This experiential workshop introduces textile repair as a relational art therapy intervention grounded in care ethics, feminist repair theory, and sustainable material practice. Participants will explore visible mending as both metaphor and method—supporting identity continuity, resistance to disposability, and lifespan meaning-making. Through guided hands-on textile repair and reflective dialogue, attendees will examine how practices of maintenance and reuse expand clinical approaches to resilience, community connection, and ecological responsibility. Participants will leave with practical mending techniques and a theoretically grounded framework for integrating textile repair into clinical and community-based art therapy settings. This workshop is grounded in care ethics, particularly the relational framework articulated by Virginia Held, which positions care as sustained, responsive engagement rather than episodic intervention. Feminist theories of maintenance and repair, including Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, inform the understanding of mending as embodied labor that resists disposability and revalues historically gendered domestic practices. Textile repair is situated within longstanding global traditions such as Japanese sashiko stitching, communal quilting circles, and Depression-era darning—each reflecting cultural values of preservation, mutual aid, and material continuity. The workshop approaches these traditions with cultural humility, acknowledging their specific contexts while inviting participants to reflect on their own relational and material lineages. Clinically, the framework builds upon material-centered art therapy traditions advanced by Edith Kramer, recognizing repetitive, tactile engagement as supporting affect regulation, identity integration, and relational resilience across the lifespan. 

A snow globe presents a paradox: a delicate yet enduring sphere encapsulating a universe in motion. It is simultaneously shaken and still, real and imaginary. This workshop frames the creation of snow globes as an exercise in queer worldmaking—an art-based culturally responsive art therapy experiential for surviving the many crises of our times. Through personal reflection and collective discussion, participants of all genders and sexualities are invited to explore how world-shaking events—political, environmental, and personal—demand creative responses, one of which we offer is the survival strategies of queer worldmaking. Queer worldmaking is both a theoretical and embodied practice, rejecting dominant frameworks while envisioning expansive alternatives (Berlant & Warner, 1998; Muñoz, 1999; Van Den Berg & Anderson, 2023). Drawing on Lorde’s (2020) articulation of the erotic as a force of creation and transformation, this workshop examines the intersection of queer theory, art therapy, and survival. Lorde describes the erotic as “the personification of love in all its aspects—born of Chaos, and personifying creative power and harmony” (p. 43). This definition extends beyond desire to encompass the generative process of making, resisting, and reconfiguring. Similarly, the creative process emerges from uncertainty, existing in the space between what is and what can be. In moments of disruption, artists engage in the co-production of new forms, transforming rupture into possibility. Queer theorists such as Halberstam (2011) offer tools for reimagining possibility, positioning failure as resistance, fluidity as strength, and camp humor as survival. While these worldmaking strategies are deeply rooted in LGBTQIA2S+ experiences, they have broader applications for navigating contemporary conditions of despair, fear, and oppression for all people (Bird et al., 2024). As fractures in dominant structures widen, more people—across differences and privileges—find themselves in closer proximity to the precarity of the present. This reality invites art therapists, educators, and mental health professionals to engage with the wisdom and insights of queer worldmaking not as a theoretical exercise but as a survival strategy that is time tested. This workshop invites participants to craft their own snow globes. Through this tactile, embodied process, we will explore how the physical act of shaking and settling mirrors the processes of emotional regulation and trauma, as understood through a polyvagal framework (Haeyen, 2024). Shaking a snow globe reveals that turbulence is temporary, movement does not equate to collapse, and elements inevitably find new equilibrium. Within a therapeutic context, this practice becomes a modality for holding uncertainty, reclaiming creative agency, finding pleasure in chaos, and recognizing reconfiguration as a generative force of worldmaking (Adler & Schwaba, 2024; Ellis & Wieling, 2024). Participants will engage in a hands-on process of designing and assembling their own snow globes using found objects and mixed media. Reflective prompts will encourage us to consider how chaos, creative power, and harmony may appear in their own lives and creative practices, as well as how we are informed through our socio-cultural experiences, identities, and beliefs. The session will culminate in a dialogue to harvest practical applications of this method for reflexivity and self-care, individual and group therapy, and community social justice-informed interventions. At a time of rising authoritarianism (Bar-Tal & Magal, 2021; Kellner, 2025), anti-immigration rhetoric and racialized violence (Campani et al., 2022; Torres, 2024), restrictive legislation limiting access to gender-affirming and reproductive health care (Alstott et al., 2024; McKetta et al., 2024), and the ongoing climate crisis (Iskafi, 2024; Nie et al., 2024; Shomuyiwa & Lucero-Prisno, 2025), among other compounding global crises (Lass-Hennemann et al., 2024; Zeira, 2022), this workshop offers an artist-centered approach to processing systemic upheaval, fostering collective healing, and expanding the possibilities of art therapy. By integrating queer worldmaking methodologies into therapeutic and creative practices, participants will engage in a practice of care, resilience, and social transformation. This workshop is an invitation to witness the shaking of the world and, embracing the chaos, through reclaiming our creative power and harmony, to reimagine an alternative present and future.

