Clinical Art Therapy MA (CE)

Faculty

Faculty of Psychotherapy Science

Duration / ECTS

6 Semester / 120 ECTS

Academic degree

Master of Arts (Continuing Education) / MA (CE)

Qualification Level
Master (NQF qualification level VII)
Curriculum

Information on the Curriculum (in German)

Mode of Study
University programme according to § 10a PrivHG; part-time
Language of Instruction
German
Location of Implementation
Vienna
Application Deadline WS 2026/27

1 March 2026 – 30 June 2026

Apply online

The continuing education university programme “Clinical Art Therapy” at Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna lasts 6 semesters (120 ECTS) and concludes with a Master of Arts MA (CE). This part-time programme combines a solid scientific foundation with a strong practical orientation. Please note that this programme is offered in German.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at any time at kunsttherapie@sfu.ac.at.

Who is this programme aimed at?

The part-time programme Clinical Art Therapy MA (CE) is aimed at those interested in art therapy who can demonstrate a bachelor’s degree (or an equivalent degree comprising at least 180 ECTS credits or completed training in an artistic, educational, social or health profession at NQR/EQR level 6) and who wish to work in the future with visual arts and creative methods, for example in social, special and therapeutic education, rehabilitation and social psychiatry.

Application and admission

The next programme starts in the winter semester 2026/27 (October 2026). The application period for the 2026/27 winter semester runs from 1 March 2026 to 30 June 2026.

Application and admission to the Clinical Art Therapy MA (CE) programme

The online application is made via the SFU application tool.

Required application documents:

  • Proof of a completed bachelor’s degree (or an equivalent degree comprising at least 180 ECTS credits or completed training in an artistic, educational, social or health profession at NQR/EQR level 6)
  • Proof of at least two years of professional experience in the relevant subject-specific field
  • One-page letter of motivation
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Presentation of aesthetic and artistic interests (short overview in writing)
  • Application-recognition.docx (in German; if corresponding examinations and academic achievements are available)

Compulsory admission procedure:

  • Two admission interviews
  • Admission seminar

For enrolment in the programme, both the admissions interviews and the admissions seminar must be successfully completed.

Information and contact

  • Application period for the 2026/27 winter semester: 1 March 2026 to 30 June 2026
  • Application procedure: Submission of application documents via the SFU application tool
  • If you are interested in general information about the Master’s programme, please contact kunsttherapie@sfu.ac.at or take part in the next info event.
  • If you have any questions regarding a possible admission, please submit your CV and your degree certificates.

Contents and curriculum

Art therapy interventions and forms of expression can be used to treat emotional, psychological and social problems. Art therapy is based on the assumption that artistic expression is a non-verbal form of communication and helps to express, process and understand inner feelings and conflicts. The training therefore involves working out the background to disturbed or cancelled life patterns and images and making these accessible using practical artistic methods.

High practical relevance

Students are brought into contact with clinical-rehabilitative practice right from the start and are supervised in this process in a practical manner. At the same time, various basic principles and problems in different fields of practice are developed.

The programme is continuously accompanied by artistic, material-aesthetic-orientated and (psycho-)therapeutic self-awareness, which can be seen as a further basis in the training process. With this art therapy programme, the Sigmund Freud Private University contributes to the intensification of artistic, psychotherapeutic and artistic practice-oriented art therapy in Austria.

Graduates of the ULG in Clinical Art Therapy are therefore qualified to work in the health and social sector – whether in outpatient, day-care or inpatient clinical facilities, in areas of health prevention, social counselling or in curative education and psychosocial institutions.

Curriculum of the six-semester Master’s programme (valid from WS 2024/25, accredited):

Tuition fee
  • Tuition fee: 3.219€ per Semester
  • Enrolment fee: 550€

Contact Finance and Controlling:
Mail: ptw-accounting@sfu.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 798 40 98 304
Opening and telephone hours: Mon-Thu: 10:00 – 15:00 / Fri: 10:00 – 15:00 (Fridays only available by telephone)
Address: Freudplatz 1, 3rd floor, room 3002

Table and internal area

Summer Semester 2026

Winter Semester 2026/27

The lecture notes of the courses are available in the password-protected area:
Art Therapy – internal

Internship

As part of the programme, students complete an internship of 500 hours. This gives them the opportunity to gain a variety of insights into art therapy work in different institutions. We recommend starting the internship in the second semester of the programme and getting to know different institutions.

