Statewide Licensure Requirements

The American Art Therapy Association works to address educational requirements and standards as reflected in state licensure regulations and expressed by the various accrediting bodies. Programs approved by the Association’s Education Program Approval Board (EPAB) have met the organization’s established educational standards. These standards are generally aligned with and comparable to the educational standards for counseling.

There are a variety of helping, educational, and art professions that have education and training requirements that parallel those of art therapy. Many credentialed art therapists seek and obtain licensure in additional fields, including professional counseling and marriage and family therapy. We support equal access to the available credentials and fair appraisals of our members’ relevant training and education.

The Art Therapy and Counseling Equivalency Matrix below provides an overview of each state’s requirements for art therapists and information on related counseling equivalents. Be sure to always check with your relevant state agency regarding the detailed and most up-to-date requirements for licensure.

The Art Therapy and Counseling Equivalency Matrix is currently being updated. Please check back soon to view it.

Government Affairs Committee Chair's Update

As Chair of the American Art Therapy Association's Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC), I will be keeping you informed through this column about key activities related to our efforts to address the interests of our members. The American Art Therapy Association’s GAC, through a network of regional representatives, monitors state and national legislation to ensure that the interests and objectives of the AATA are adequately represented at the federal, state and local levels of government. The committee supports and advocates for legislation and policies that establish nondiscriminatory standards and regulation for the practice and profession of art therapy. The GAC is working with a number of other groups to support legislation and regulations that ensure, secure, and improve employment opportunities for art therapists and recognition of art therapy in mental health and health care settings.

Currently, the AATA GAC is working as part of the National Arts in Healthcare Advisory Council, to develop healthcare reform legislative recommendations to submit to Congress to ensure accessible healthcare services include innovative, cost-effective, art-based interventions, benefiting individuals from the young child to aging adult. Our priority is adding language that would include trained and credentialed providers to the licensure requirements that are in the Senate bill currently. We also are attempting to insert language that would specifically include creative arts therapies as professional providers.

Stay tuned to the web site for further updates.

Sarah Kremer
Chair, Governmental Affairs Committee

Government Relations Listserv

If you are interested in receiving periodic e-mail alerts updates from the American Art Therapy Association's Public Policy and Advocacy department, please send an e-mail to publicpolicy@arttherapy.org, and be sure to put “Subscribe to GR Listserv” in the subject line.

Government Grant Opportunities

U.S. Government Grants
Grants.gov is your source to find and apply for federal government grants. All discretionary grants offered by the 26 federal grant-making agencies can be found on Grants.gov.

SAMHSA Grants
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was created to develop and focus attention on programs and funding for improving the lives of people with or at risk for mental and substance abuse disorders.
Click here for a listing of current SAMHSA grant opportunities, or visit www.samhsa.gov/grants/2009/fy2009.aspx.

U.S. Department of Education Grants
For a listing of all U.S. Department of Education discretionary grants, click here, or visit http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/find/edlite-forecast.html. The lists are in the form of charts -- organized according to the Department's principal program offices -- and include programs and competitions we have previously announced, as well as those we plan to announce at a later date.

Model Regulatory Legislation

The American Art Therapy Association’s initiative to pass model regulatory legislation that began around 2000 focused on pursuing title protection for art therapists individually, and/or to amend existing state counseling laws to include the art therapy equivalent. Click here to learn more.

Latest News

The American Art Therapy Association has been working with various mental health agencies to develop recommendations for inclusion in the merged version of the Affordable Health Care for Americans Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Key recommendations included in our letter to government law makers through our joint efforts with mental health care organizations include:... click here for more information.

Professional Counselor Licensure bill signed into law in California

The Northern California Art Therapy Association (NorCATA) is pleased to finally announce that our efforts have paid off - SB 788 was signed into law on October 11, 2009, bringing licensure for professional counselors to California, the last state in the country. After seven years and three bills, the California Coalition for Counselor Licensure (CCCL), of which NorCATA is a member, is proud to announce that its third bill has been approved by California’s Legislature and signed into law by its Governor. This will allow art therapists, who meet the qualifications, to achieve licensure if they are not eligible for the current MFT license.

This would not have been possible without the dedicated counselors and graduate students throughout the state, and the state and national organizations that support professional counseling. NorCATA and AATA are recognized by the CCCL as providing financial support among other state and national organizations.

