August 26, 2021 | Susan Boxer Kappel, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT, CGP, Conference Chair
If you are planning to attend AATA’s conference this year, be sure to register by August 31st for the early bird rates. Register online, download the registration form to register by fax (must be received by August 31st at 11:59 pm ET) or mail (must be postmarked by August 31st), or call the office during business hours at (888)290-0878 or (703)548-5860.
Announcing a diverse program–including 100+ educational sessions and four exciting plenaries!
On Saturday, October 23, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, a Sudanese-Australian writer, broadcaster, and award-winning social advocate with a background in mechanical engineering will be our featured keynote presenter. Yassmin trained as a mechanical engineer and worked on oil and gas rigs around Australia for years before becoming a writer and broadcaster in 2016. One of the 2020 LinkedIn Changemakers, Yassmin is a globally sought-after advisor on issues of social justice, focused on the intersections of race, gender and faith. She has travelled to over 24 countries across five continents, speaking about inclusive leadership, tackling bias, and achieving substantive change.
Yassmin’s internationally acclaimed TED talk, What does my headscarf mean to you, has been viewed over 2.3 million times and was chosen as one of TED’s top ten ideas of 2015. She published her debut memoir, Yassmin’s Story, with Penguin Random House at age 24, and followed up with her first fiction book for younger readers, You Must Be Layla, in 2019. Yassmin’s critically acclaimed essays have been published in numerous anthologies, including the Griffith Review, the best-selling It’s Not About the Burqa and The New Daughters of Africa.
On Sunday, October 24, the plenary will feature David Bianchi as the speaker for the Multicultural Committee’s Exchange: It’s Poetic: Community and Healing in a Virtual World with David Bianchi. David Bianchi is a multi-hyphenate quintessential artist. Globally known as an actor, filmmaker, and spoken word poet, he seamlessly blends these passions in his very own art genre he calls Spinema™ (spinning cinema through spoken word). These poetic-cinematic experiences are currently taking the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) art space by storm, leading to thousands of dollars being donated to charity and a feature in Forbes. As an actor/filmmaker he has more than 100 professional credits and can be seen in studio films and major network TV. His work in front of the camera has earned him membership into the very prestigious Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Currently, he can be seen in Netflix’s Queen of the South, Ruthless on BET, and SEAL Team on CBS.
On Saturday, December 18, the plenary session, Turning Up the Bullhorn: Challenging the Expected Outcomes of Art Therapists on Social Justice Issues in the Community, will be presented by Berenice Badillo, PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC, Jennifer Clay, PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC and Makeda “Dread” Cheatom. This panel challenges how art therapists and arts activists collaborate with community entities to create spaces that amplify the voices of BIPOC. The panelists will discuss projects in alternative spaces in the community that include site specific art in bi-national regions, contemporary art museums, community colleges, and multicultural arts programming.
The Sunday, December 19th, plenary focuses on various aspects of the pandemic and its impact on therapists and the therapeutic experience. More details coming soon.
Two options: Live and on-demand
Just like last year, our virtual conference registration will provide two options to view the content: Live and via on-demand. Our program has more sessions available to you than you could possibly attend at an in-person conference, so you will earn more continuing education and knowledge. We have a diverse and expansive program spanning over 4 days this year! If you attend all 4 days, we expect you will have more than 100 hours of learning available to you with the on-demand access. Just like last year, we will allow you one year (through December 31, 2022) to view the on-demand content included in your registration package.
Click here to view the full program. Register here.