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World Art Therapy Conference 2026
Paid Package Access
World
ART THERAPY
Conference
2026
This fourth edition of our free conference ended. It gathered an amazing lineup of speakers who brought sound and innovative ideas in art therapy worldwide. We are sending gratitude to all our speakers for such a generous share of knowledge with an international audience. We thank our participants for their feedback and their patience in attending this huge event live. And we thank all who supported our team to continue this project by buying the home study package. Check the brochure of the conference below to see all the bios and abstracts or scroll down the page.
This fourth edition of the conference will once again welcome researchers from across the globe, inviting submissions of research or clinical insights aligned with the three main conference themes. While approximately two-thirds of the speaker lineup will be by invitation, we are honoured to consider fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and new research relevant to our topics.
All proposals will undergo a thorough review process, and applicants will be notified of the outcome following the Board’s decision.
We look forward to strengthening our professional community and making knowledge more accessible to therapists worldwide. To apply, please click the button below.
All proposals will undergo a thorough review process, and applicants will be notified of the outcome following the Board’s decision.
We look forward to strengthening our professional community and making knowledge more accessible to therapists worldwide. To apply, please click the button below.
Mind-Body Approaches
February 7-8, 2026
Arts Therapies and Mind-Body Approaches
Section Description: This section explores the dynamic interplay between body awareness and creative expression in therapeutic practice.
Presenters will share approaches that integrate somatic awareness, movement, sensory engagement, and art-making to support regulation, emotional processing, and resilience.
Participants will discover how mind–body methods enhance the depth and sustainability of therapeutic change, offering clients ways to ground themselves, reconnect with their bodies, and engage in healing through creative processes.
Presenters will share approaches that integrate somatic awareness, movement, sensory engagement, and art-making to support regulation, emotional processing, and resilience.
Participants will discover how mind–body methods enhance the depth and sustainability of therapeutic change, offering clients ways to ground themselves, reconnect with their bodies, and engage in healing through creative processes.
MEET THE SPEAKERS
Bruce D. Perry
M.D., PhD
Dr. Perry is the Principal of the Neurosequential Network, an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and the School of Allied Health, La Trobe University...
Cathy Malchiodi
PhD, LPCC, LPAT, ATR-BC, REAT
Dr. Malchidi is the Director of Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute and researcher with the US Departments of Defense and Education. Author of over 20 books on arts-based therapies such as Handbook of Expressive Arts Therapy, a standard in the field....
Galit Atlas
PhD
Dr. Atlas is the author of the international bestseller Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients and the Legacy of Trauma (translated into 26 languages). She is a psychoanalyst and clinical supervisor in private practice in New York City...
Jacquie Compton
MA, RCAT, RP
Trauma therapist, educator, clinical consultant and poet. She is an art therapist, a certified advanced practitioner in sensorimotor
psychotherapy, and an SPI-approved clinical consultant and faculty member and clinical
supervisor at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute...
psychotherapy, and an SPI-approved clinical consultant and faculty member and clinical
supervisor at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute...
Jennifer Marchand
MA, CCC, RCAT
Jennifer is a Canadian trauma therapist and EMDRIA-approved consultant & trainer with over 10 years of clinical experience in diverse settings and cultural contexts. She currently lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, specializing in work with humanitarian aid workers, health professionals...
Maria Regina Alfonso
PhD, MsEd, ATR-BC, LCPAT
She began her career in teaching and social development in hard to reach communities in the Philippines in 1990. After completing the masters in art therapy, she is the founder and Director of Magis Creative Spaces and The Arts and Health Institute Philippines...
Elsa Scanio
MA
Clinical and teaching direction of the Art Therapy Interns at Morón Hospital Buenos Aires. Art therapist and member of the SUMS Morón De-Insane Asylum Program with outpatients of the Open Door. Creator of the Art and Clinic Team...
