Bridging Gaps: Art Therapy and Disability Justice in Mental Health
This virtual panel discussion examines the concepts of disability justice and the role of art therapists within this framework as mental health professionals. Panelists will review concepts related to disability culture, share examples of their work with disability communities, discuss practical ways to make art therapy more accessible, ethical considerations, and explore how art therapists can act as agents of cultural change against ableism. ASL interpreters will be present for this event. (This event meets ethics & cultural competency requirements for LPC license in DC.)
OBJECTIVES
After this presentation, you will
● Distinguish between Disability Rights and Disability Justice.
● Recognize the distinctions between the medical model and the biopsychosocial/ cultural models of disability.
● Identify three culturally competent and accessible methods for implementing art therapy as a healthcare treatment with individuals with disabilities.
● Identify three strategies that foster allyship with disability communities, including ethical and legal considerations for addressing disabilities and impairments of clients and providers in a supportive manner.
(1.5 CEC s - NBCC & ATCB)
$25 for Professionals
Free for students (Code:Student2025)
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Panelists:
Beth Ann (BA) Short MA, LCAT, ATR-BC, ATCS (they/them) is a national Board Certified Art Therapist, a Licensed Certified Art Therapist (LCAT) in Oregon and has been in practice since 1999. BA identifies as mixed race, gender queer/nonbinary person. BA also has multiple invisible disabilities. BA is an artist, art therapist, author, and filmmaker. They are also adjunct faculty at Lewis & Clark College in the art therapy graduate counseling program. In all of their work BA applies a postmodernist approach incorporating intersectionality, social constructionism, feminism, queer theory, liberatory practices, and antiracism.
Noel King, MAAT, ATR-BC, PhD Candidate (she/her) is a mental health staff and art therapist at Rochester Institute of Technology/National Technical Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID). Currently, she is a doctoral candidate in Expressive Therapies at Lesley University. She seeks to break the limitation of traditional talk therapy approaches and customize the therapy services to all Deaf folx, especially underserved communities to amplify their voices.
Nicky Sullivan (she/her) is a Master’s Student in Art Therapy at George Washington University. She has a passion for working with individuals with a variety of needs, and has committed her time in her graduate studies to advocating for art therapy practices with marginalized populations. She uses her internship experiences with individuals with a variety of disabilities in conjunction with guidance from faculty to inform her approach as a budding art therapist.
Panel Facilitators:
Miki Nishida Goerdt, LCSW, LCSW-C, ATR-BC (She/her) is an artist, Board-Certified Art Therapist, and Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice. She focuses on anti-oppressive and culturally responsive/affirming approaches in both her clinical practice and pedagogy. Her passion lies in creating space for healing through art for older adults and marginalized individuals. She is an adjunct faculty member at the George Washington University’s graduate art therapy program.
Juliet L. King, PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, LMHC (She/her), is an Associate Professor of Art Therapy at The George Washington University and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine.