The Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists (IACAT) has 55 fully trained members, according to IACAT treasurer and drama therapist Katie Wollett. There are 91 associate members who are not trained but have an interest in the area.

There is a Northern Ireland Association called NIACAT, which is affiliated to various arts therapies organisations in the UK.

Half the members of IACAT are art therapists; the other half is made up of music and drama therapists. Only a few of the members are dance movement therapists.

There is one postgraduate diploma course in art therapy in Ireland, at the Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork. The University of Limerick offers a postgraduate course in music therapy.

DIT is in the process of devising a training course in art, drama and music therapy. Most of the members of IACAT have done their training in the UK or the US.

IACAT members work in a variety of places, including hospitals and psychiatric centres, and with a variety of people, from those with learning disabilities to disadvantaged inner city children. "It used to be the case that, if you weren't an occupational therapist or a psychologist, there would be no offer of work, but that is changing now," says Woollett. However Ireland is far behind the UK in this area: "There you might get a job in an art therapy department. Here you go in and create your own post, usually on a sessional basis."

As with any of the psychotherapies in Ireland, there is no register of practitioners and no screening procedure - another contrast to the situation in the UK, where a state registration system was set up two years ago.

"Technically speaking, anyone could do anything," says Woollett. "There is a move in Europe to set up an agreement on standards with a form of registration, so that only arts therapists with the right qualifications will be given employment."