Originally published in 1991 Becoming a Profession is the first comprehensive history of art therapists in Britain and of their struggle for professional recognition. Diane Waller discusses the work of the founding art therapists of the 1940s and 1950s and assesses their contribution in detail. She also puts art therapy in a political context, showing how the British Association for Art Therapists worked closely with the trade union movement in its campaigns to get professional recognition.

Roland Littlewood Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Part I Background to Art Therapy 1 Some views of art therapy 2 Art therapy's roots in art education 3 Psychiatry and art Part II The Role of Individual Artists and Psychotherapists in the Development of Art Therapy from the 1940s to the Formation of BAAT Introduction 4 The context of the visual arts and health care provision in the 1940s 5 Adrian Hill 6 Edward Adamson and Rita Simon: moving from commercial art to art therapy 7 The Withymead Centre: the role of Gilbert and Irene Champernowne in promoting the theory and practice of art therapy 8 The influence of psychoanalysts on the intellectual development of art therapy 9 Reflections on being a pioneer art therapist Part III Beginning of Organised Activity: the First Working Parties in Art Therapy Introduction 10 Art therapy in the witness box 11 A struggle for ownership 12 Moves towards organised activity: the idea of forming a professional association 13 The inaugural meeting of BAAT: aims and objects established 14 Some of the main issues influencing BAAT's decision to become a Central Association of the NUT 15 The campaign organised by BAAT and the NUT to gain comparable status with adult education lecturers 16 Some problems and contradictions within the campaign for employment under the LEAs 17 First moves towards the Health Service 18 Struggles for control of art therapy in the context of a Whitley Council initiative Part IV The Campaign to Establish Art Therapy in the NHS Introduction 19 BAAT and ASTMS: joint negotiations for a place on the Whitley Council for art therapists 20 The DHSS Consultative Document on art, music, drama, etc., therapy and the subsequent campaign by BAAT and ASTMS to change its recommendations 21 The Clegg Commission Part V Training in Art Therapy Introduction 22 Some contextual background and early views on training 23 Art therapy training within an educational framework 24 The BAAT Registration and Training Sub-Committee and its contribution to the debate on art therapy training during the 1970s 25 Attempts at training which failed to materialise Part VI Concluding Thoughts 26 After 1982: fresh challenges for art therapists Appendix: BAAT Registration Advisory Committee: report and recommendations References Name index Subject index