Join the art therapy community for AATA’s annual virtual conference, Nov. 14 – 15, 2026. This year’s conference will be hosted on a platform designed for our community. Join live in real time and engage with session presenters and attendees from around the globe.

All learning sessions will be recorded, so you won’t miss out on any of them! By registering for the Virtual Conference, you will gain access to all session recordings.

The schedule is still being finalized. Sessions are subject to change and additional sessions are being added.
Stay tuned for further details on CE eligibility.

Welcome Session

A Space for Reflection: Online Death Cafe and Art Making

[VIRTUAL WORKSHOP] This interactive session combines open dialogue with personal creativity. Participants will reflect on their individual curiosity or fears regarding mortality, translating these thoughts into a small, tangible piece of art. The format blends quiet contemplation, simple art-making, and supportive sharing, offering a unique communal space to explore the profound through a creative lens.

Presenters: Irit Birger Sagiv, PhD, and Johanna Czamanski-Cohen

Beginner level | 1.5 CE credits 

When Learning Becomes Art: Integrating Arts-Based Research into Learning Environments

[VIRTUAL WORKSHOP] This workshop explores how arts-based research can enrich teaching and learning across disciplines. Participants examine how creative processes generate insight into subjects often approached through analytic methods. Through experiential art-making and reflective discussion, participants design strategies that integrate artistic inquiry into educational and training environments, fostering deeper engagement, critical reflection, and interdisciplinary learning.

Presenters: Nicholas Denson, MA, MSW, LCPC, LPC, LCADC, ATR-BC, NCC

Intermediate to Advanced | 1.5 CE credits

Ethical Integration of Nontraditional Exploratory Tools in Art Therapy

[VIRTUAL WORKSHOP] This workshop explores how art therapists can ethically integrate nontraditional exploratory tools—such as tarot imagery, crystals, essential oils, and sacred texts—into clinical practice. Participants will examine how these symbolic materials support reflection, emotional processing, and client engagement while maintaining cultural humility, therapeutic boundaries, and client-centered meaning-making.

Presenters: Alissa Paulison, MA, MSW, LPAT, ATR-BC, and Joanna Flora, MA, ATR-BC, ATCS, LPAT, LAC, PMH-C

Intermediate to Advanced | 1.5 CE credits

Good Kids, Big Feelings

Art Therapy Interventions for Children Who Appear High-Functioning but Experience Hidden Anxiety
[PAPER] Children who present as compliant, high-achieving, and emotionally regulated are often overlooked in mental health settings, despite experiencing internal distress. These “good kids” frequently manage anxiety through perfectionism, people-pleasing, emotionalsuppression, and hyper-responsibility, making their struggles less visible to caregivers, educators, and clinicians. As a result, their anxiety may go untreated.

Presenter: Sara Nami, MA, ATR-BC, L-CAT, LCAS-A

Intermediate to Advanced | 1 CE credit

Tree Ring Self-Portraits in Art Therapy: Study on Anxiety Reduction and Self-Acceptance

[PAPER] This presentation introduces the Tree Ring Self-Portrait, a metaphor-based art therapy intervention designed to enhance self-acceptance and reduce anxiety through symbolic self-representation. Findings from a mixed-methods study will be presented, including quantitative outcomes and qualitative themes. The session discusses theoretical foundations, research results, and clinical implications for integrating narrative symbolic self-portraiture into art therapy practice.

Presenter: Stacey Kamp, MS, MAAT, PhD Candidate, LMFT, ATR-BC

Intermediate to Advanced | 1 CE credit

LUNCH: Art-Making with Open Discussion

SPARK SESSIONS

Spark sessions are 20-minute mini-presentations. Attendees may earn 1 CE credit for attending all three sessions. The session consists of a 15-minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of audience questions, and an immediate transition to the next presenter.

• The Effects Of Skill-Building On Self-Esteem And Self-Efficacy A Pilot Study
Presenters: Dakota Flanagan, undergraduate art therapy student and Annie McFarland, PhD, ATR-BC 

• Creative Engagement for Seniors with Dementia through Museum-Based Art Therapy
Presenter: Karen Jin Tian KOH, AThS

• Small Moments, Significant Meaning in Early Intervention Art Therapy
Presenter: Candice Chan, MA, AThR

Why Should Therapists Engage in Embodied Art Therapy Practice? A Panel Discussion with Three Theorists

[PANEL] This panel will engage three art therapists, who have developed and published theory for body-based practice, in a discussion of the reason embodiment is important for the treatment of trauma, stress, and other issues. The moderator will be an art therapist and writer familiar with their work.