Lucille Proulx
MA, ATR, RCAT
Published Registered Art Therapist in both Canada and the U.S. She is the past Executive Director of the B.C. School of Art Therapy and is an Honorary Life Member of the Canadian Art Therapy Association and founder of Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy...
Wendy Bradley
MS, ATR-BC, CLAT
Art therapist with over 24 years experience working directly with children and families in pediatric and psychiatric hospitals, and in school-based systems. She worked as a manager of an early intervention city-wide program for young children...
Mary Jeppsen
PhD, LPC, LMFT
Spent half her 16 year career working with children and teens in school-based and clinical settings. She has
extensive training in Play Therapy, Trauma- Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Emotion Focused Family Therapy. Mary is in private practice in Mobile, Alabama...
Anastasia Titova
LPCC, MA-ET
California-based licensed professional clinical counselor and psychotherapist. She has worked in various settings, in inpatient, residential, and outpatient mental health facilitie for 14 years. She is pursuing
her Ph.D. in Expressive Arts at the European Graduate School...
Art Therapy in Public Institutions
February 15-16, 2026
Art Therapy in Public Institutions: Challenges and Innovations
This conference section delves into art therapy within public institutions—such as hospitals, schools, prisons, hospices, mental health facilities, and community centers—presents both unique challenges and profound opportunities. This section highlights how art therapists adapt their practice to diverse institutional environments while fostering a sense of community for clients and staff alike. Presenters will explore strategies for navigating systemic limitations, building collaborative relationships, and creating inclusive spaces where creative expression can flourish. Emphasis will be placed on how art therapy can strengthen community bonds, promote resilience, and offer meaningful engagement even in settings with limited resources or rigid structures.
MEET THE SPEAKERS
Richard Louv
Journalist and author of ten books, including Our Wild Calling: How Connecting With Animals Can Transform Our Lives - And Save Theirs, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, etc. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Ecopsychology.
Elisabeth Warson
PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, NCC, EMDRIII, EXAT, EAPII
She is the founder of American Indian Art Therapy, with roots in her research at George Washington University and Eastern Virginia Medical School. She currently operates Healing Pathways LLC, specializing in equine-assisted EMDR and arts-informed therapy...
Cathy Malchiodi
PhD, LPCC, LPAT, ATR-BC, REAT
Dr. Malchidi is the Director of Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive
Arts Therapy Institute and researcher with the US Departments of
Defense and Education. Author of over 20 books on arts-based therapies
such as Handbook of Expressive Arts Therapy, a standard in the field....
Amanda Alders-Pike
PhD, ATR-BC
Board-certified art therapist and past president of the Florida Art Therapy Association. She is currently education chair for the Palm Beach County Native Plant Society. She has authored the books Eco-Art Therapy in Practice and Improving Memory through Creativity...
Carla van Laar
MCAT, ThA.D
Australian creative arts therapist with over 30 years’ experience working in the arts for health and well-being in community organisations, justice, health and education contexts, Carla is a supervisor, Convenor of CCET within PACFA, author, and social activist...
Alexandra Vaccaro
BSc
Holding a BSc in Zoo Science from Delaware Valley University, she has worked with mammals at the Bronx Zoo as a zookeeper and currently works at the Raptor Trust. She is a candidate in the Master's degree program in Biology with emphasis in scientific inquiry at Miami University..
Annette Vaccaro
Ed.D., LPC, SCPsyA, ATR-BC, ACS, ATCS
Art therapist, psychoanalyst and a psychotherapist with a general practice, and a specialty in clinical supervision, in Livingston, NJ. She is the Director of Academic Affairs, At ACAP, Academy of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis (www.acapnj.org), and its academic partner ICPS...
Laila Devalié
MA
Laila is a Danish eco-art therapist integrating art, nature, and body movement into her therapeutic practices. After studied at the Danish Institute for Art Therapy and a one-year special education as a nature therapist, she founded the Danish Institute for Nature-Based Art Therapy...
