Combine creative expression with the study of mental health counseling, so that you can empower people to imagine, and achieve, a life that’s filled with purpose and direction.

Lesley University’s visionary programs in expressive therapies teach you how to incorporate the arts into a range of clinical, educational, and mental health counseling settings.

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the epicenter of higher learning, our programs are connected to some of the world’s most respected teaching hospitals, clinics, and mental health facilities. Working alongside our team of faculty experts, you’ll become a reflective practitioner by translating theory into valuable experiences in the field.

Whether you study on campus or choose our low-residency option, you’ll become part of our diverse community of artists and clinicians, and explore interventions and techniques that span the arts modalities.

students rehearsing a play

Master's Degree Programs

Our Master of Arts (MA) programs, available in on-campus and low-residency formats, prepare you to integrate dance/movement, drama, literature, music, poetry, and the visual arts with clinical mental health counseling.

People moving and dancing in a dance studio.

Certificate Programs

Our flexible certificate programs will provide you with a solid foundation in the principles and practices of expressive arts therapy, and how to apply the arts in your professional practice.

In a classroom, a woman explains something to a male classmate.

Doctoral Program

Our low-residency PhD program educates committed professionals on how to apply their creativity and research skills to bring about profound individual and societal change.

Gain unmatched field experiences.

For more than 40 years, we’ve established outstanding connections with healthcare facilities and schools in the Boston area, throughout New England, and beyond. This means that you’ll find an array of internship possibilities with organizations that serve practically every population you can think of. Our students have completed field training in medical and psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers, residential treatment programs, schools and after-school programs, community centers, and more.

Learn about field training at Lesley.

“Lesley professors encouraged us to make art, and to create, as much as possible. I came from an undergraduate fine arts program, so I appreciated the opportunity to develop my personal art and bring that to the work we were doing.”
Adam Gasbarro ’09, Clinical Supervisor, Brandon School and Residential Treatment Center
Contact Graduate Admissions