Where Color Refuses to Blend: Supporting QTBIPOC People in Art Therapy is a co-authored chapter within the anthology Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy: Theory and Praxis. This workshop is the manifestation of this chapter as a critical talking point on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts to support art therapists working with special populations, specifically QTBIPOC people. Art therapy offers a powerful space for creativity, expression, and healing. However, its dominant frameworks have historically been shaped by white supremacist and Eurocentric models (Joseph, 1974, 2006; Venture, 1977) that do not account for QTBIPOC lived realities. Incorporating cultural humility into art therapy practice with the QTBIPOC community requires thoughtful consideration of biases and lived experiences. Acknowledging clients’ lived experiences from different identity markers helps inform the collective knowledge that clinicians can use to guide their own cultural humility. These personal accounts can guide both individual and community art therapy practices, shaping the directives and media used to address themes in therapeutic work with QTBIPOC clients. As with other intersectional approaches to understanding race, social justice, and representation, QTBIPOC people’s collective experiences should not be treated as a monolith. These intersecting identities (Crenshaw, 1989)—race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexuality, among others—produce layered marginalization experiences and indicate an urgent need for culturally humble, affirming care (Anah, 2024; Collier & Eastwood, 2022; Eastwood et al., 2023; Kuri, 2017; Talwar, 2018). Investigating social influences on self-representation can deepen understanding of how racial identity manifests during the creative process. Art therapy invites people to create, reflect, sometimes destroy, and recreate the ways in which their experiences are formed. Integrating cultural humility into art therapy practices with QTBIPOC clients requires more than surface-level inclusion (Jackson, 2020). In this workshop, we will consider how art therapy empowers QTBIPOC clients to show up authentically, within and beyond the therapeutic space. As art therapists, continued education in the realms of ethics, bias training, cultural humility, and ongoing supervision and consultation are pivotal to cultivating inclusive and equitable space for QTBIPOC clients, students, and supervisees. Jackson (2020) emphasized that cultural humility is not a fixed competency but a stance of ongoing inquiry. Therapists must continuously examine how positionality, privilege, and embodied knowledge shape their perceptions, interpretive frameworks, and relational responses. These emerging themes are no longer ones that can be overlooked without causing harm. Art therapists can create art, create a space, and create a therapeutic tool that offers healing. However, what good do any of these acts of creation offer when one does not thoroughly examine the vital needs of the underrepresented lives these resources are meant to help heal? Jackson (2020) points out that when art therapists have not completed self-examining work that aligns with anti-racism movements, one is complying with a self-serving version of what is right, acting out of guilt, or worse, simply removing the label of being the oppressor to clear one’s conscience. In doing so, a person may well be causing more harm than good to clients and the professional field at large. Without addressing these talking points, one might struggle to deepen their cultural humility and expand their therapeutic presence and practice. This workshop will create a space to guide participants in examining their biases and walking away with actions to continue creating safe spaces for QTBIPOC people.

Art therapy is a unique profession in that practitioners provide relational therapy through creative methods and means. The work art therapists do is inherently integrated, expanding possibilities for practice beyond the traditional therapeutic and psychological methods. Research is necessary in art therapy for several reasons, among those are to describe best practices, share research protocols, drive innovation in treatment practice, and evolve theory necessary for treatment conceptualization and practice. The initial aim of research in art therapy may have been to show that the treatment is effective. However, the question no longer about if art therapy works, but “how, for whom, under what conditions, and why it works. These questions require methodological sophistication, ethical sensitivity, and a commitment to remaining grounded in the lived realities of our clients” (Van Lith, 2025, p. 122). Often art therapy practices are evolving as new professionals enter the field. New professionals can have fresh ideas and see art therapy practice from a new perspective. Supporting new professionals and researchers is imperative to the continued pipeline of research that effectively demonstrates what art therapists do, how they do it, who benefits from art therapy, and how they are affected. When new practices in the field arise from fresh eyes, it is important to capture current trends through rigorous research, outlining ethical practice through peer reviewed articles. Testing new ideas advances the field of art therapy. Writing and publishing about new practices is imperative to advance the field; sharing and demonstrating all of the ways that art therapy can benefit the world. As current trends are captured in the literature, an iterative process occurs where current practice influences up to date research and the research then influences practitioners with an aim to ensure best practices. As art therapists continue to engage in and consume research, it is important to define what art therapy research looks like in our field. Additionally, it is important to understand the ethics of conducting and publishing anti-oppressive research (Kruk-Borisov, 2025), especially with advances in the use of Artificial Intelligence. AI is changing how research is ideated, created, conducted, and applied (Delanghe, 2026; Shankar, 2024). Art Therapy publishing ethics are governed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Questions arise when AI is used that consider authorship, transparency, plagiarism, research integrity and rigor. The focus of importance becomes in providing guidelines that support researchers in navigating ethical and productive use of AI in research and publishing. As practitioners, researchers, and editors the authors of this workshop have observed that art therapy research guidance is needed. “To truly advance the field, we must commit to building research infrastructures that are rooted in the everyday wisdom of practice” (Van Lith, 2025, p. 123). Researchers and publishers in art therapy need to 1) promote scholarly innovation in our field by supporting advances in theory and practice, 2) align the research and practice that are happening in the field by capturing current practice trends in the literature, and 3) outline appropriate uses of AI in research and publishing.

Attachment Repair & Individuation: A Relational Body-Based Approach to Healing Trauma “We suffer very much from the fact that we consist of mind and have lost the body” (Jung, 1934) Extensive clinical experience with individuals impacted by trauma demonstrates that a holistic approach incorporating both psychological and somatic elements produces the most effective outcomes. Carl Jung and other theorists have noted a reduced capacity to connect with the body, which serves as a repository for traumatic memories. Trauma (including preverbal trauma) influences numerous aspects of a person’s functioning, including attachment styles, interpersonal relationships, and the ability to engage in intimacy or autonomy (Kalsched, 2013; King & Strang, 2024; Mate, 2022). Intervention strategies developed by practitioners such as Mate (2022) and Gantt and Tripp (as cited in King & Strang, 2024) have shown promise in addressing these complex effects. The consequences of trauma are far-reaching and can manifest psychologically, physically, and emotionally (Kalsched, 2013; van der Kolk, 2014). Certain interventions may trigger re-experiencing of traumatic events, while avoidance of trauma-related issues may result in persistent, somatic symptoms (Howie, 2017; Howie, as cited in Gussak & Rosal, 2025). This workshop will present foundational theories related to attachment, body autonomy, and the body narrative approach, an innovative method developed by the presenters to address trauma. This methodology aims to support the assessment of attachment styles associated with atypical development or traumatic experiences. The presenters apply interventions informed by therapeutic expertise and extensive experience in trauma-focused practice. Levine (2015) emphasizes that essential memories are frequently stored in the body and remain outside of conscious awareness. Within a context shaped by stories that influence communication, cognition, and memory, psychotherapy empowers clients to understand and heal their life narratives and bodily manifestations. Vignettes serve 1to reinforce and shape these narratives, which are held within the body until they are processed and released (Gendlin, 2012; Marr, 2020; Magsamen& Ross, 2025). This training will engage participants in the exploration of relational narratives and the application of art-based interventions, providing opportunities to investigate personal and embodied experiences of trauma in greater detail.