Fyre Jean Graveline
PhD
Fyre Jean is a two-spirited, Northern Bush Country Métis from Manitoba, Canada, now living on the East Coast. She is a therapist, heARTist, educator, writer, traditional knowledge keeper and community activist. She is involved in Life as Medicine project...
Susannah Horwitz
MA, LPC, LMHC
Trauma-informed, nature based expressive arts
therapist and licensed professional counselor, in
Massachusetts and Colorado. In her private practice, she loves to bring therapy clients into the outdoors for therapy retreat intensives. Founder of the Well-Connected Therapist coaching
program...
Shuna Mercer
PhD, MA
Pioneering nature based Play Therapy, Shuna is based in Scotland. She has run her private practice in Play Therapy for over 20 years and is the co-founder and director of Woodland Play Therapy cic providing training and clinical supervision both online and in-person...
Ritu Dua
MA
Art therapist, visual artist, educator, and
writer. Currently she is associated with Mpower minds, an Aditya Group
Education Trust initiative located at Aditya Birla Hospital, Pune as Art
Therapy Consultant. She is also associated with Center for Mental Health, Baner
Pune...
Susan Spyker
MPS.AT, CAT
Susan has a master’s of art therapy, psychotherapy, and spirituality from St Stephen’s College in Edmonton, AB, Canada. Her rural living lifestyle and her land being infuses her spirit. She is an art therapist, school counsellor, faculty member, writer, and artist...
Cyndie Bussière
MA, ATPQ
Artist and art therapist, with a
master's degree in art therapy from Concordia University, Canada. She started her
private practice after finishing her masters, working with diverse clientele and using art and eco-art therapy
approaches to contribute to the well-being of her clients...
Manal Elewah
PhD, MA
Founder and CEO of ART2CARE Program, the first art therapy program in the Middle East dedicated to children with cancer, and their families, launched in Cairo, Egypt in 2013. ART2CARE Program has provided Art Therapy to children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer.
Sanaa Abouayoub
MA, ATPQ
Moroccan multidisciplinary artist and a certified art therapist from Vancouver Art Therapy Institute. In 2018, she has founded Joy Of Arts, a social enterprise offering art therapy and creativity workshops and trainings for healing and social change....
Mavis Osei
PhD, MA
She is a painter, art educator, art therapist
and Senior Lecturer at KNUST, Ghana, with ten years of university teaching experience. She has authored an Art Therapy postgraduate programme for the university, the first of its kind in Ghana and offers art therapy workshops...
and Senior Lecturer at KNUST, Ghana, with ten years of university teaching experience. She has authored an Art Therapy postgraduate programme for the university, the first of its kind in Ghana and offers art therapy workshops...
Swizen Atwine
BA
Play and creative arts therapist practitioner in Uganda, Swizen is the
Operational Director at
Creative Arts for All Refugees. He has 9 years of experience in using drama, art, and play therapy when working with children and youth in communities in refugee
settlements in Uganda.
Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong
MA, MSc(c)
Poet, art therapist, psychologist, and former journalist, Franca is the Executive President of Afrogiveness, who creates a safe space for youths to heal and connect through arts, the President of Positive Youths Africa (PYA), and a lecturer at International University of Bamenda...
Art Therapy and Neurodiversity
February 21-22, 2026
Creative Approaches for Neurodiverse Clients
This section delves into the use of art therapy with neurodivergent individuals, including those with autism, ADHD, learning differences, and other diverse cognitive profiles. Presenters will discuss how to tailor materials, pacing, and sensory elements to meet clients’ unique needs and strengths.
The focus will be on presenting research and clinical practices successfully responding to different needs of of neurodiverse clients. Presenters will bring approaches based on building communication bridges, enhancing self-expression, and supporting regulation through flexible, adaptive, and affirming creative interventions that celebrate each client’s individuality.
