#WeAreArtTherapists
Voices of Art Therapy: Children’s Mental Health
By Clara Keane | May 10, 2018 | Children | Trauma | #WeAreArtTherapists
In honor of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day on May 10, 2018, we are sharing some stories written by art therapists who work with children and adolescents. The art making process allows for expression without words, helps establish safety, creates opportunities for coping, and offers a way to manage feelings, thoughts, and experiences for future exploration and insight.
Appreciating Specialized Instructional Support Personnel: Here’s what this Means for Art Therapists
By Lida Sunderland | April 19, 2018 | Advocacy | Children | Education | #WeAreArtTherapists
April 16-20, 2018 is Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (SISP) Appreciation Week! Check out the Congressional Resolution (H. Res. 823) introduced on April 12th to honor art therapists and other SISP colleagues during this special week.
Voices of Art Therapy: Trust and the Therapeutic Alliance
By Kat Michel | April 12, 2018 | #WeAreArtTherapists
The therapeutic alliance between art therapist and client is the foundation for the clinical session, and it is through the quality and nature of this relationship that goals are set and achieved, and positive change occurs. A core part of this is the idea of trust: trust in the safety of the clinical space, trust in confidentiality, trust in a nonjudgmental approach to art making, and more. The following stories from Voices of Art Therapy highlight moments during which art therapists were able to meet clients at their levels, build rapport, and establish trust, all through the “simple” act of art making.
Featured Member: Charles Anderson, Art Therapy Pioneer
By Clara Keane | February 15, 2018 | #WeAreArtTherapists
Charles Anderson, ATR-BC, as a pioneer of the art therapy field, witnessed the profession take root and grow. Retired at 77, he still works part-time at Stormont Vail West Hospital, serving clients in crisis and supervising students in the Emporia State University art therapy program.
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.
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
Bringing Art to Life through Storytelling
By Sarah Margaret Wade | April 27, 2016 | About Art Therapy | Community | #WeAreArtTherapists
I recently attended a celebratory gala and art show at the University of Alabama to honor five years of Art to Life, a program of art therapy and storytelling for adults diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders. Art to Life is a course sponsored by University of Alabama’s Honors College in collaboration with the Cognitive Dynamics Foundation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month at Make Studio
By Jill E. Scheibler | April 1, 2016 | #WeAreArtTherapists
Since the early 1970s, April has been recognized as Autism Awareness Month and, more recently, it has been additionally or alternatively celebrated as Autism Acceptance Month.
Charleston Heals Through Art: HeArts Mends Hearts
By Dianne Tennyson Vincent | March 2, 2016 | Trauma | #WeAreArtTherapists
June 17, 2015 was a peaceful evening in downtown Charleston, SC. A regular Wednesday night prayer meeting service was taking place in the historic Emanuel AME Church. After an hour of Bible study and prayer, the unthinkable happened. A young, unfamiliar white man welcomed to the group pulled a gun and killed nine parishioners, including State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney. A grandmother shielded her grandchild with her own body while they both played dead.