This advanced practice will focus specifically on mass trauma community assessment, and a trauma therapy series devised with the direct supervision and support of Linda Chapman and Noah Hass-Cohen separately throughout 2013-2014. The sequence (safety & security, therapeutic relationship, secure remembrance, transformation/reframing, social connection, and relapse prevention/closure) aims to impart innovative significance to the developing practices of art therapy, trauma, and neuroscience (Chapman, 2014; Gantt & Tinnin, 2009; Hass-Cohen, et al., 2014; King, 2016). The training introduces effective therapeutic bilateral skills, evidence based art therapy and trauma protocols, self-care to manage vicarious trauma, in addition to an interwoven review of case vignettes. Community leadership, and perceived availability of treatment are critical to long term community outcomes (Ursano, et al. 2007). The ongoing external responses surrounding individuals and loved ones have a profound impact on their recovery from traumatic experiences. Amidst the current polycrisis encompassing ongoing stressors for young American children, and families it is impactful to boost knowledge in trauma response preparedness, community wellness, and the impact art therapy may have locally. Children subjected to mass trauma regardless of national population or class indicate improvement with therapeutic interventions, uplifting functioning, and lessening symptoms of post traumatic stress (Pfefferbaum, et al., 2019). Research (Bryant, 2002) supports the need for early interventions to prevent PTSD and other psychiatric disorders from developing after mass trauma exposure. Treatment effectiveness is shown within one month to several years post-trauma (Bonanno, et al, 2010). Current research (Galea & Resnick, 2005) indicates that human-made disasters can have a more severe impact than natural disasters in that they afflict not only direct survivors but the general public with PTSD. As the Director of child therapy days following the Sandy Hook School Massacre, and mobilizer of sustainable art therapy programming for the Newtown, Connecticut community, the presenter will introduce multiple community concerns and solutions regarding creativity, art therapy, and trauma recovery. Since then she has aided in the mobilization of art therapy and trauma services across the United States ( including and not limited to Minneapolis, MN, Charleston, SC, Santa Fe & Houston, TX, several regions of California, and most increasingly New York City with the spike in very young displaced migrant children). Internationally her most prevalent supervision, and trainings, are provided for Ukraine active war response, and for India. The most recent American mass community efforts have gone to both the heart breaking elementary school tragedy in Madison, Wisconsin, as well as the ongoing crisis of displaced migrant children, and American child survivors of unlawful detention centers. This practice opens vast global perspectives to help each clinician better prepare to individualize local art therapy needs. Attendees will finish with greater confidence and perspective on how to land with professional boots on the ground, implement assessments, explain the neurobiology of art therapy and mass trauma recovery, plus an increased understanding of how trauma symptoms across all age ranges present through the art therapy process (Chapman, 2014, Gantt & TInnin, 2009, Hass-Cohen, et al 2015).

