Register Today for AATA’s 2022 Virtual Conference!
Our Virtual Conference will include content from the in-person conference, all recorded specifically for our dynamic, new virtual platform. The conference will also include brand new presentations, interactive roundtable sessions for Shared Interest Groups and networking opportunities, and live Q&A with presenters and a chat function for attendees. Conference content, as well as additional, brand new presentations, will be available on demand after December 18th on the platform for 3 months.
Announcing Two Keynote Events
We are proud to announce two keynote events recorded especially for the 2022 Virtual Conference, Dec. 17-18.
Ted Meyer, a nationally recognized artist, curator, and patient advocate, will be our keynote speaker on December 17th. Ted works to highlight and bring attention to other people’s stories of health and healing. His “Scarred for Life” series visually tells the stories of other people who have been through major traumas.
- The second keynote panel on December 18th is entitled Neuroimaging and Art Therapy Practice and Research: Strengths, Challenges and Sociocultural Considerations. Panelists Juliet King, PhD(c), MA, ATR-BC, LPC, LMHC; Girija Kaimal, EdD, MA, ATR-BC; and Christianne Strang, PhD, ATR-BC, CEDCAT-S, will discuss neuroimaging research in art therapy, the strengths and limitations of these techniques, and offer examples of how the technologies are currently being employed in clinical interventions. (You won’t want to miss this session—it was standing room only during the in-person conference in Minneapolis!)
Conference Agenda
As of December 12th. This agenda is still in formation, including additional sessions that will be available on demand for 3 additional months after the conference weekend.
Saturday, Dec. 17 | Sunday, Dec. 18 | |
9:15 – 10am | Shared Interest Group SessionsPrivate PracticeLGBTQ+Those who identify as LGBTQ+ are invited to join this special interest group to make meaningful connections and process community-related concerns with their fellow peers. Una mañana linda: Networking for Latinx and/or Spanish Speaking Art TherapistsPor qué no empezar el día tomando la oportunidad de un nuevo comienzo para conectar significativamente con otrxs? Trae tus materiales de arte favoritos y juntxs crearemos arte para aterrizarnos en Español, conectando con nuestras victorias en el campo, nuestras batallas, pero lo más importante, conectando entre nosotros con nuestras historias! | Shared Interest Group SessionsBIPOC Art Therapists and StudentsWe invite attendees who self-identify as BIPOC to attend this SIG session only, in the interest of creating a safe space for conversation. Una mañana linda: Networking for Latinx and/or Spanish Speaking Art TherapistsPor qué no empezar el día tomando la oportunidad de un nuevo comienzo para conectar significativamente con otrxs? Trae tus materiales de arte favoritos y juntxs crearemos arte para aterrizarnos en Español, conectando con nuestras victorias en el campo, nuestras batallas, pero lo más importante, conectando entre nosotros con nuestras historias! |
10:05 – 11:10am | PlenaryHow the Art-Cart-Lady | PlenaryNeuroimaging and Art Therapy |
11:15am – 12:15pm
| NY-SC48 | Global Pandemic—Global Resilience: The Learning from COVID-19 Experiences ProjectBarbara Parker-Bell, PsyD, ATR-B The Learning from COVID 19 Experiences Project was implemented in 2021-2022 to foster art therapists’ exchange of best practices for supporting youth and family resiliency amidst the pandemic. Presenters will outline programs and structures that resulted in expanding participants’ knowledge and their sense of belonging to an interconnected global community. GM15 | Growing with Grief: An Art Therapy Curriculum to Prevent Complicated BereavementCarolyn Brown Treadon, PhD, ATR-BC, ATCS The curriculum was developed to address the diverse needs of grieving individuals by combining empirically supported grief models with art therapy directives. By effectively addressing the needs of grieving clients it aims to prevent the development of complicated grief. | NY-GE149 | Contemporary Approaches Utilizing Archetypal Art Therapy for End-of-Life CareMaggi Colwell, MS, ATR-BC This workshop will explore contemporary approaches to archetypal art therapy and include a case study showing end-of-life issues for a geriatric artist in hospice care. Deepening understanding of how archetypal themes affect patients’ lives and show up thematically in artwork can deepen the therapeutic relationship and facilitate change. NY-TR166 | An American Nightmare: Solo Performance, NYC Theatre Festival 2019 Filmed LiveNicole Porter Davis, ATR-BC, LCAT In this 55 minute play you enter Newtown, CT at the end of 2012 immediately following the Sandy Hook Massacre. Through creative music, art, and dance the Artist demonstrates intimate vignettes from her clinical experiences with survivors. Evoking emotional insight on the depths of complex trauma, and the therapeutic relationship. |