Presenter: Marie de Bethune, PhD, ATR-BC, LCAT, ISP/SEP, Cornelia Elbrecht, AThR, SEP, Johanne Hamel, D.Ps, Laury Rappaport, PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC, REAT

Intermediate to Advanced | 1.5 CE credits

Creative Club: Puerto Rican Women Exploring Self-reflection Through Creative Cognitive Therapy Method

[PANEL] This panel presents a studio-based community creative book club grounded in art therapy and Creative Cognitive Therapy. Presenters examine program design, facilitation, and community impact, demonstrating how artist-centered creative processes foster reflection, connection, and collective well-being in an accessible group settings for adults.

Presenter: Maricel Ocasio Figueroa, MA, Hazel Castro Corujo, MA, and Marilina Arsuaga Morales, MA, PhD-C

Intermediate to Advanced | 1.5 CE credits

No-One Wants To Hear You Talk: How Childhood Abuse Shapes Adult IPV

[PAPER] This presentation examines a trauma-informed art therapy case integrating DBT skills, EMDR preparation, and parts-based work with a survivor of childhood abuse and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). The session explores how creative processes including trauma mapping, symbolic imagery, and a public exhibition supported memory processing, agency, identity reconstruction, while examining religious ideology, normalized physical abuse, and learned tolerance for violence.

Presenter: Shirin Mazdeyasna, MA, ART-BC, LCAT

Intermediate to Advanced  | 1 CE credit

Being Both Rock and Water: Art Therapy with Refugee Children and Parents

[PAPER] This presentation draws on mixed methods research with art therapists, refugee parents, and their children to examine divergent coping mechanisms and needs among families affected by displacement. It offers culturally humble, evidence informed strategies for engaging parents in their child’s art therapy while balancing flexibility, boundaries, and therapist well being in humanitarian settings.

Presenter: Nehama Grenimann Bauch, MA, PhD

Intermediate to Advanced | 1 CE credit

Enhancing Socialization in Community Geriatric Settings with Virtual Art Therapy

[PAPER] The psychological experience of older adults is complex and unique. This Paper describes a novel program designed to support older adults navigating isolation and loneliness. By offering virtual, community-focused art therapy, we propose that the creative art process can become a catalyst for elevating the experience of social engagement and emotional bonding, reducing isolation and loneliness for older adults.

Presenter: Joshua B. Brancheau, MPS, LCAT, ATR-BC, LPAT, Annalee R. Mueller, BA, and Ian B. Kwok, MD

Intermediate to Advanced | 1 CE credit

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Art Therapy as a Science

[PANEL] The panelists will present:
– Reasons why AI is fundamental to art therapy’s future;
– How a digital archive is structured;
– How art therapists can contribute to the archive;
– How graduate students can use the archive in their research; and
– The critical need for large-scale normative studies to make art therapy scientifically creditable.

Presenters: Linda Gantt, PhD, ATR-BC, Yves Hughes, Jr., MSDS, MBA/TM, and Annie McFarland, PhD, ATR-BC

Beginner | 1.5 CE credits

Virtual Supervision: Bridging the Distance, Building Connection

[PANEL] Virtual supervision has expanded as our profession grows. Remaining connected through the virtual divide necessitates relational skills and creativity. Panel members will share their experiences as supervisors during graduate education and post-graduation, discuss their different approaches to virtual art therapy supervision and address lessons learned.

Presenter: Carolyn Brown Treadon, PhD, ATR-BC, ATCS, Rachel Mims, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, AT-S, Nadia Fernanda Paredes, MA, ATR, LMFT, and Chelsea Plotner, MS, ATR-BC, LMHC

Intermediate to Advanced | 1.5 CE credits

Closing Session with Art-Making

Welcome Session

Activating Creative Practice in Service of Community Care

[VIRTUAL WORKSHOP] Explore how creative practice can foster community care, strengthen connections, promote resilience, and mobilize acts of kindness. Inspired by Lani Gerity’s Morning Pages, participants will learn the theoretical foundations for an actionable strategy in their art practice that encourages collective healing within inclusive, supportive online and offline spaces.

Presenters: Gretchen M. Miller, LPAT, ATR-BC, and Susan Ainlay Anand, MA, ATR-BC, ATCS, LPAT

Intermediate to Advanced | 1.5 CE credits

Art Meets Analytics: Visualizing Therapeutic Change in Art Therapy Research and Practice

[VIRTUAL WORKSHOP] Building on art therapy’s visual foundations, this workshop introduces accessible data-visualization strategies to transform multimodal therapy data into meaningful visual narratives. Participants will explore how artwork, reflections, observations, and outcomes can be mapped to reveal therapeutic change, support clinical insight, and strengthen research communication across practice settings.

Presenters: Bani Malhotra, PhD., LPC, ATR-BC and Patricia A. Shewokis, PhD

Beginner | 1.5 CE credits

Translating Art Therapy into Digital Clinical Practice: Applications using FrameShare and BrainPalette

[VIRTUAL WORKSHOP] This interactive virtual workshop builds on the in-person AATA companion panel to provide hands-on experience applying neuroscience-informed art therapy using BrainPalette™ and FrameShare. Participants will explore clinical reasoning, assessment, and intervention strategies through guided demonstrations and experiential exercises while engaging with digital artmaking environments. The session highlights how translational research and digital platforms can support accessible, trauma-informed art therapy practice.