The Practice of Using Clay in Rebuilding Attachment Wounds – Integrating Sensorimotor Art Therapy This 3-hour advanced practice course introduces a clinician-developed art therapy process integrating sensorimotor art therapy and attachment-based approaches with clay. Clay’s tactile, resistive, and responsive qualities provide a unique medium for sensorimotor engagement, supporting bottom-up processing, co-regulation, embodied emotional awareness, and relational repair. The framework integrates attachment theory with Cornelia Elbrecht’s Clay Field process, offering a trauma-informed, experiential approach that addresses both developmental and complex relational trauma through a felt-sense, embodied process (Elbrecht, 2012; Ogden, Minton, & Pain, 2006). Participants will engage in structured experiential clay processes demonstrating how tactile engagement facilitates processing of implicit relational memories, promotes emotional regulation, and develops a felt sense of relational safety and repair. The course will emphasize therapist attunement, pacing, and clinical decision-making, with guidance for both individual sessions and small group settings. Case examples from clinical practice will illustrate how this framework can support clients who struggle with relational dysregulation, early attachment disruptions, and limited capacity for secure, healthy attachments as adults. This approach addresses common challenges in trauma work, such as hyperarousal, dissociation, or limited verbal processing, by providing multi-sensory opportunities for emotional expression, regulation, and relational attunement (Hinz, 2009; Malchiodi, 2003, 2012; Levine, 2010). This advanced course emphasizes the integration of sensorimotor principles in clinical practice, highlighting how bottom-up, body-focused interventions complement traditional verbal therapy. Engaging with clay activates the somatosensory system, supports interoceptive awareness, and provides a nonverbal avenue for clients to access and reorganize early relational experiences, consistent with trauma-informed, attachment-based approaches (Pifalo, 2007; Sajnani, 2012). Participants will have the opportunity to experience these processes firsthand, observing the clinical impact and gaining confidence in applying these strategies with their own clients. Participants will work through an attachment wound and need – using the clay and felt-sense guided prompts. For example, when addressingneglect(attachment wound) we will explore the felt-sense ofattention(accompanying attachment need) through the process of pushing and pulling. Before exploring in the clay participants will be led through a short visualization and guided meditation-like process to ground themselves in the felt experience of their body before moving to the clay. This same process can be applied to the other attachment wounds and needs such as: rejection/acceptance, betrayal/honesty, abuse/comfort, loss/reassurance, abandonment/presence. With each pair of wounds and needs I have developed a guided process with the clay to support increasingcapacityfor both the wound and the need as those felt experiences arise. (Malchiodi, 2021). My hope in offering this course is to give fellow art therapists a framework to integrate clay as a potential material to explore when addressing attachment trauma in therapy. I have had great experiential success with clients through my “Rebuilding Attachment” group and applying the same process in individual work as well. I know this success is a mirror and evidence of many great clinicians (as cited) who have pioneered this embodied, sensorimotor, integrated approach to art therapy. I hope to add my voice to the conversation and offer clinicians a hands-on experience to start implementing this with their clients also.

Abstract The past few years have shown an unprecedented upswing in the need for mental health support nationally and globally. In answer to these unprecedented times, many therapists have started looking at private practice and alternative ways of offering services, to better meet the needs of their community. While some have found the business support or training they need, many struggle through the process of setting up a practice in an ethical, sustainable way that doesn’t lead to burn out or undue levels of frustration. After 15+ years of exploring self-employment in numerous forms, the presenter of this advanced practice course brings her professional passion for mentoring creative arts therapists to the conference so those interested can learn how to create a practice with ethics, authenticity, and sustainability as the underpinnings. What that looks like is different for each person, so special attention will be paid to adapting the concepts for participants’ unique lives and will focus on building confidence while discovering who they are when wearing an entrepreneurial hat. Throughout the day, everyone will learn how to combine their creative spark with basic business skills and explore the importance of developing a mindset that carries them through the highs and lows of self-employment. The day will be informative and inspiring, bringing in experientials to solidify the unique vision each participant has. These experientials are also an important part of gaining a fuller understanding of the important, more concrete, business concepts. While these concrete concepts can often be laid out clearly in print format, the nuances of each person’s journey, goals, and vision are much harder to quantify or speak to without more individualized and experiential support (Fishman, 2017; Pakroo 2016; Mikel 2025). This workshop offers the space for each person to explore their passions and learn foundational skills that allows them to take a step forward in their professional endeavors. The day will cover a variety of topics that can inspire (vision, ideal clients, confidence, what is success, etc.) as well as those that often bring up concerns (finances, marketing, ethics, etc.). A key concept woven throughout all topics will be the use of curiosity as a mindset when working with challenges that can arise, such as avoiding burnout (Mikel, 2025; Mikel 2013; Grodzki, 2000). A main goal of the day will be to tap into the art therapist’s creative side as a way to stay motivated and enjoy the business skills that are needed for a successful practice. Lee (2011) mentions using, rather than stifling, imagination and intuition. Mikel (2013, 2025) asserts that creative arts therapists have an innate ability to pursue private practice in new and inventive ways, using their creative skills to support both the development of the practice and creating a healthier mental outlook. There are many books and a lot of information out there on how to make a living as an artist or how to do business in general, but very little discusses how to combine the two as a self-employed art therapist. In this workshop, we will marry the creative and the business sides to bolster a better mindset and vision of a sustainable practice. Participants will leave the experience with more confidence, new tools to tackle their key concerns, a basic understanding of important business skills, a clearer picture of their unique vision, and an action plan for what steps they can take next. On top of what they learn, they will walk away with resources and know where to look for answers further down the line when they are ready. 

“Healing Connection: Art and Relational Cultural Therapy in Trauma-Informed Eating Disorder Care” Current research indicates that the global prevalence of eating disorders has more than doubled since 2000. Diet culture, anxiety, and depression have become increasingly normalized experiences, contributing to significant underreporting of mental health symptoms. Only an estimated 6% of individuals with eating disorders present as significantly underweight, allowing the majority of eating disorder cases to go unnoticed by families and clinicians. Even without severe weight loss or malnutrition, eating disorders remain dangerous illnesses that compromise physical health, emotional wellbeing, and overall safety. This presentation will examine the emotional nature of eating disorders through a trauma informed lens, exploring the sociocultural, psychological, and biological factors that contribute to symptom development, presentation, and maintenance. Attendees will be invited to identify and challenge assumptions about what eating disorders “look like,” guided by current research on diversity in body size, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and sexuality; factors that often contribute to barriers in access to care, accurate assessment, and timely diagnosis. Practical strategies will be offered to help providers incorporate relational and trauma informed approaches into informal eating disorder assessment, including ways to be curious and mindful of subtle warning signs as well as “red flags” that may indicate the need for additional formal evaluation. Participants will deepen their understanding of eating disorders as disorders of isolation, disconnection, and avoidance of the body, of self, and of others. Using Relational Cultural Therapy (RCT) within the Unified Treatment Model for Eating Disorders (UT) as a framework, this presentation will illustrate how relational practice in art therapy can strengthen identity development, enhance connection to self, and promote growth‑fostering relationships, while simultaneously reducing eating disorder symptoms. This advanced practice course will include art experientials to explore how Relational Cultural Therapy functions as an integral component of the evidence-based Unified Treatment Model; a transdiagnostic therapeutic framework. Participants will examine the role of identity, values, and lived experience through a trauma informed lens, to improve relational connection and healing. Through experiential practice and group processing, attendees will gain art-based directives rooted in relational practice to enhance therapeutic work and strengthen the therapeutic relationship. A case study will highlight how a trauma-informed, relational cultural approach using art therapy in an eating disorder treatment setting improved treatment engagement, enhanced interpersonal connection, and contributed to meaningful clinical outcomes.

