January 17, 2019| #WeAreArtTherapists
We’re kicking off our 50th anniversary year with a fun, collaborative social media project celebrating the art therapy profession! Throughout January, daily themes and prompts invite people to share memories, reflections, and moments related to art therapy. Already, participants have shared dozens of remarkable personal stories on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter about their journey to art therapy, as well as heartfelt memories and experiences about being or becoming an art therapist.
- “To me, being an #ArtTherapist is being part of a creative caring group of professionals who have devoted their lives to being with others through art”.
— AATA Member Erin Partridge via Twitter in response to our theme on identity and what makes you proud to be an art therapist.
- “I discovered Margaret Naumburg’s books in the Boston Public Library where I was an undergrad art student in the early 1970’s. They were all long out of print so I assumed she had passed on as well. Instead I soon learned she, in her 80’s, had retired to Boston. I contacted her and she reached out to me starting the relationship that sent me on my way to becoming an art therapist. It’s a complex story, some of which I hope to share at the conference this year!”
— AATA HLM Pat B. Allen on our Facebook Event Page in response to when she first discovered art therapy.
- “I had to look it up…It was like a light bulb went off. I knew that’s what I want to do now. I’m a child of trauma and abuse. I would love to be a therapist and work with kids who have also experienced those things. To give them a place to express and heal. Something I never knew I needed, let alone existed.”
— Contributor posting on Instagram about first learning about art therapy watching a documentary about 9/11.
- “I took one of those tests in 2013 that told you what type of job would fit you the best for a freshman college course and art therapy was one of the top recommended jobs for me. Now I am getting my Master’s in art therapy.”
— AATA Student Member Heather Robbins in response to first discovering art therapy.
Other participants have shared art therapy related stories and connection through their own artwork or sharing personal photos. Below are some posts shared on Instagram using the hashtag #AATA50th.
Through this project, we not only honor art therapy and the work our members do to help communities they serve, but aim to raise awareness of art therapy overall. Please join us by sharing your own stories of healing through art! Visit our Facebook event page each day in January for daily prompts and themes. Or join us on Twitter at @arttherapyorg or Instagram at @arttherapyorg using the hashtag #AATA50th.