September 25, 2025 | By Heather Denning, LPAT, LSW, ATR-BC, ATCS, AATA Undergraduate Education Committee Member
The AATA Undergraduate Pre-Art Therapy Education Guidelines are now available!
The guidelines grew out of a need to ensure relevance and ethical practice in the development and delivery of undergraduate pre-art therapy education. They provide educators a resource to develop, deliver, and strengthen undergraduate pre-art therapy education (AATA, 2025).
Use this form to download your PDF copy of the guidelines.
The development of this document has had a long journey. In 1996, AATA published brief recommendations for undergraduate educational programs in a newsletter. Years later, the AATA Undergraduate Education Subcommittee revisited this topic and began editing Draft 2 of the Bachelor’s Education Guidelines in development from the previous Undergraduate Education Task Force (2016).
Members of the AATA Undergraduate Education Committee, the Professional Affairs Committee, the membership, the public, and the AATA Board provided valuable feedback over the course of a year and a half as Draft 5 was further edited by a working group within the subcommittee then finally approved in August 2025 by the AATA Board.
This was a true collaborative effort resulting in a resource for educators, students, members, and the public.
Join us Nov. 7 for a Discussion on the Undergrad Guidelines
On Friday, November 7, we will host a virtual session from 10:30 – 11:45am ET.
Heather Denning and Jennifer Schwartz will lead the session and discuss the undergraduate guidelines further.
Thank you to the members of the Guidelines working group:
- Heather J. Denning, MAAT, LPAT ATR-BC, ATCS, LSW
- Delaine Due, MA, ATR-BC, LAT, LPC
- Cathy Goucher, MA, ATR-BC, LCPC, LCPAT
- Jennifer Schwartz, MAAT, LPAT, ATR-BC, ATCS
- Molly O’Neill Haaga, PhD, LPAT, ATR-BC, LPC
- Michelle Pate, DAT, ATR-BC, LCMHC
The Undergraduate Committee extends their gratitude to the previous Undergraduate Task Force Members who provided the foundation and framework, and some key language for these guidelines:
- Janice Havlena, MA, ATR-BC
- Patricia St. John, EdD, ATR-BC, LCAT
- Michele Burnie, MS, ATR-BC
- Carol Lagstein, LACSW, LCAT, ATR-BC
- Jennifer Schwartz, MAAT, LPAT, ATR-BC, ATCS
References
American Art Therapy Association. (1996). Recommendations for undergraduate educational programs. Newsletter, 29(1), 21.
American Art Therapy Association Undergraduate Education Task Force. (2016). Bachelor’s education guidelines, Draft 2. Internal AATA report (Unpublished manuscript).
American Art Therapy Association (2025). The American Art Therapy Association’s undergraduate pre-art therapy education guidelines.