So…I’m back from the AATA conference in Cleveland, and I was thoroughly impressed with the excellent key note speaker we had, Dr. Bruce Perry. He was so inspiring and very much in tune with what us art therapists are up to- to the point that he’s even developed his own way of charting and evaluating for the developmental level of an individual (something that Art Therapists can do through assessing the artwork of a client). I also picked up his book The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog. I’m only about 50 pages into it, but I can tell that its a great read for those of us who work with (or are interested in working with) traumatized individuals. It also very much parallels his key note address, so if you missed the conference, you can get the gist of what was discussed.
I also took some fabulous workshops that were full of excellent ideas and theory. One of my favorites was the day long workshop I took with Lucille Proulx, who worked for many years at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and was the president of the Quebec Association of Art Therapists. She specializes in attachment issues between parents and children, and helps to facilitate normal attachment through art therapy group work with moms, dads and their kids. I haven’t checked out the book yet, but its supposed to incorporate the theory and directives she discussed throughout her workshop. It should be an excellent resource. Although I don’t work with families, many of the directives that she’s created have the potential to work well the with the population I do work with- Adults who are developmentally disabled and who have an Axis I diagnosis as well.
I also very much enjoyed the seminar on Contemporary Issues in Art Therapy, Psychoanalysis and Children. Some of who I would consider masters of the profession (i.e., Judith Rubin) participated in a case presentation that had the air of supervision. They said that this is a regular seminar that they’ve been hosting for the past 5 years, and hopefully they’ll do it again in Dallas.