June 19, 2024 | By Carolyn Brown Treadon, Ph.D., ATR-BC, ATCS, AATA Conference Committee Chair
On behalf of the American Art Therapy Association, I am thrilled to announce Dr. Bertice Berry as the keynote speaker for the AATA2024 Conference, “Building Bridges,” to be held Oct. 6 – 9, in Pittsburgh, PA.
Bertice Berry, PhD, is a sociologist, author, lecturer, storyteller, mother, and grandmother. She is also a woman of science and faith.
As an author and award-winning lecturer, Dr. Berry has published 13 best-selling books in both fiction and non-fiction and has won numerous awards and accolades for both her writing and presentations. (Watch her TEDx Talk here.)
Dr. Berry has been awarded over 10 honorary doctorates and earned her own doctoral degree from Kent State University. Yet she sees her most fulfilling achievement and role in life as that of mother to her 5 adopted children.
Dr. Berry has been on the radar of the AATA Conference Committee for a few years.
She is inspirational and engaging. Her belief is that in sharing of ourselves, it connects us to each other. Dr. Berry has inspired audiences around the world with engaging talks on change and transformation, as well as professional and personal development.
She specializes in leadership development, and in particular, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and belonging. Humans are wired for narrative, Dr. Berry explains. She believes that by telling our stories, or by listening to others’ stories—we can connect with one another and better understand each other. This is how we can support inclusion and belonging in our personal lives, workplaces, and communities.
In the spirit of our conference theme, Building Bridges, Dr. Berry’s philosophy “that every one of us has been given a unique purpose and it is our obligation to find it and use it to improve first our own self and then for those we live and work with,” is foundational to the work art therapists do. She believes in the power of art to be an agent of that change.
I am confident that Dr. Berry will help conference attendees reconnect with the passion and purpose that led us to our profession. I am proud to have such an enthusiastic, empowering, and humorous keynote for our conference!
With this exciting news, we are extending Early Bird registration! Please join us in Pittsburgh this Fall for an unforgettable experience filled with learning, connection, and inspiration.