AATA Blog
Highlights from the Inaugural International Art Therapy Practice/Research Conference Held in London
July 25, 2019 | International | Research | #WeAreArtTherapists
“I am proud and excited to have been part of this inaugural research and practice conference held in collaboration with the British Association of Art Therapists. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to meet and speak with art therapists from such diverse backgrounds, and I was completely impressed by depth and breadth of the research and practice occurring throughout the world. The future of art therapy is indeed bright!” – AATA President Christianne Strang, PhD, ATR-BC
Victory in Connecticut: Art Therapy License Enacted
June 27, 2019
We are proud to announce that a distinct art therapy license has been enacted in Connecticut! On June 26, 2019, Governor Ned Lamont signed the state budget, which included licensure for art therapists.
50 Years Ago Today…
June 27, 2019 | By Christianne Strang | #WeAreArtTherapists
On June 27, 1969, a group of art therapists from across the United States and Canada met in Louisville, Kentucky with the hope of making “art therapy and its relationship to mental health and education more clearly defined and further developed.” Their discussions, which lasted into the early hours of the next day, resulted in the adoption of a constitution for a new organization, the American Art Therapy Association.
Monthly Art Therapy Group Continues for Northern California Camp Fire Survivors
June 27, 2019 | By Devora Weinapple
On November 8, 2018, a wind-whipped inferno ripped through and leveled the densely populated foothill town of Paradise in less than a day. This urban firestorm, known as the Camp Fire, surpassed the worst fires to date in the state’s history, which had been those that devastated Sonoma and Mendocino Counties just in the previous fall of 2017.
The Art of Origami: An Art Therapist Explains its History and Use in Trauma Work
May 29, 2019 | Trauma |#WeAreArtTherapists |
Origami within the context of an art therapy session can have many uses, including‒but not limited to‒ helping people deal with trauma, practicing mindfulness, and even promoting sensorimotor skills or frustration tolerance. However, the art form has a history that spans back even further than the term “origami” itself. We spoke with art therapist and creator of Expressive Origami Therapy (EOT), Toshiko Kobayashi, LCAT, ATCS, ATR-BC, to get a more in-depth look into the origins of origami, as well as its past and modern role in art therapy practice.
Featured Member: Jordan Potash, Editor in Chief, Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association
May 2, 2019 | #WeAreArtTherapists | Research |
“Research is fundamentally an exercise in curiosity. We are all researchers looking to explain the world. Any phenomenon is ripe for understanding. Researchers are wonderers who need to select the best method for the given situation. Some are best interpreted in stories, some in numbers, and others through art. They can be observed just once or repeatedly over time. Authors should keep in mind that when it comes time to communicate what they found and how they found it, they should write from that perspective’s frame of truth so their studies can be validated on its own terms.”
The NEA Once Again Faces Proposed Elimination: Join Us in Requesting a $12.5 Million Increase
March 28, 2019 | Advocacy
On March 18, President Trump released his FY 2020 budget recommending, for the third consecutive year, complete termination of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In the last two fiscal years, Congress has firmly rejected this proposal − opting instead for minor increases.
Ask Me Anything! Featuring Dr. Cheryl Doby-Copeland
March 6, 2019 | #WeAreArtTherapists
Cheryl Doby-Copeland, PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, LMFT, HLM joins us at the AATA National Office to answer your questions, and talk about her perspectives on art therapy practice, addressing diversity, working with trauma, and more.
Creative Forces Veteran Testifies on behalf of the AATA before U.S. House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee
February 28, 2019 | Advocacy
On Tuesday February 26, 2019 Christopher Stowe Master Gunnery Sergeant, USMC (ret.) testified on behalf of the AATA alongside Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch before the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. They urged the subcommittee to fund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) at $167.5 for FY 2020, a $12.5 million increase from FY 2019.
The History of the Annual Pearlie Roberson Multicultural Quilt Project
February 28, 2019 | By Delora Putnam-Bryant
Quilts and quilt making in the African American culture can be traced back to the times when black Americans were enslaved. There are several accounts of how slaves incorporated the techniques of quilting from their native land’s fabric making process, and enslaved Americans passed down quilting to other slaves. Materials gathered from scraps of fabric that could no longer be used, were repurposed to create quilts.