The focus will be on presenting research and clinical practices successfully responding to different needs of of neurodiverse clients. Presenters will bring approaches based on building communication bridges, enhancing self-expression, and supporting regulation through flexible, adaptive, and affirming creative interventions that celebrate each client’s individuality.
MEET THE SPEAKERS
Marianne Wobcke
PhD(c), RN/RM, BaCAIA
Marianne is an Indigenous nurse and midwife, with maternal connections to
Girramay mob in North Queensland. She is working specifically on birthing practices and trauma recovery. Currently a PhD Candidate with Griffith University's School of Health Sciences & Social work...
Volker Kuchelmeister
Currently working as lead immersive designer and Senior Research fellow at the UNSW felt Experience and Empathy Lab (feel)/Big Anxiety Research Centre [BARC]. He is an expert in presence, embodiment and place representation for immersive applications...
Nancy Choe
PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC
Licensed marriage and family therapist, board-certified art therapist, and mental health researcher. Her clinical practice, aiding diverse clients in hospital and school settings, reinforces the value of her holistic perspective, supported by updated research and evidence-based methods...
Sze-Chin Lee
MAAT, AThS, LPC
Sze-Chin Lee is an art therapist, art educator and artist in
Singapore working across diverse art therapy settings, specialising in
healthcare consulting for art therapy, and arts and health related programming, with a keen interest in socially engaged art practices...
Michelle Winkel
MA, MA, MFT, ATR-BC, REAT, RCAT
An art therapist, trained facilitator, and supervisor with twenty years of experience working directly with groups, families, and individuals. She is currently the Clinical Director at Canadian International Institute for Art Therapy...
Bevan Klassen
MA
Art therapist, educator and film-maker from Winnipeg, Canada. He specializes in video making as therapy and instructs digital storytelling at WHEAT Institute. He has a background in making independent films exploring identity and personal healing...
Jae Eun (Jane) Song
PhD, MA
Jae Eun, a South Korean immigrant, is a versatile artist, educator,
art therapist, and counselor. With over a decade of expertise in art therapy
across various communities, she conducted doctoral research from 2019
to 2023, studying the impact of an online art therapy program during Covid...
Diana Vozian
MA, RCAT, CCC
As a Canadian registered art therapist and certified counselor, she practices at Mindsession Intercultural Psychology, with diverse populations. She worked previously in public practice art therapy, facilitating art hives at Concordia University...
Natali Ortiz
MA, ATPQ
She is an art therapist, graduate from Concordia University. working currently in school and art hive settings. She has clinical experience with groups and individuals from diverse backgrounds. She is a facilitator at Concordia University Art Hives...
Lindsay Clarke
MA, ATR, RCAT, CCC
Registered art therapist and certified counselor, offering, for a decade, art therapy at shelters, schools, and art hives, empowering survivors of violence, suicide, homelessness. At her clinic Atelier Lanterne she guides diverse ages, emphasizing art's transformative power...
Carmen Oprea
MA, MFA, ATR-BC, RCAT
Board-certified art therapist, currently pursuing a doctorate in psychology. Her
career spans diverse age groups facing life challenges at her clinic, Accès Art. Part of Concordia University's engAGE Living Lab project, she
co-investigates research on art therapy and depression...
Alice Albertini
MA
French Canadian art therapist, she is the creator of the Sommet d'art-thérapie francophone, an online event designed to federate art therapy in French and exchange of practices since 2020.
Since 2022, she is offering courses through her Institut de Formation Continue en art-thérapie...
Since 2022, she is offering courses through her Institut de Formation Continue en art-thérapie...
Amy Lister
MA, DTATI, RP(Qualifying), PCC, OCT
Experience as a leadership coach, an educator, an organizational development consultant within health care, a Work that Reconnects facilitator, and an art therapist. Amy weaves together art therapy, emotion focused, polyvagal theory and body-based approaches in therapy...
