May 22, 2025
This June, in honor of Pride Month, AATA is hosting a CE session to help you better support your LGBTQIA+ clients and create a more inclusive and affirming practice. Please join us June 17 at 7pm ET for Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy: Affirming Queer/Trans Lives Through Creative Practice.
This unique Continuing Education opportunity will explore the intersection of art therapy and queer worldmaking. Presenters Kachina Mooney, MA, LPC, ATR-BC; Sara Blevins-Ranes, ATR, LPC; and Nicholas Denson, MA, LCPC, LCADC, ATR-BC, NCC, will introduce foundational concepts of queer worldmaking and offer practical insights into how art therapists can incorporate these transformative ideas into their clinical practice.
Queer worldmaking, a term coined in the late 1990s by scholars such as José Esteban Muñoz, Lauren Berlant, and Michael Warner, is the ongoing process of constructing and inhabiting affirming queer spaces and ways of life within heteronormative and anti-queer societies. It encompasses the artistry, activism, and everyday lives of queer folx and involves creating alternative narratives, values, and practices that challenge dominant social structures and celebrate diverse queer identities and experiences. This framework reclaims history, experience, and future possibility through a queer lens that makes space for identities often marginalized by cisheteronormative systems. Rather than replacing other affirming practices, queer worldmaking complements and deepens them, offering a collective worldview that aligns with the individualized affirming work many clinicians are already doing.
In addition to providing a foundational knowledge of queer worldmaking, the session will examine the therapist’s role as ally, advocate, and activist. Presenters will highlight how creative expression can support inclusive, affirming therapeutic environments. By focusing on the roles of ally, advocate, and activist in this presentation, the presenters hope that, regardless of level of familiarity or practice, everyone will walk away with a deeper understanding of the work to be done and how to do it—especially in light of the sweeping legislative changes impacting LGBTQIA+ lives. This workshop is ideal for clinicians seeking to expand their cultural competency and deepen their commitment to LGBTQIA+ communities through art-based approaches.
Presenters will also share a Padlet with resources and avenues for deeper exploration and offer opportunities for brief art-making experiences as well as moments for reflection throughout the session.
This 2-hour session is designed for professionals, students, and anyone in the art therapy community interested in deepening their understanding of LGBTQIA+ affirming art therapy practice. We hope you’ll join us live for this important conversation. If you are unable to attend on June 17, this session will be available on-demand and all paid attendees may receive 2 CE credits. Registration fees are $52 for AATA members and $82 for non-members. The event is FREE for all AATA student members. (Not a member? Join or renew today here.)
About the Presenters
Kachina Mooney, MA, LPC, ATR-BC, is a leader in the field of art therapy and counseling, dedicated to clinical practice, advocacy work, and fostering inclusivity and belonging. With her expertise in using art as a therapeutic tool, she has made significant contributions to the mental health, well-being, and resilience of diverse populations, including LGBTQIA+ individuals, immigrants, and asylum seekers. These contributions include facilitating individual, family, and group art therapy, and being a tireless advocate in the pursuit of the highest quality of care for her clients, and dedicating her time and practice to promoting meaning-making and personal transformation. Kachina’s leadership extends beyond her clinical expertise as she also serves as a clinical supervisor, art therapy educator, and strong advocate for an art therapy license in Pennsylvania, where she resides. The strategic vision and commitment that Kachina holds to ethical art therapy practices have earned her recognition as a leader in the community. Outside of the art therapy world, Kachina enjoys spending her days with her elder cats and partners in the Pittsburgh region.
Sara Blevins-Ranes, MA, LPC, ATR-BC, (they/them) is a queer art therapist based out of San Antonio, TX. Sara works with the LGBTQIA+ population and neurodiverse populations to assist with trauma recovery and post-traumatic growth. They are actively involved in the arts therapies community- co-authoring chapters and volunteering with both the Coalition for Queer Creative Arts Therapies, South Texas Art Therapy Association, the AATA mentoring program, and the Arts in Healing International Film Festival.
Nicholas “Nick” Denson, MA, LCPC, LCADC, ATR-BC, NCC, (he/him/his) is a queer board certified, registered art therapist (ATR-BC), licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC), and certified licensed clinical alcohol drug counselor intern (CLCADC-I). His full-time job is a Military and Family Life Counselor (MFLC) for the Air Force. Work as an MFLC includes brief, solution-focused, and non-medical counseling with service members, their spouses, family, and community.
Nick is also a contractor. His contracts include a drop-in center for teens in substance use recovery, an outpatient center, an online counseling platform, and a drug and alcohol recovery center.