12:30 – 1:30pm
| NY-TA121 | Awakening Awareness: Integrating Vertical and Horizontal Processing via the Expressive Therapies ContinuumMegan VanMeter, ATR-BC, LPC, LMHC, LPC-AT/S This presentation will provide attendees with information about major types of neural processing necessary for making unconscious material available to conscious awareness. The Expressive Therapies Continuum will be explored as a framework for developing treatment that is consistent with these processes for the purpose of reconciling cognitive/ affective/behavioral issues. N/NY-RE49 | Efficacy of a One-time Mindfulness-based Art Therapy InterventionPatricia Isis, PhD, LMHC-QS, ATR-BC, ATCS Results from an empirical study of a one-time mindful doodling art therapy resource in 2 hour workshops for 71 participants will be presented. Significant increases were found for mindfulness, curiosity, positive and compassion-based emotions, with decreases in negative emotions, suggesting the efficacy for mindful doodling to promote wellness and community. | N/NY-MC67 | Developing Cultural Humility Using Art-Based Group Practices During Covid-19Jenny Liu, MA, Associate MFT This paper will discuss how art-based group practices are designed and utilized to help art therapy second- year students develop cultural humility as a group during Covid-19. Facilitator-participants chose art materials with the intention to elicit topics related to cultural humility- SES, Race, Colonization, Gender, Family and Spirituality. ES12 | Becoming “The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence”David Gussak, PhD, ATR-BC This paper will clarify the interrelationship between art and violence and will detail the steps necessary to bring the book into fruition. It will further underscore the necessary negotiating, intersubjective processes and dynamics between the presenters necessary for its ‘becoming’. |
Lunchtime | Shared Interest Group SessionsDoctoral EducationThe Doctoral Education Subcommittee invites you to join us for questions, answers, and networking about doctoral education for art therapists!
Licensure Advocacy
Join art therapy advocates to discuss ongoing and future advocacy initiatives around the country.
| Shared Interest Group SessionsSchool-based Art TherapyJoin others committed to school-based art therapy! If you are interested in working or currently working in schools, please join us to share strategies for implementation, expansion and evaluation. Reduce your isolation in being the sole art therapist at the school site by finding community among us. NeuroscienceNeuroscience is central to the convergence of the arts and psychological sciences. Although we are a few decades beyond the Age of the Brain, important questions remain that impact art therapy. C’mon along to discuss what we can claim and what matters in translating neuroscientific evidence without drowning in all its seductive allure! Licensure AdvocacyJoin art therapy advocates to discuss ongoing and future advocacy initiatives around the country. |
2:15 – 3:15pm
| N-PP131 | Defining PurposeErin Elizabeth Partridge, PhD, ATR-BC Feeling a sense of purpose in life provides essential support to people of all ages. Unclear definitions or lack of clarity interrupts experiencing a sense of purpose personally and professionally. This session will engage participants in an exploration of purpose definitions, including the preliminary research to define purpose. N-CA79 | Preparing for Subpoena to Court: A Case StudySuzanna Anderson, L-MHP, ATR-P, MSTP This presentation explores the process of receiving a subpoena while working with minors in an outpatient setting. Topics will include introduction to court system, ethics of sharing case information to court, preparing case for court, and illustration of a case example. | NY-TR105 | Art Therapist Self-Care in Coping with Disaster ResponseJoseph Scarce, PhD, ATR-BC Art therapists discuss their exposure to disaster response and review how they shared coping strategies, including creative means of self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pitfalls, challenges of disaster work, and self-care tips are reviewed, assisting art therapists working in or contemplating disaster relief work. NY-SC102 | The Magic Carpet Ride: |
3:20 – 4:20pm
