AATA Blog

BATA Hill Day: Art Therapy in Ohio Advocacy Day Overview
By Molly Kometiani | January 4, 2018 | Advocacy | Events
The Buckeye Art Therapy Association (BATA) hosted Art Therapy in Ohio Advocacy Day on Wednesday, November 29, 2017, at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. It was a powerful, motivating, and exciting day for Buckeye art therapists and the community!

Featured Member: Sarah Deaver, 2017 Recipient of Honorary Lifetime Member Award
By Clara Keane | January 4, 2018 | #wearearttherapists |
Sarah Deaver, PhD, ATR-BC, was awarded the 2017 Honorary Lifetime Member (HLM) award, the highest honor bestowed by the AATA. Nominees are considered based on contributions across three broad categories: (1) Breadth of influence upon the entire field of art therapy; (2) Enduring effect upon the entire field of art therapy; and (3) Importance of contributions as evaluated from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. Dr. Deaver has contributed extensively on each of the above and has earned tremendous respect in the field of art therapy for her influential work and leadership.

Featured Member: Introducing AATA’s New President Christianne Strang, PhD, ATR-BC
By Clara Keane | December 7, 2017 | #WeAreArtTherapists
Christianne Strang PhD, ATR-BC, was sworn in as Board President of the American Art Therapy Association on November 11, 2017. Dr. Strang has 30 years of clinical art therapy experience and currently provides art therapy services to individuals in treatment for anorexia and bulimia.

Creative Forces Clinical Research Summit
By Adrienne M. Stamper | October 5, 2017 | Veterans | Research | Events
The Creative Forces Clinical Research Summit took place on September 18th and 19th, 2017, at the National Academies of Science in Washington, DC. The intimate event gathered Department of Defense (DoD) and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) collaborators to discuss clinical research findings and approaches for investigating creative arts therapies.

2017 International Conference on Mobile Brain-Body Imaging and the Neuroscience of Art, Innovation and Creativity
By Juliet L. King | September 28, 2017 | Events | Research
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the second annual International Conference on Mobile Brain-Body Imaging and the Neuroscience of Art, Innovation and Creativity in Valencia, Spain, September, 10-13. As in last year’s Brain on Art conference, modern thinkers from around the world participated in thoughtful didactic and experiential dialogue.

Voices of Art Therapy: Breaking the Cycle of Addiction
By Clara Keane | September 14, 2017 | Health Care
In 2008, my family member revealed that he had secretly been caught in a full-blown heroin addiction for the previous six years. Before, I had thought I knew him. I thought he just acted a certain way, dressed a certain way, and had certain less-than-positive attributes about him.

Delaware Art Therapy Licensure Bill to be Signed into Law
By Clara Keane | September 27, 2017 | Advocacy
AATA representatives and Delaware art therapists will proudly witness the signing of the art therapy licensure bill S.B. 43 into law tomorrow, September 8, 2017. Jennifer August, MCAT, ATR-BC shares details about the advocacy journey she and other art therapists in Delaware underwent with strong support from the AATA to achieve this success for the profession.

Voices of Art Therapy: Art Therapy and Art Making for People who Struggle with Memory Loss
By Clara Keane | August 10, 2017 | Health Care
The AATA continues to gather stories and vignettes from art therapists to help answer the familiar question, “What is Art Therapy?” In a previous article, two art therapists wrote about clients who battled daily anxiety: one had experienced trauma, and the other suffered from a chronic disease

Iona Senior Services Art Therapy Program Hosts First Lady of South Korea
By Elizabeth Kim | July 13, 2017 | International | Events
I run the art therapy program at Iona Senior Services in Washington, DC. My program were selected to host South Korean First Lady Kim Jung-Sook. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the First Lady have both expressed their commitment to funding services for older adults with dementia and their families in South Korea.

How Images and Art Making Help Children’s Mental Health: An Illustrator and Art Therapist Explains
By Clara Keane | July 6, 2017 | Children
Giora Carmi is an art therapist and illustrator of children’s books and other genres. The AATA interviewed him about his experience working with children both as clients in art therapy and as consumers of children’s books. In the following interview, Carmi discussed his book Circle of Friends (Carmi, 2003) in the context of how children can learn empathy through imagery and shared his experiences working with children in art therapy.