Welcome to the Art Therapy Credentials Board, Inc.!

Welcome to the Website
We are glad that you decided to visit our website and hope that the information you find here is useful. We have organized our information to be accessible for the beginning student who wants to learn more about credentialing; for the applicant who needs guidelines and forms; for the credential holder who wants to learn what is new at ATCB; for members of the public who may be interested in learning more about art therapy; and for the employer who needs to verify an art therapist’s credentials. We welcome your feedback and suggestions to continually improve our information for those we serve.

Our Mission
The Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB) mission statement was recently updated with the new mission becoming effective January 1, 2012. The former mission statement was:  to protect the public by promoting the competent and ethical practice of Art Therapy. The new mission statement adds clarity by stating that we protect the public by promoting the competent and ethical practice of Art Therapy through the credentialing of Art Therapy Professionals.   

Our Credentials
We accomplish the mission by offering credentialing programs that result in Registration (ATR), Board Certification (ATR-BC) and Certification in Art Therapy Supervision (ATCS), and by upholding the ATCB Code of Professional Practice to set the parameters of ethical practice.

Our first-tier credential is the Art Therapist Registered (ATR) that requires specific graduate-level education in art therapy and documentation of supervised post-graduate clinical experience. An ATR then may apply to become Board Certified (ATR-BC). Board Certification requires the successful completion of the national examination demonstrating comprehensive knowledge of the theories and clinical skills used in art therapy. An experienced Board Certified and Registered Art Therapist may also apply for an Advanced Supervisory Credential (ATCS).  The ATCS is designed for professional art therapists who have acquired specific training and skills in supervision, and insures that supervisees receive the best training available.

Our Code of Professional Practice has gone through a lengthy process of review and revision this past year to reflect the ever-changing nature of art therapy practice, and to bring our document more in line with ethical codes from related fields. We encourage all of our stakeholders to become familiar with this document.

As we begin 2012 we would like to thank the 4,815 art therapy professionals who have met the requirements for credentialing through ATCB. At this time, 2,314 are credentialed as ATRs and 2,501 hold the ATR-BCs. Of those, 34 ATR-BCs also hold the ATCS.  

What’s New
Because the ATCB is continually working to improve our services, to make those services more accessible and responsive to stakeholders while maintaining the rigorous nature of our credentials, we are in the midst of several initiatives. Please see the newsletter for up-to-date progress on these initiatives.

Who We Are
As the year 2012 begins, the ATCB is sad to say goodbye to two people who have contributed greatly to ATCB over the past six years. We would like to give a heartfelt thank you to Deborah Good and Bill More for their tireless work on our application to the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) for accreditation of the ATR-BC. You can view our progress with this initiative and comprehend the magnitude of work Deborah and Bill have accomplished during their tenure by referencing Bill’s regular newsletter feature on the NCCA process. We expect to hear from the NCCA on our application within the next few weeks.

We also would like to welcome our two new ATCB Board of Directors members, Barbara Mescher and Carolyn Brown Treadon. They bring diverse interests, talents and expertise to the ATCB. We welcome them and want to thank our continuing board members for their tireless work and continued dedication to the projects and committees they oversee.

Feel free to contact our office if you have any questions not answered on this site, or if you have suggestions for improvements.

Best Regards,
Penelope Orr, Ph.D., ATR-BC, ATCS
President

 

The mission of the Art Therapy Credentials Board, Inc. (ATCB) is to protect the public by promoting the competent and ethical practice of Art Therapy through the credentialing of Art Therapy Professionals.