| NY-TE163 | Navigating Hybrid Group Art Therapy: Facilitating Between Two WorldsJoshua B. Brancheau, MPS, ATR-BC, LCAT This workshop will explore the challenges of adopting a hybrid format for group art therapy. Prioritizing accessibility by offering flexibility, hybrid provides access to clients who want to engage together in- person and remotely. What does hybrid group art therapy look like and how can we make it work? N-PP19 | Art Therapy in Museums: Possibilities for Programs and PracticeKathryn Snyder, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, PhD(c) This presentation will highlight findings from recent qualitative research that looks at a number of ways that museums are embracing art therapy and related fields in their work along with the barriers to having art therapy within museum spaces. | NY-TA111 | Debuting the Second Edition for FEATS Rating Manual and New PPAT ArchiveLinda Gantt, PhD, ATR-BC, HLM Three panelists will describe their contributions to the second edition of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) including the literature review, the revised scales, additional chapters, and the children’s section. They will introduce the digital archive of PPATs and explain how to others can expand it. N/NY-PS101 | Mindfulness Art Therapy for Psychosis: Treating Psychosis in an Inpatient Psychiatric SettingKayla Mozdzanowski, MA Symptoms of psychosis can be challenging to manage, and all-consuming for those experiencing them. This session reviews a case study exploring how mindfulness art therapy can serve as a beneficial intervention for psychosis. It reveals improvements in disorganized thinking, delusions, attention span, emotion regulation, and ability to socialize with others. |
4:35 – 5:35pm
| N/RE41 | Developing an Art Therapy Research Strategic Plan: Results and Future DirectionsNancy Gerber, PhD, ATR-BC This presentation focuses on the final stages of a multi-phasic project the purpose of which was to develop an art therapy research strategic plan. We share our procedures and findings drawn from collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing data from multiple sources involving past and current art therapy research practice. N/NY-RE107 | Just Stab It! Modulating Anger and Frustration through Needle Felting Art TherapyClara Corn, ATR-BC A mixed-methods, quasi-experimental single group pre-test/post-test design on the use of needle-felting in art therapy for modulation and expression of anger. Analysis of the participants’ responses indicated needle-felting helped participants enter the flow state and relieve anger-related symptoms facilitated by engagement with the Kinesthetic/Sensory level of the Expressive Therapies Continuum. | N/NY-AS168 | The Neurobiology of Art Therapy in the Treatment of Addiction and TraumaPatricia Quinn, MS, ATR-BC, LCAT, NBCCH This presentation weaves together current neuroscience from the fields of trauma, addiction, and art therapy as it pertains to the needs of people recovering from substance use disorders. It focuses on art’s stimulation of cerebral areas related to improving self-esteem, authenticity, socialization, motivation, memory, impulse control and restoration of other executive functions. NY-PP11 | The DRAWs Note: Comprehensive and Standardized Documentation of Art TherapyBrianna B Hughes This session will introduce The DRAWs Note, a standardized note-taking format focused on documenting the unique aspects of art therapy treatment. The DRAWs Note incorporates current research on various documentation styles, integrates this to a format that is empirically supported, and is appropriate for therapists at all levels. |
Evening Session (5:45 – 6:30pm) | Leadership Conversation with | Leadership Conversation with AATA President Girija KaimalJoin Girija Kaimal, EdD, MA, ATR-BC, in a conversation about simple, everyday ways you can help advance your career and be a more effective leader within your workplace, AATA, or even your community. There’s no agenda for this session, just a casual chat! |
Additional Sessions Available On Demand
In addition to the sessions presented on Dec. 17th – 18th, these sessions will be exclusively available on the Virtual Conference platform for three months.
N/NY-AS141 | Art Psychotherapy can Increase Self-Esteem in Recovery
Jenelle Miller, MS, LIMHP, ATR
Weekly, one-on-one art psychotherapy sessions have contributed to increased self-esteem in adult women participating in a 90-day addiction recovery program. The recovery program is housed within an urban homeless shelter. Self-esteem was measured using the State Self-Esteem Scale. Case studies and practical applications are discussed.
NY-PP88 | Art Space Reimagined, Art Therapy Museum Program Evaluation, Growth and Sustainability
Joseph Scarce, PhD, ATR-BC
Renee Buono, LMHC, ATR
Dana Fidler
Art Space, a collaborative community effort with an art museum, partner sites, clients, and students, the program has grown from six sites to twenty-five sites in a few years. The authors share results of the program evaluation and how museums can have a powerful impact on art therapy services.