IMPLEMENTATION DATES
January 1, 2010: The bill becomes law and the Board of Behavioral Sciences then has the responsibility for developing the rules and regulations to implement the bill and it will gear up to accept LPCC applications.

January 1, 2011: Applications for grandparenting and reciprocity will be available through the Board of Behavioral Sciences. These requirements are posted now on CCCL’s website, caccl.org, under Licensure Requirements.

January 1, 2012: Applications for regular licensure will be available for those not eligible for grandparenting or reciprocity. These requirements are posted now on CCCL’s website, caccl.org, under Licensure Requirements.

CCCL will continually update its website, as information becomes available on providers of required coursework, and administration of required examinations.

Government Contacts

U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
U.S. Senate Calendar of Business
The White House
Congressional Information (Roll Call)
Congressional Record (GPO)

Call to Action

Tips On Writing Congress

The letter is the most popular choice of communication with a congressional office. If you decide to write a letter, this list of helpful suggestions will improve the effectiveness of the letter.read more

Disaster Relief

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was created to develop and focus attention on programs and funding for improving the lives of people with or at risk for mental and substance abuse disorders.read more

Actions

First Lady Speaks at White House About Arts and Education

On November 5th, First Lady Michelle Obama spoke to a group of students, artists, teachers, directors, and administrators at a White House ceremony honoring this year’s recipients of the Coming Up Taller Awards, the nation’s honor for after-school arts and humanities programs for underserved children. Mrs. Obama serves as the honorary chairman of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), which sponsors the Coming Up Taller awards.
Click here to read the full text of First Lady’s remarks. For more information see the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and Coming Up Talle r.

Meeting with the Department of Veterans Affairs

On October 20th, American Art Therapy Association Past President Paula Howie, AATA Executive Director, Susan Corrigan, and AATA Director of Public Policy Christopher Campbell, met with staff from the Department of Veterans Affairs to discuss how AATA and the VA can collaborate on helping our nation’s Veterans. >

L to R – Susan Corrigan, AATA Executive Director; Dan Bruneau, Director, Communications Management, Veterans Health Administration; Larry Long, Director of Recreation Therapy Services, Department of Veterans Affairs; and AATA Past President Paula Howie

September 11, 2009 Meeting at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Service:

Chris Campbell, Director, Public Policy, AATA, Lisa Rubenstein, with the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) Director Kathryn Power, M.Ed., and Susan Corrigan, Executive Director, the American Art Therapy Association.

With the tragedy of September 11 a vibrant memory for many worldwide, it is fitting that the American Art Therapy Association met with the leadership of the organization to discuss future local, state-wide, national and international activities related to the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch. In addition future meetings are planned to fully integrate art therapy activities with the services provided through the division on mental health services and financial support during times of emergency relief within this key national division of the Department of Health and Human Services and FEMA. Watch for news throughout the coming year on our developing collaborations.

AATA Meets With First Lady’s Staff at The White House
On August 20th, AATA staff members Susan Corrigan, Chris Campbell, along with Heidi Bardot, Director of the George Washington University Art Therapy Program, met with senior staff in the Office of the First Lady at The White House. The purpose of the meeting was to reach out to the First Lady, who has expressed interest in the arts, and working with Veterans, children, and service members and their families, and to discuss how art therapy can be used as a treatment modality to help people successfully transition through crisis. The staff agreed to reach out to AATA as they develop the First Lady’s schedule to determine if there are mutual areas of interest; for instance, incorporating visits to exemplary art therapy centers around the country into the First Lady’s travel schedule. The Association has offered to help identify sites around the country for her to visit and to assist with coordinating activities.

Capitol Hill Visits on July 31, 2009

Before the Association's Open House on July 31, 2009, Peg Dunn-Snow, President of the American Art Therapy Association, Susan Corrigan, Executive Director, and Chris Campbell, Director Public Policy visited Brian Kennedy, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor and the Office of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz to discuss issues of importance to Association members.

The Association will be working to add "art therapist" as a designated job classification in the next edition of the Bureau of Labor Statistic's Occupational Outlook Handbook under the appropriate category. Additional meetings with the Employment & Training Administration and other departments were discussed. Congresswomen Wasserman-Schultz has a strong interest in veteran's issues and serves on the Appropriations Committee. Continuing discussions are planned related to support for the Association's efforts to studying the effectiveness of art therapy related to PTSD.