Natalia Gómez-Carlier
MAAT, ATR-BC
Originally from Colombia, Registered Board-Certified Art Therapist and a Ph.D. student of Transpersonal Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies, Natalia was co-founder and president of the Colombian Art Therapy Association, lecturer, presenter, and author...
Meet the conference
host
Write your awesome label here.
Carmen Oprea
Carmen is the main organizer and the host of this conference.
She is a registered art therapist with post-graduate training in sandplay therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy. Holding three master's degrees in art therapy, fine arts, and design, she is currently a doctoral candidate in psychology.
Her professional career includes art therapy services for individuals and groups of all ages with various life challenges at her clinic, Accès Art. She deeply resonates with Indigenous wisdom and strives to provide culturally sensitive art therapy to Inuit and First Nations adolescents. She offers supervision sessions to creative arts therapists.
She is involved in research projects related to art therapy and depression at at Concordia University. She was the Research Coordinator for the project engAGE Living Lab at the same university, Carmen is fortunate to be part of a dedicated team who collects evidence for public practices in a local mall and to see the community growing. She is also involved in other research
She is committed to promoting accessible art therapy for individuals and communities.
She is a registered art therapist with post-graduate training in sandplay therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy. Holding three master's degrees in art therapy, fine arts, and design, she is currently a doctoral candidate in psychology.
Her professional career includes art therapy services for individuals and groups of all ages with various life challenges at her clinic, Accès Art. She deeply resonates with Indigenous wisdom and strives to provide culturally sensitive art therapy to Inuit and First Nations adolescents. She offers supervision sessions to creative arts therapists.
She is involved in research projects related to art therapy and depression at at Concordia University. She was the Research Coordinator for the project engAGE Living Lab at the same university, Carmen is fortunate to be part of a dedicated team who collects evidence for public practices in a local mall and to see the community growing. She is also involved in other research
She is committed to promoting accessible art therapy for individuals and communities.
The Home Study Paid Package
World Art Therapy Conference 2024
If you are unable to attend the free conference or you prefer to watch the presentations at your own pace, simply click the "ENROLL" button ENROLL from below. This home study package also gives you access to the continuing education credits, since no learning activity can be tracked during the free conference. The video-presentations will be made available to you immediately after the conference dates and will remain accessible for one year, along with handouts, articles, etc. You will get a Certificate of completion after watching the videos or a certificate attesting your CE credits.
Please note that prices are listed in Canadian Dollars.
Full-time students are eligible for 50% discount from the full price (450CA$) upon providing proof of enrollment in an academic institution.
The early-bird price will be available until January 26, 11:59 PM EST
Please note that prices are listed in Canadian Dollars.
Full-time students are eligible for 50% discount from the full price (450CA$) upon providing proof of enrollment in an academic institution.
The early-bird price will be available until January 26, 11:59 PM EST
Write your awesome label here.
Note: The material for the home study conference is dropped on your account progressively, after each week of the conference, respectively the first section will be available at the end of the day on February 4th, the second section at the end of February 11th, and the third one at the end of February 18th.
PAID HOME STUDY PACKAGE CE CREDITS
This package offers you 46 NBCC Countinuing Education credits for certified counsellors in US and continuing education hours, as per approval by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association.
Other Professional Orders and Associations may accept the accreditation, so please consult with your respective regulatory body.
Creative Therapies Events Inc. is our registered legal name under which all official and legal matters are conducted. This includes compliance with all regulatory requirements and licensure board mandates.
We operate under the brand name 'Creative Arts Therapies Events' which may be used, along with our logo, for all our educational and promotional materials, both in print and electronic formats, including for advertising certified credits where applicable.
We have employed LearnWorlds, a learning management system, for delivering this program. The use of LearnWorlds, including its logo, does not imply sponsorship or co-sponsorship of any educational or business activities by LearnWorlds in relation to Creative Therapies Events Inc.
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