have access to art therapy, but I cannot do it alone (see below to read how I contribute to the art therapy fund). If you would like to give someone the gift of therapy, please donate below through PayPal or contact me directly at jackieschuldart@gmail.com.

How do you apply for a scholarhship?

Due to an unprecedented amount of applications, the art therapy scholarships waitlist has reached its cap and the application process is currently closed. When more funds are received and the waitlist is exhausted, I will reopen the application. If you would like to be notified when more funds are available, please sign up for my newsletter.

What is the reasoning behind the Art Therapy Fund?

Therapists are a caring bunch. We recognize there is a mental health crisis and want to help as many people as possible. We understand that our healthcare system does not meet the mental health needs of our country, and that many people struggle to pay for therapy.

Many therapists try to address this systemic problem (i.e. the problems with the systems of health care and poverty in the US) through making individual sacrifices. They offer sliding scales (they agree to work for less than their regular fee) to as many of their clients as possible.

The result? Therapists have to take on higher caseloads to meet their financial needs, and then experience burnout due to the emotional and mental demands of a high caseload. I know because that's how I used to run my business.

I realized the damaging impacts and decided to make some big changes. I listed out my values and then restructured my business so that it honored them. If you read my values, I'm all about ensuring my clients thrive and I thrive. No client wants to work with a burnt-out therapist. And I don't want to be one.

I no longer use sliding scale. I structure my practice so that my financial, emotional, and mental needs are met. I set my fee at a rate that allows me to see a manageable amount of clients and maintain my energy. Once I hit my thrive point* (the amount of money I need to thrive in my life), I then donate my extra time and finances. In the past two months, I donated $1,200 to the art therapy fund that was used by my clients for art therapy. I also donate to other organizations, such as ARCS-SPAN, who are doing important work to help our community thrive.

I understand my art therapy fee is out of range for some individuals. That is why I created the art therapy fund. I am solving a systemic problem through community effort and contribution (not by individual sacrifices that lead to compromised care).

*Thrive point is a concept created and lived by Kelly Diels, a badass feminist you should really check out.