Frequently Asked Que.

There is no such arrangement in current stage. Although the tuition fee is not expensive, individuals having difficulties in affording the payment can contact us and apply for reduction in tuition fee.

Our course lecturer, Mr. Ivan Liu, is the founder of Tharros Centre. He studied psychology at University of Derby, UK, with specialisation in young children development, educational psychology, special educational needs, family counselling and art therapy. Areas of field studies include emotional distress, autism, attention deficit and childhood trauma, etc. He has years of experiences in practicing psychotherapies, art therapies, and education in psychology. He is currently members of the British Psychology Society, the American Psychology Association, the American Counseling Association and the American Art Therapy Association. Ivan integrates years of experience in research and psychotherapy practice in composing this series of programme. The programme content is professionally constructed and useful. Ivan will also review the weekly classwork and assignments by providing professional comments and explanation.

To become a professional art therapist, one requires formal training in psychology or counselling, in addition to structured placement under supervision. The aim of this programme is to provide a comprehensive and systematic art therapy training on art therapy to the people needed, in order to equip themselves to offer help in workplace and personal life. The aim of this programme is not training you to become a lecturer; but after you finish studying it, you can assist in art therapy sessions, and also enrich your professional ability in work position, in particular during face-to-face counselling.

The certificates are issued by Tharros Centre to students who have completed the Art Therapy Certificate Programme, as evident to their passion and understanding toward art therapy. This programme has been highly regarded, with over 800 students including social workers, teachers, counsellors, art workers, etc. They have found the programme content as rich and practical, surpassing contemporary art therapy courses available elsewhere. Besides, they consider the programme as greatly beneficial to them in their job searching or current job position.

After completion of our "Art Therapy Certificate Programmes", if you wish to pursue further study on art therapy and/or psychology, you may consider: 1. Studying the "Art Therapy Higher Certificate Programme" provided by Tharros Centre 2. Studying psychology or counselling programmes provided by universities 3. Studying art therapy programmes provided by universities

We welcome students from all over the world to join us. We have students from different countries and regions, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Australia. Students can attend classes and participate in interactive classroom activities together through Zoom. Generally, students only need to prepare simple drawing paper and colours. If special materials are needed for certain lessons, we will notify students in advance to prepare themselves. Our course materials are written in Chinese and English. The primary language of instruction is Cantonese, with English explanations provided as needed. Therefore students need to understand Cantonese or English to attend our courses.

We will publish the Zoom recording on the MyPortal after each lesson. This allows students to refresh their knowledge by reviewing the lessons at any time. To obtain a course certificate, students need to have 80% attendance and obtain a passing grade. If a student is unable to attend a lesson occasionally, they can simply watch the class recording and attain a passing result in the corresponding lesson quiz, in order to get the attendance for that lesson.

As long as you have a passion for art and helping others, we welcome you to join our programme. This programme offers an accessible explanation of psychology of different populations, as well as the corresponding principles and applications of art intervention. This allows students to grasp the lesson content, regardless of their prior experience or knowledge in the field of mental health. The in-class exercises, discussions, and assignments enable students to practice applying what they have learned, empowering them to be more confident in applying the knowledge in real life.

There is no fixed sequence in studying the courses. Students can freely choose any subject according to their own interests and the populations they come into contact with. There is no need to complete the required courses before studying the elective courses, and there is no need to study continuously. However, regarding the course [AT2102 Art Language and Expression]. This is the only course in the program that does not directly address how to use art for therapy; whereas other courses focus on different populations and address the use of art in treating their distress and trauma, with the aim to achieve better mental health. Therefore, we suggest students enrolling in this course to consider either concurrently taking another course, or study other courses beforehand. This allows students to apply the knowledge of artistic expression learned in this course to the application of art therapy more effectively.

Applicants do not need to decide at once on all courses they intended to study. You may first choose one or two interested courses. After confirming whether this programme suits you, you may then complete the programme requirement (2 core + 2 elective courses) afterward to obtain the programme certificate. You may also mark all the courses they are interested in on the application form. Then we can invite you to enroll in the corresponding courses before commencement. After choosing the courses you intend to study, there is no need to pay all the tuition fees at once for the selected courses. You only need to pay for the course you confirm to study for the upcoming term.

Applicants need to complete the payment by the specific date to enjoy the "Early Bird Discount". If you miss the payment deadline for the "Early Bird Discount," you can still enroll in the course with companions to enjoy up to a 15% "Companion Discount."

Upon completion of 2 core + 2 elective courses, students will be issued a programme graduation certificate. Every year, we organise a "Alumni Reunion Day and Graduation Ceremony" in October or November. We will issue graduation certificates and transcripts to each graduating students on that day. After setting the date for the graduation ceremony, we will send invitations to graduating students via WhatsApp.

Although there is no academic requirement for this programme, students are required to complete two core courses in the "Art Therapy Certificate Programme" before enrolling in the "Art Therapy Higher Certificate Programme." In the case of special circumstances, you may contact Tharros Centre to apply for exemption.

Once you have completed the two core courses in the "Art Therapy Certificate Programme," you can enroll in any course in the "Art Therapy Higher Certificate Programme." Some subjects in the "Art Therapy Higher Certificate Programme" are the extension based on the recommended courses. By studying the related recommended courses, you can gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the relevant topics. However, each course in the programme is designed independently. Even if you have not studied the related recommended courses, you can still easily understand the course content.