Art therapists as clinical leaders
Hot topic
InSight – Autumn 2025
Becoming a clinical leader can offer art therapists the opportunity to develop their practice outside of the therapy room and make a difference to whole communities of people.
In this hot topics article, our professional advisor, Rosie Creer, explains what clinical leadership involves and what skills and experience you would need to become one.
What is clinical leadership?
Clinical leaders draw upon both clinical expertise and leadership skills to improve the quality and effectiveness of care. They improve outcomes for those receiving care by working in collaboration with teams and service users. By combining their clinical expertise with genuine participation with the communities they serve, clinical leaders ensure that services are designed and delivered to meet people’s needs and follow best practice.
To improve the quality of services, clinical leaders must have the skills and capacity to drive change, and influence and empower others to be part of that change. Creating systemic change in clinical services involves significant personal relational skills, such as the ability to motivate and advocate.
Clinical leadership differs from clinical management as its about vision and strategy rather than managing the day-to-day running of a service. To explain through a metaphor: the captain (clinical leader) of a crew sailing around the world would be focussed on the purpose of the expedition and working with the crew to plan the whole journey. They would need to look ahead, keep the purpose in mind, use their experience of high seas and different conditions to guide them, but be curious and open minded about the unexpected and willing to learn and listen to the authority of others. This differs to the role of the day-to-day running of the ship in the way that a skipper (or clinical manager) might, which is about managing the tasks and jobs of the crew and keeping everything running smoothly.
Leaders must take responsibility based on their clinical expertise when needed, while also acknowledging the authority of others’ lived experiences. They must inspire others and be inspired by others.
The strategic position of a clinical leader is about purpose, thinking ahead and seeing the whole picture rather than managing people (although a clinical leader will likely have people reporting to them).
A leadership role entails building trust and faith in a vision and building effective working relationships internally and externally. Leaders must take responsibility based on their clinical expertise when needed, while also acknowledging the authority of others’ lived experiences. They must inspire others and be inspired by others.
In practice, clinical leadership will likely involve three key responsibilities: overseeing clinical governance, staying current with legislative changes and legal frameworks, and keeping up with developments in the broader clinical landscape. It’s a significant amount of responsibility to make sure you are using resources, including staffing and income, to best serve the population the service or organisation you lead is there to support.
Why is clinical leadership in art therapy relevant?
In a small profession like art therapy, leadership roles help demonstrate the value of art therapists and ensure the profession continues to develop, grow and innovate to meet the needs of service users.
Leaders shape policy, workforce planning, and service design. Representation at senior levels helps develop understanding of art therapy and its benefits to service users, safeguards professional standards and evidence-based practice, and ensures art therapists are included as part of multi-disciplinary teams.
Art therapists being seen at a senior leadership level also enhances the reputation of the profession alongside larger professions such as psychology and occupational therapy.
For those ready to take this step, combining clinical expertise with leadership skills offers the potential to transform not just individual care, but entire systems of support.
Clinical leadership and art therapists
Where can art therapists be clinical leaders?
Clinical leadership as an art therapist can take place in many forms and settings, it could be with a team, in a service within larger organisations, or it could be leading a whole third or private sector organisation.
For example, I am currently working at an MHST and leading a review of participation where have been able to engage staff in developing a safe and impactful child voice in the design of our services.
I also worked as Clinical Director at Respond, where I led a team in developing a theory of change which enabled us to better articulate the difference made by the whole organisation. We also identified new ways to measure outcomes, which meant we were able to increase funding and income to our services.
What are the skills that art therapists can bring to clinical leadership?
There are many skills that art therapists are likely to have that lend themselves to clinical leadership, including highly attuned relational skills, and the ability to make secure attachments.
Their use of empathy, validating experiences, taking our clients seriously can translate into strong leadership skills, by authentically listening while being transparent and clear about the boundaries.
Through training and experience art therapists also develop the capacity to understand organisational dynamics. For example, they may understand how to understand systems and workplaces in relation to parallel process, through a systemic lens, and with an understanding of the unconscious at work.
Finally, understanding how to apply legal, ethical and legislative frameworks (such as HCPC’s standards of practice, BAAT’s code of ethics and safeguarding) to practice, gives art therapists a foundation in understanding the importance of legal and ethical frameworks in creating boundaries for clinical practice.
What are the areas that may broaden your scope of practice?
Moving into clinical leadership can provide opportunities for practised art therapists to broaden their scope of practice by building on skills and experience they may already have developed.
Through co-production, art therapists can extend their collaborative approach with service users into shaping service design and delivery at an organisational level. Business planning allows them to apply their analytical thinking to resource management and strategic planning.
Their capacity for strategic decision-making and development grows as they influence programme direction and service evolution. The vision that guides their therapeutic work becomes a foundation for thought leadership, where their clinical perspective contributes to broader discussions about mental health services.
Clinical governance builds on their existing commitment to professional standards and evidence-based practice. With increased responsibility comes the opportunity to extend their impact beyond individual clients to whole services and communities. Managing risk develops from their existing understanding of clinical risk into broader organisational risk management.
How can art therapists develop their capacity to lead?
If you are considering developing your practice into clinical leadership, then looking for opportunities to develop your leadership skills is a useful way to start. Examples of opportunities to do within your current role might include leading on:
- the development of a new approach or model
- co-producing resources or an element of service delivery
- evaluating a project or service
- promoting part of the art therapy provision
Leadership experience can also come from leading on a project outside of work, such as becoming a trustee, or leading a club or community event.
Internal and external leadership training programmes also offer structured learning opportunities, while exploring mentoring or supervision from a clinician experienced in clinical leadership can provide personalised guidance and support.
Within your professional association, opportunities such as becoming a Special Interest Group (SIG) coordinator or regional coordinator can offer practical leadership experience while contributing to the profession’s development.
Clinical leadership represents an exciting evolution for art therapists, extending their impact beyond individual therapeutic work into broader organisational change and service development. For those ready to take this step, combining clinical expertise with leadership skills offers the potential to transform not just individual care, but entire systems of support.
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