N/NY-SC106 | Arts Contributing to Community: Drawing on the Holocaust to Support Contemporary Theory
Elizabeth Hlavek, DAT, LCPAT, ATR-BC
Despite the isolation that Nazi victims experienced, many were able to develop a community through art- making. This paper details the creative communities that developed in Nazi camps and ghettos, and links them to contemporary theories on community art therapy through themes of resistance, resilience, empowerment, and connection.
N-MC128 | Creative Arts Therapies and Collective Efficacy within the Cheyenne River Lakota Community
Katherine Jackson, PhD, ATR-BC
Art Therapy students and faculty have been engaged in a collective efficacy plan in assisting the Lakota community, to help host the “Red Can Graffiti Jam,” a cultural art making, dance, and community festival. The process of becoming a non-community helper and advocate through the creative arts will be discussed.
N/NY-PP54 | Relationships between Therapists’ Tears in Therapy and Their Personal and Professional Characteristics
Rebecca D. Miller, PhD, ATR-BC, ATCS, CCLS
Findings from a survey of over 500 therapists, including 250 creative arts therapists, concerning attitudes and experiences around therapists crying in therapy (TCIT) with clients will be presented, including relationships to therapists’ personal and professional identity characteristics. Implications for therapist-client relationships, supervision, training, and future research will be discussed.
ES73 | Using Visual Thinking Strategies to Enhance Assessment Skills and Multicultural Competencies
Holly Feen-Calligan, PhD, ATR-BC, ATCS Grace Serra, MA
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), widely used in K-12 and museum education, are applied to clinical preparation of health professionals to enhance observation skills, ultimately contributing to assessment skills, and developing multicultural competencies.
N/NY-CA145 | A Pediatric Pottery Wheel Pilot Program for Diverse Diagnoses and Restrictive Environments
Laura Weinstein, LMFT, ATR-BC
This presentation explores how clinicians at Seattle Children’s Hospital structured a pilot pottery program to work with diverse diagnoses in a restrictive environment. Participants will learn how the Expressive Therapies Continuum can be applied to the pottery wheel to design targeted clay Interventions.
N-PS135 | Incorporating Art to the Mental Health Recovery Process with Women
Ingrid Rodríguez Ramos, PhD
Outcomes of a 30 sessions intervention using art in the context of an Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) program with women. Focus on the theoretical bases of the program, techniques, and contents of the sections. Factors related to stigma in mental health and gender discrimination will be considered.
N-PP30 | Thoughtful Art-Based Interventions in Times of Anxiety: COVID-19 as an Example
Dafna Moriya, PhD
This paper explores the benefits of creating art in times of anxiety. It raises awareness to the goal of art-based interventions: whether expressing and processing anxiety, or providing a distraction from distress. A survey conducted during the first Coronavirus pandemic lockdown in Israel sheds light on this question.
N/NY-MS4 | Art, Anti-Racism, and Healthcare Environments for All
Kathryn E. Dunn (Katie)
In the context of a Family Birth Unit, we will explore previous research and observed impacts of visual art on the healthcare environment and art therapy practices with an anti-racism and DEI lens. Attendees will participate in a visual empathy building exercise and response art exploring applications for other settings.
N/NY-ES110 | Doctoral Students of Color: Perspectives on Intersectionality and Observations in Academia
Nancy Gerber, PhD, ATR-BC
This panel discussion highlights how becoming a doctoral student has its own inherent challenges which include navigating not only the rigorous academic work and research but more importantly the less visible challenges of identity including, but not limited to, culture, race, language, and the interplay between disciplinary and institutional expectations.
N/NY-PP129 | There’s Nothing Micro About Aggressions (The Effects of Systemic Racism on African Americans Health)
Blanche Brown, MS, MBA, LPC, LMFT, ATR
Paper will discuss the physiological effects of racism and discrimination on African Americans’ better described as microaggressions. Strong evidence suggests that American society continually denies the lasting effects of African Americans’ trauma experience. If true, how can trauma survivors begin to make sense and understand what has happened to them as they begin recapture their sense of self?
Virtual Conference Registration Prices
AATA Members (Student, New Professional, Retired) | AATA Members | Non-Members | |
Attend ONE Day | $65 | $175 | $240 |
Attend BOTH Days | $90 | $250 | $330 |
Attend ONE Day | $25 | $75 | $150 |
Attend BOTH Days | $50 | $150 | $240 |