Reply #8: sounds like you want to get into the field of "art therapy"

[orleans]

maybe?

i'd say at least a masters and possibly a phd and i'm sure there are colleges that have courses in art therapy--you'd probably have to be a certified counselor or "therapist" or psychologist (you need a doctorate degree for psychologist)

you could call your county's children & family services dept and see if they have such a position and what type of degree is required in order to be hired. then call the hospital, talk to someone in administration that knows about the psych ward; you need to find out what type of degree is necessary for this--i would think such a job would be very interesting but it is a specialized field and you have to be qualified to work with these target populations.

check out the various subsections of the psychology dept at colleges/universities

or....for something less "professional" you could teach art at the park districts--you don't need a degree in it but you'd be working with kids (and not specializing in the specific population you're thinking about)