In a world of protagonists and antagonists, children are often caught between these roles often left feeling defeated, frustrated, and lost. When adding a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to the equation issues of anxiety, low self-esteem, inattentiveness, low regulation are only compounded. As kids generally gravitate to the superheroes or the “popular” crowd (Prinstein, 2017) of their peers, they hope to be inspired, empowered, or connected. Trying to exhibit a persona of strength and confidence can be challenging to emulate and maintain with social pressures. The potential psychological impact can dramatically affect their self-esteem and identity formation. The use of art therapy and role play techniques to work on such roles can be highly transformative and therapeutic with a child with ADHD (Chronaki, 2025). Superheroes represent bravery, strength, and kindness, which can be wonderful role models for children to aspire to (Baile, Davis, 2018). With the rise of anxiety, mental health issues and constant comparisons of self from social media posts, children are often left feeling inadequate, insecure, powerless, and defeated. In this workshop participants will have an opportunity to design a “power shield” often seen with superheroes or historical warrior figures that offers a creative and empowering experience. To expand the experience, participants will be given the opportunity to utilize their decorative power shield in a playful role-playing experience. This will provide an impactful opportunity to embody the role of hero and victor, while reflecting on roles of victim and defeat in a playful, non-threatening manner. These roles will allow them to work through personal struggles and learn to overcome adversity and challenges in their lives. It is known that through art and imaginative play children are automatically developing cognitively and emotionally, “while improving their self-worth, positive self-image, and communication and coping skills” (Bailey, Davis, 2018). “Research investigating creative abilities in individuals with ADHD, has found evidence for increased divergent thinking in children with traits of ADHD” (Chronaki, 2025). Exploring one’s strengths and creative potential facilitates an environment that is safe and non-threatening which art and play offer. We often hold onto the magical thinking, which is the need to belief that our thoughts, wishes and desires have a causal effect in the world, and the “discernible beneficial effects are found in our fascination with good luck charms” during difficult times (Margulies, 2020). During moments of insecurity and feelings of inferiority children sometimes like to pretend to be superheroes or hold onto objects like weapons, wands, or capes as a symbol of power and use them as tools for gaining some control and strength. In a study led by Rachel White of Hamilton College and Stephanie Carlson of the University of Michigan, titled “The Batman Effect,” (White & Carlson, 2016) demonstrated how kids focused on superheroes such as Batman which allowed them to succeed and get through difficult tasks. The “self-distancing also encouraged greater feelings of self-efficacy – the sense that they could pro-actively cope with the situation and achieve their goal” (Robson, 2020). As participants explore the role as hero and warrior, the goal is to allow such magical thinking, along with offering a physical interplay between partners, unleashing imagination, and inspiration. By engaging in creative expression and embodying superhero personas, participants will explore the significant impact it has on our own lives and interpersonal relationships and further to explore a heroic journey into themselves, fostering resilience, empowerment, and self-discovery. By engaging in creative expression and embodying superhero narratives, children can explore their strengths, build resilience, and develop a positive self-concept. This research underscores the importance of incorporating artistic and role-playing activities in therapeutic settings to foster empowerment and resilience in children navigating the complexities of peer influences.

Background. Emotion processing, awareness, acceptance, and expression of emotions, is associated with improved psychological and physical health. The Role of Emotion Processing in Art Therapy (REPAT) intervention is a manualized, eight‑session, group‑based art therapy protocol designed to enhance emotion processing as a primary mechanism of change for women coping with breast cancer, targeting reductions in depression, pain, and fatigue (Czamanski‑Cohen & Weihs, 2023). Art therapy provides a unique pathway for translating somatic and implicit emotional material into symbolic and verbal forms, supporting self‑expression, meaning‑making, and emotional regulation for cancer survivors, who often experience elevated psychological distress and complex somatic symptoms. Theoretical framework. REPAT is grounded in the Bodymind Model of Art Therapy (Czamanski‑Cohen & Weihs, 2016) which proposes specific, empirically measurable mechanisms through which art therapy promotes salutary change. The intervention also incorporates elements of focusing‑oriented therapy to support a nonjudgmental stance toward internal sensations, and components of CBART (Cognitive Behavioral Art Therapy) to foster stress reduction and cognitive flexibility Czamanski-Cohen et al, 2014). Intervention overview. REPAT consists of eight 90‑minute