Rate My Professor David Gussak

David Gussak, Ph.D., ATR-BC, is Professor of Art Therapy in the Department of Art Education at Florida State University, where he has taught in the Art Therapy program for more than 20 years. He earned his Ph.D. in Information Transfer in Library and Information Management from Emporia State University in 2001, M.A. in Art Therapy from Vermont College in 1991, and B.A. in Art from California State University, Long Beach in 1989. Gussak served as Chair of the Department of Art Education from 2008 to 2018, Clinical Coordinator from 2002 to 2014, Associate Professor from 2007 to 2013, and Assistant Professor from 2002 to 2007. Prior to FSU, he was Director of the Graduate Art Therapy Program and Assistant Professor at Emporia State University from 1999 to 2002. Currently, he is Project Coordinator for the FSU/Florida Department of Corrections Art Therapy in Prisons Program since 2018 and Director of the Institute for the Arts and Art Therapy with the Imprisoned. With over 30 years of clinical experience in various forensic systems and correctional institutions, he has delivered numerous lectures and workshops internationally.

Gussak's research specializations include forensic art therapy in correctional settings working with aggressive and violent clients, the work of the art therapist, and the development of the professional art therapist. His major publications encompass books such as The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence (Oxford University Press, 2022), Art and Art Therapy with the Imprisoned: Re-Creating Identity (Routledge, 2019), Art on Trial: Art Therapy in Capital Murder Cases (Columbia University Press, 2013), and co-edited The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy (Wiley, 2016; second edition 2026). He has published nearly 50 journal articles and book chapters. Key awards and honors include Honorary Lifetime Member from the American Art Therapy Association (2022), Distinguished Service Award from AATA (2017), and Distinguished Research Award from FSU College of Fine Arts (2013). Gussak has held roles such as Past Board Director for AATA and Treasurer of the Art Therapy Credentials Board. He sits on editorial review boards for Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association and Arts in Psychotherapy, and serves as co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal for Creativity Inside.