Presenters: Juliet L. King, PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, LMHC, Stefan Oliva, MBA, Stephan Meyer zum Alten Borgloh, PhD, and Erin Rafferty-Bugher, MA, ATR-BC, ATCS, LPCC

Intermediate to Advanced | 1.5 CE credits

A Pilot Study on Art Therapy Using Generative AI

[PAPER] This Paper presents findings from a four-session pilot program integrating generative AI into art therapy, based on the Expressive Therapies Continuum and AI role spectrum. Using an exploratory single-case approach, four therapeutic factors were identified, suggesting the potential of AI as a therapeutic medium and the critical role of the therapist’s clinical judgment.

Presenters: Soyeon Kong, PhD, Yeseul Choi, PhD, and KyeongA Han, PhD

Beginner | 1 CE credit

Fantasy As A Metaphorical Portal: Trauma-Informed Child Art Therapy In Singapore

[PAPER] Within trauma-informed child art therapy, fantasy is explored as a metaphorical portal and relational lens supporting co-imagining, relational attunement, and shared meaning-making. The presentation outlines self-reflexive visual journalling and speculative, image-led inquiry used to engage client imagery across time. This process of imaginative engagement fosters intuitive, embodied clinical insight, procedural meaning-making, and ethically grounded reflexive art therapy practice.

Presenters: Devika Sundar, MAAT, AThR

Beginner | 1 CE credit

Making the Power of Mandalas Accessible: Creating Mandala Community Gatherings Online

[PAPER] Driven to make creating mandalas, the Great Round, and their benefits accessible to diverse people, the presenters describe the formation, facilitation, promotion, and outcomes of a global, donation-based, virtual mandala group they have been offering every month for over five years. Take these strategies to create your own mandala gathering!

Presenters: Paige Scheinberg, MS, ATR-BC, and Susanne Fincher, ATR, LPC

Intermediate to Advanced | 1 CE credit

LUNCH: Art-Making with Open Discussion

SPARK SESSIONS

Spark sessions are 20-minute mini-presentations. Attendees may earn 1 CE credit for attending all three sessions. The session consists of a 15-minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of audience questions, and an immediate transition to the next presenter.

• The Effects Of Skill-Building On Self-Esteem And Self-Efficacy A Pilot Study
Presenter: Sharon Boaz, MAAT

• Creative Engagement for Seniors with Dementia through Museum-Based Art Therapy
Presenter: Micaela Wood, LPCC, ATR-BC 

• Small Moments, Significant Meaning in Early Intervention Art Therapy
Presenter: Rapinder Kaur, RP, RCAT, OATR and Jane Jaehee Kwon

Circle of Resilience: Online Art Therapy Sessions with Senior Indian Immigrant Women

[PANEL] This panel will present a short film and discussion of a virtual art therapy group for Indian immigrant women aged 80 and above, addressing cultural displacement, identity, and belonging. The women engaged in self-expression and exploration with caregiver support, utilizing technology-enabled access. Through art-making, meditation, and Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), these activities fostered neuroplasticity, emotional resilience, and social connection.

Presenters: Sangeeta Prasad, ATR-BC, Ashmi Sheth, ATR-P, Mary Andrus, DAT, LCAT, LPC, ATCS

Beginner | 1.5 CE credits

Repair and Reclamation: Disability Art and Embodied Art Therapy in Conversation

[PANEL] Two art therapists and a psychotherapist explore supporting clients with disability, chronic pain, and medical trauma through clinical, somatic, and Disability Art-informed approaches. This moderated conversation highlights narrative reconstruction, embodiment, and healing, while examining how somatic and socio-political frameworks can inform one another. Attendees will gain practical interventions and strategies for fostering both individual repair and collective empowerment.

Presenters: Kelley Linhardt, MA, LCAT, ATR-BC, CCTP, Brianna Beck, LCPC, ATR-BC, Jennifer Tedesco, MPS, ATR-BC, LCAT, CCTP, and Cindy Perkiss, PhD, LCSW

Intermediate to Advanced | 1.5 CE credits

Inner Mothering Group: Healing The Mother Wound Through Art Therapy Group

[PAPER] This Paper explores the transformative power of the Inner Mothering Group, where 11 participants practiced becoming their own source of nurturance by healing the mother wound. Attendees will examine how art and meditation counteract early strategies that diminish one’s presence, creating a liberating environment to reconnect with their authentic selves.

Presenters: Juhee Kim, MAAT, ATR-BC, LPC, LCPC

Intermediate to Advanced | 1 CE credit

Closing Remarks with Art-Making