A growing number of arts therapists around the world work in schools, but information on their practices is limited. The aim of this work is to examine the theoretical influences and therapeutic trends prevalent in Czech educational institutions. Data obtained from 142 respondents were collected using the “Practice of Arts Therapies” questionnaire. Based on a statistical analysis of the responses, the results show that therapists prefer predominantly humanistic trends with a wide range of other therapeutic influences based on assimilative integration tendencies. Contrary to the initial assumptions, it was found that there is little difference in the preferences for trends in different work environments. The results can be used for international comparisons of arts therapies in the educational environment, as they seem to be an important area of interdisciplinary practice associated with education.

This article presents influencing with art1 and influencing through art2 aiming at the creation of situations which support the potential of individuals, especially in the case of children from backgrounds with ineffective parenting. Children from such backgrounds participated in an arts therapy project which aimed to facilitate creative activity through the preparation of a theatre show. Children’s cognitive, psychological and emotional needs are important, which is why the satisfaction of these needs was also an aim, as it was found that these needs were not being satisfied in the children’s culturally deprived environment. Influencing through art (in this case - a performing art) can very well serve the satisfaction of individual needs related to self-identification and self-definition (Bauman, 2010). From this point on, it is a straight road to influencing individuals’ self-esteem.