sessions following a consistent structure: rapport building and grounding, 40 minutes of supported artmaking with accessible materials (oil pastels, markers, pencils), and 30 minutes of facilitated group processing emphasizing nonjudgmental exploration and the primacy of process over product. Each session includes a clearly defined directive, such as “safe place,” exploratory open‑studio work paired with psychoeducation on emotion construction, “draw an emotion,” “distress image and transformation,” “clearing the space,” “conflict dyad,” and “body outline.” The protocol concludes with a summary and portfolio review, accompanied by a reflective letter from the therapist. Fidelity procedures including checklists and supervision ensure ≥80% adherence to protocol structure and session goals (Czamanski-Cohen, Wiley & Weihs, 2020). Evidence base. REPAT has been implemented with approximately 300 women across pilot, randomized, and extended research contexts, with a completed NIH‑funded mechanistic clinical trial comparing REPAT to a mandala‑coloring control condition. Prior publications detail both the protocol and initial pilot outcomes, supporting REPAT’s potential to reduce distress and strengthen emotion processing capacities in cancer survivorship (Czamanski‑Cohen et al., 2019; Czamanski‑Cohen, Wiley, & Weihs, 2020; Czamanski‑Cohen & Weihs, 2023). Course purpose. This full‑day advanced practice course trains clinicians to competently deliver REPAT in oncology and other health‑related settings. Participants will gain a thorough understanding of REPAT’s theoretical basis, session flow, population considerations, and fidelity requirements. Experiential laboratories provide hands‑on practice with key directives, including safe place, image transformation, conflict, and body outline, paired with supervised processing to refine clinical decision‑making and promote ethical, culturally responsive use of the intervention. The course also addresses logistical considerations such as materials preparation, room setup, supervision structures, and adaptation for online formats. Learning outcomes. By the conclusion of the training, participants will be able to (a) differentiate the three components of emotion processing within client artwork and verbalizations; (b) implement at least three REPAT directives with fidelity and appropriate pacing; and (c) evaluate fidelity using REPAT checklists and adapt intervention decisions based on participant needs and supervision feedback (Czamanski‑Cohen & Weihs, 2023). Implications. REPAT contributes to the advancement of art therapy by articulating and operationalizing a clear mechanism of change, emotion processing, and by providing a replicable, evidence‑informed intervention that can be integrated into survivorship care. The REPAT protocol has been adapted and implemented with women coping with endomitreosis and children and teenagers coping with social anxiety. This advanced practice course equips therapists with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to bring a mechanism‑driven, empirically grounded intervention into diverse clinical settings.

Abstract This didactic educational half-day workshop session, incorporating an experiential component, invites participants to engage deeply with the first Ph.D. dissertation in art therapy, The Black Beat in Art Therapy Experiences (1977) by Dr. Lucille Venture. This engagement began with a dedicated group of 8-10 art therapists, ranging in experience from those who knew Dr. Venture personally to those newly discovering her work, who convened monthly on Zoom to conduct a close reading of this seminal yet under-recognized text. In response, we created artwork, documented reflections, and compiled a communal archive, forming the foundation for this workshop. The overwhelming response to this workshop in 2025 suggested a continuing need and interest in growing the legacy of Dr. Venture’s work. Through this collaborative inquiry, our discussions unearthed profound insights and unexpected joys, reinforcing our connection to Dr. Venture’s wisdom and asking, ‘What would Lucille say?’ Despite being the first art therapist to earn a Ph.D. in the field, her contributions remain overshadowed by those she cited. Dr. Venture championed diverse pathways into art therapy, emphasizing the necessity of artmaking in studio and playroom settings, self-reflective artistic practice, and the integration of cultural perspectives drawn from her global experiences. Her commitment to advancing the field included founding the Maryland Art Therapy Association and promoting inclusivity. The Lucille Venture Project (LVP) seeks to acknowledge, honor, and expand upon Dr. Venture’s legacy. By highlighting her work, we aim to rectify historical omissions and advocate for her rightful place in the canon of art therapy. This recognition will enhance clinical, creative, cultural, and interpersonal learning within the profession. The workshop will begin with a biographical overview of Dr. Venture, followed by reflecting upon a section of her dissertation and its ongoing relevance. Participants will demonstrate the power of exploring texts through artmaking, offering a model for personal reflection, clinical application, art therapy education, and professional development. Participants will be invited to engage in this process, gaining hands-on experience that fosters deeper connection to the material and a renewed appreciation for Dr. Venture’s enduring impact.