This year’s Annual Conference program features five days of curated experiences at San Diego’s Town and Country Resort, including sessions in all 19 program tracks, from activism and addiction, to technology and trauma. By attending all five days of the conference, you can earn up to 24 CEUs from a selection of 140+ sessions!

Check out a sampling of the sessions and register now before they fill up.
♦ All Day Advanced Practice Course | RE25 | Brain Stuff: Concepts in Neuroscience for Therapists
Christianne E. Strang
♦ All Day Advanced Practice Course | PS72 | Expressive Therapies Continuum: Finding A Creative Voice with Dynamic and Individualized Processes
Shelley Cannon Frederick, Jessica Higa
♦ Workshop | SC205 | Handmade Bookmaking for Environmental Justice and Gratitude Practices
Amy Morrison, Beth Donahue
♦ Workshop | PP212 | Creative Collaborations: How to Build Therapeutic Programs with Your Local Museums
Raquel Farrell-Kirk, Alicia Ballestas

The conference venue, Town and Country Resort, is close to some awesome attractions, including Balboa Park, the new Comic-Con museum, and the San Diego Zoo (just 10 minutes away by car). Plus “Kids Free San Diego” is back this October when kids play and eat for free! There are dozens of deals on activities—including kids go free at Legoland, the Birch Aquarium, SeaWorld San Diego, and the Zoo. And nearly all the San Diego museums, from the Mingei International Museum to the San Diego Museum of Art, will be free!

Roberto Lugo has been on the radar of the Conference Committee for several years—and we are thrilled that he has agreed to be a part of this year’s AATA conference! As a committee, we were particularly impressed not only with Mr. Lugo’s development from graffiti artist to potter, but his incredible work with the community as well. A distinguished academic and artist, he continues to remain focused on what brought him to the arts: His ability to connect with the community. He often brings his wheel to the streets!

Newly introduced legislation in Michigan and Pennsylvania would create a path to licensure for art therapists! Michigan’s HB 4513 would add art therapists to the mental health care code as qualified professionals, and HB 4514 would create licensing and title protection to protect for the public. In Pennsylvania, SB 786 would create licensing for art therapists in the state as well as title protection. 

These milestones represent the continued hard work of the Michigan Association of Art Therapy and the Pennsylvania Art Therapy Association—and the volunteer advocates in their states who champion mental health and the art therapy profession!  

In true art therapist form, to support my writing of this blog, I played with art supplies to help me connect to what I wanted to say. I made collages depicting the impact of current anti-trans legislation, the complex loss related to religious trauma, and the beauty of being authentic in spite of. The symbols in these collages that stand out to me are a half-covered window, parts of faces put together, harvested butterflies, a catapult, memorial candles, and the layers of words: embracing, legacy, contents, we are not alone, and why. When issues and perspectives are complicated, I turn toward collage and layering materials. It supports my understanding of what is hidden, what overlaps, what is centered, and what is missing.

This report, called The Proven Efficacy of Creative Arts Therapies: What the Literature Tells Us brings together over 40 major pieces of peer reviewed research: from systematic reviews of relevant randomized controlled trials, evidence from meta-analysis of relevant randomized controlled trials, and evidence developed from systematic reviews from across the world.

Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association is proud to announce its Special Issue (Volume 40, Issue 2) Anti-Oppressive Art Therapy–Cultural Humility is now available. Read Guest Editor Dr. Louvenia Jackson's Editorial introducing the issue here. This issue is part of a multi-journal collaboration to increase the professional literature on anti-oppressive frameworks in art therapy: International Journal of Art Therapy focused on intersectionality and the Canadian Journal of Art Therapy focused on re-indigenization and anti-colonialism.

We've begun the hiring process for an Editor in Chief of Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association to start January 1, 2025. The Journal is a peer-reviewed, scholarly publication that has a readership comprised of educators, practitioners, and students. Its mission is to inform the readership of research, recent innovations, and critical issues related to art therapy. Stay tuned for the full position description and requirements!

[Source: Smithsonian Magazine]

[Source: AHC Health eNews]
Featuring AATA Member Jill Mcnutt

[Source: Newark Post]

[Source: Washington County Insider]

[Source: Seattle Children's Hospital]