We are pleased to announce our featured keynote presenter, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, a Sudanese-Australian writer, broadcaster, and award-winning social advocate with a background in mechanical engineering. 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.

We also want to remind you that early bird registration is open through Aug. 31 – be sure to register before the cut-off to save! Going completely virtual this year means there's no need to worry about extra expenses for travel and concerns about health or safety, because you will be able to join art therapy colleagues from around the world in the comfort and safety of your own home. Just like last year, our virtual conference registration will provide two options to view the content: Live and via on-demand. The conference registration packages offer 1-day, 2-day, 3-day and 4-day combinations, providing tons of flexibility and pricing to meet your needs. Stay tuned here for more communications and announcements as the program continues to be developed! Review the full program then register by Aug. 31 so that you will lock in the lowest rates and save!

AATA is pleased to announce that the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) awarded initial accreditation to the Art Therapy master's program at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. The CAAHEP Board approved the accreditation recommendation by the Accreditation Council for Art Therapy Education (ACATE) for the art therapy graduate program on July 16, 2021.To date, 18 art therapy programs have received initial accreditation.

One way my students are impacted by the pandemic is the loss of what they hoped and expected their college life to be like. They also are traumatized in various degrees by the sudden and substantial impact the pandemic has made on their academic, social, and family lives. I’m managing my stress by being intentional with self-care activities such as making art with my students, focusing on spiritual practices, and maintaining my relationship with my spouse. Despite my best efforts, this is still a crazy-making time.

VIDEO: "Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Board Certified Art Therapist with McNulty Counseling and Wellness, Samantha Stevenson, joins Gayle Guyardo on Bloom with help for children anxious about going back to school."

"Ryane Nickens was 12 when she lost her first relative to gun violence...In honor of her brother and sister, Ryane founded the TraRon Center in 2017 to give those traumatized by gun violence a place to heal. Started in a public library as a support group for adults, the Washington, D.C., nonprofit has expanded to provide summer camps and after-school programs for more than 30 kids ages 4 to 14, offering counseling, art and music therapy and a safe place in a neighborhood where gunfire and death are a terrifying reality."

"In the book 'Am I Blue or Am I Green? / Azul o Verde. ¿Cuál soy yo?,' an unnamed character describes, from the perspective of a young child, how he lives in a country straddling two cultures and two languages....For author and retired teacher Beatrice Zamora, the book — her second children’s story — came at the perfect time: when the separation of families at the border caught the attention of the national media and society at large...Zamora and illustrator, Berenice Badillo, [who is also a psychologist and art therapist,] worked in San Diego but remotely during the pandemic, through phone calls, emails and Zoom sessions."

"Art therapy, according to the American Art Therapy Association, is a kind of treatment that integrates mental health and human services by using active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience. Dr Cindi Cassady, Senior Clinical Psychologist at Caraes Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital/Icyizere Center, describes art therapy as a technique based on the idea that creative expression can foster healing and mental well-being."

"The beauty of folk art is that it showcases artists who are not formally trained but instead create solely based on personal life experiences. At the American Folk Art Museum, exhibits and programming make this art attainable for all, from high school students to those experiencing Alzheimer’s and related dementias. 'There’s something special about folk art and self-taught artists, as the main thing that we’re bringing to people, because it’s encouraging, it’s inspiring,' said Elizabeth Gronke, an art therapist and access educator at the museum."

"In May, Ana was admitted to Berkshire Medical Center with hundreds of cuts across her body and a hole chewed nearly through her cheek. She was 13 years old, in a mental health crisis and 'an imminent danger to herself,' said her mother, Keri. Ana spent nearly two weeks in the hospital — first in the emergency department, then upstairs in the pediatric unit — as her care providers searched across the state for an inpatient psychiatric program with an empty bed. 'They told me a hundred times, ‘There are so many kids on the waitlist, and only so many beds in Massachusetts to begin with,’ ' Keri said. 'They’d already started talking about discharging her.'"