Liste – Praktikastellen ULG Klinische Kunsttherapie (PDF, in German)

Degree and certificate
  • 6 semesters: Master of Arts (Continuing Education) / MA (CE)

Graduates

Since 2015, 142 graduates have completed the university programme in art therapy and have since been shaping creative development processes in various professional fields. The list of master’s theses below offers an insight into the thematic diversity and substantive focus of the theses written as part of the programme:

Liste der Masterarbeiten ULG Kunsttherapie MA (PDF, in German)
(as of July 2025)

Events

Info events

Graduation ceremony

  • 20 November 2026 – further details to follow shortly.

Conferences

Past conferences

Photos and references

Some works by our art therapy students:

A student wears a blue apron and holds an abstract sculpture made of paper and natural materials in front of her face. An art therapy student paints a face with a red cap and large eyes on a white rectangular object with a brush. An art therapy student paints a red object with a brush on a sheet of newspaper, with acrylic paint bottles and other objects visible on the table. An art therapy student paints a gold color onto a large, red object resting on a table covered with newspaper; another person stands blurred in the background. A student uses a knife to carve a mould out of a piece of wood on a blue base. An art therapy student works on a block of stone on a table with a chisel. Four differently shaped and worked stones with drilled holes and carvings on a white surface. Close-up of a stone foot model with carved toenails. One hand draws a colourful picture with yellow, green, blue and pink areas on paper using a wax crayon. Colourful wall painting with abstract animal and plant shapes, including a large bird's head with a blue eye and yellow sun motifs. Colourful wall painting with abstract animal and plant shapes, including a large bird's head with a blue eye and yellow sun motifs. One hand paints colourful watercolours with fingers on paper, mainly orange, green and pink.

Publications and links

Books

Magazines & Journals

Videos

Art therapy projects

New art therapy programme for former clients of the SPZ Wiedner Hauptstraße

Following the closure of the Social Psychiatric Centre (SPZ) run by Caritas in Vienna due to budget cuts, SFU Vienna will offer a new art therapy programme for former clients starting in February 2026. Once a week, they will be able to continue engaging in art therapy at SFU’s premises, supported by volunteer art therapy students. This ensures that a familiar social environment is maintained, while SFU demonstrates social responsibility and solidarity during a transitional period. Find out more…

Two people are standing next to each other, each holding a coloured picture in their hands. In the background is a long table with several green chairs and pots. Several people sit around a long table with black buckets, green cloths, and crafting materials. Two people sit at a table, one holding a lump of dough, with baking utensils and ingredients on the table. Hands form a dough-like mass on a green surface.

Yes, we build a boat!

As part of the social and career orientation project “Yes, we build a boat”, unemployed young people jointly constructed an eight-metre-long wooden motorboat, developing both professional and personal skills in the process. It is particularly noteworthy that this project – led by art therapist Robert Saphin – was the master’s project of art therapy student Herbert Herdits at SFU Vienna. Find out more…

Several people stand around a large wooden boat hull in a workshop discussing. Group of people sitting and standing on a flat boat in the water with sailboats in the background. Four men sit on a boat with a wooden mast under a cloudy sky, two wearing T-shirts, one wearing a cap.

Co-operations

Head | Contact
Portrait Heckl Melanie

Univ.-Ass. prae doc Melanie Heckl, BSc. MA

Head
Research Assistant

Email: melanie.heckl@sfu.ac.at
Tel.: +43 1 90 500 70 1600
CV Melanie Heckl (PDF, in German)

Office hours:
Wednesday, 2pm to 6pm
Appointments via e-mail required.

more

Portrait Karl-Heinz Menzen

Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Menzen

Head of Training

Teaching therapist for art therapy
Board member of the DGKT (German Society for Artistic Forms of Therapy)

Email: Karl-Heinz.Menzen@t-online.de
CV KH Menzen (PDF, in German)

more

Portrait Manal OTT

Manal Ott, MSc

Study Service Centre
Organisation

Email: Manal.Ott@sfu.ac.at
Tel.: +43 1 90 500 70 1600

Office hours: Friday, 10 am – 3 pm

more

University Programme Clinical Art Therapy, MA (CE)
Faculty of Psychotherapy Science
Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna
Freudplatz 3, Room 301
1020 Vienna
kunsttherapie@sfu.ac.at

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