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Results depict how male practitioners experience the field as a minority within it, and address factors including masculinity, individuality, feminism, stereotyping, semantics, inclusion, and exclusion. The study frames its motivation through gender disparity observed in professional training and membership contexts.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/male-mail-a-survey-of-men-in-the-field-of-art-therapy/592132/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/male-mail-a-survey-of-men-in-the-field-of-art-therapy/592132.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Grenda","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-20","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What was the purpose of the Male Mail survey?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The survey aimed to collect both concrete data and speculative information about how men who work in art therapy perceive the field, including issues of gender, masculinity, and minority status.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why did the author decide to conduct this survey?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The author’s entrance-interview experience and subsequent discussions with other men highlighted a gender disparity in art therapy, prompting interest in how men feel in a predominantly female profession.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which main themes and factors does the report address?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The report discusses perceptions linked to masculinity, individuality, feminism, stereotyping, semantics, inclusion, and exclusion, connecting these themes to how men view their role in the field.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},592132,1792189622,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":34,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},7971474921005,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","B rief Reports  \nMale Mail: A Survey of Men in the Field of Art Therapy  \nRobert Tavani, Columbus, OH  \nAbstract  \nThe questions in this survey were designed to solicit concrete data as well as more speculative information from men who work in an art therapy capacity. The results presented in this brief report provide a picture of how these men perceive the field of art therapy as a minority group within it. A variety offactors addressed included, but were not limited to, masculinity, individuality, feminism, stereotyping, semantics, inclusion, and exclusion.  \nIntroduction  \nWhen I walked into the art therapy office of the University of Illinois at Chicago for my entrance interview in Spring 2001, the program assistant greeted me. As I looked around the colorful cinder block office, my eyes rested on a bulletin board with class photographs. I stepped closer and realized that these images were all of women. I was surprised to say the least. The program assistant smiled and assured me that the lack of male students was due to the number of male applicants rather than a departmental preference.  \nSince then I have talked to a number of men involved in the world of art therapy who experienced the same element of surprise when they discovered the gender disparity in the field; Elkins, Stovall, and Malchiodi (2003) reported that 91.3% of all members of the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) were women (6.2% men, 2.5% not specified). Because this commonality piqued my interest about how men feel in this profession comprised mostly of women, I decided to conduct a survey (titled the Male Mail survey) . In addition, I viewed my mass mailing of 259 surveys as a way to establish contact with other men in the field of art therapy.  \nEditor’s note: Robert Tavani, MA, MFA, ATR, was the only male 2003 graduate of the art therapy program at the University of Illinois at Chicago and currently works in Columbus, OH. Correspondence concerning this article may be directed to him at [rtavani1@columbus.rr.com. The](rtavani1@columbus.rr.com. The) author dedicates this work to Lorenzo Phillip Tavani and wishes to thank Dr. Harriet Wadeson, Randy Vick, and Deborah Behnke for their support in the creation of this report.  \nLiterature Review  \nAlthough there have been surveys addressing the general membership of the American Art Therapy Association (Elkins & Stovall, 2000; Gordon & Manning, 1991; Le Brie & Rosa, 1994; Pearson, Walker, Martinek-Smith, Knapp, & Weaver, 1996; Rauch & Elkins, 1998), the literature review for this project yielded no studies addressing the state of male practitioners in the field. The membership surveys listed above provide data based on demographic variables, educational background, employment variables, salary information, and longitudinal trends. Two first-person accounts of men entering the field of art therapy were found (Jones, 1978; Robbins, 1976) . These accounts trace early male practitioners’ journeys into the profession and are valuable historical documents for the profession. They do not, however, address the issue of gender disparity in art therapy.  \nArt therapy has always attracted more female students and practitioners than males (Junge & Asawa, 1994) . I learned that a men’s group meets sporadically at the annual AATA conferences and that focus groups at these conferences sometimes addressed men’s issues (H. Wadeson, personal communication, 2003) . Unfortunately, I was unable to locate documentation of these events. Despite the problem of little documentation on the subject, scholars may be able to explain gender disparity in agreement with Jung and Asawa (1994) who stated, “While there is no acknowledgement in the art therapy literature of the influence of the women’s movement on the field, we believe that art therapy’s evolution has shadowed this movement which has been centrally important in the 20th century” (p. 270) .  \nThese authors speculated that the gender disparity may have basis in cultural a","cbCaitfTH5hNHdCt","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitfTH5hNHdCt","pdf",208945,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Literature Review\n# Method","[{\"question\":\"What was the purpose of the Male Mail survey?\",\"answer\":\"The survey aimed to collect both concrete data and speculative information about how men who work in art therapy perceive the field, including issues of gender, masculinity, and minority status.\"},{\"question\":\"Why did the author decide to conduct this survey?\",\"answer\":\"The author’s entrance-interview experience and subsequent discussions with other men highlighted a gender disparity in art therapy, prompting interest in how men feel in a predominantly female profession.\"},{\"question\":\"Which main themes and factors does the report address?\",\"answer\":\"The report discusses perceptions linked to masculinity, individuality, feminism, stereotyping, semantics, inclusion, and exclusion, connecting these themes to how men view their role in the field.\"}]","Male Mail - A Survey of Men in the Field of Art Therapy | PDF",1792073927,18]