Advocacy Materials:

- DOWNLOAD "ADVOCACY IS" HANDOUT HERE -
- DOWNLOAD "THE LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY LETTER" HERE -
- DOWNLOAD "LEGISLATIVE VISIT GUIDELINES" HERE -

As a Creative Arts Therapist, we hope that you will take the opportunity to share in spreading the word about the power and the effectiveness of the healing arts during Creative Arts Therapy Week to be held March 8 - 15.

NCCATA was founded about 30 years ago. In honor of the coalition building many creative arts therapy leaders have accomplished over the years, we would like to invite you to celebrate within your community the extraordinary work of the creative arts therapists all over the world.

Last year’s celebrations of Creative Arts Therapy week are noted in the archives (please see below). Again, NCCATA wants to involve as many of its members as possible in the celebration of CATs week, and to use the week as a public relations effort to celebrate our disciplines throughout the United States. As part of our CATs week initiative, we invite you to design your own celebration of the Creative Arts Therapies! Take many pictures, and let us celebrate your ingenuity by displaying your CAT week celebration on the NCCATA web site.

Please refer to our downloadable flyers (above) for supporting documentation. Also remember to review New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s address in the Congressional Record in declaration of the 2003 Creative Arts Therapy Week. Progress in legislative efforts and professional recognition depend on positive visibility. In support of this initiative, we offer the following suggestions and urge you to collaborate with your colleagues in the development of these and other projects and events:

- Host an open house with other CATs colleagues to display and demonstrate your modality or provide a workshop or seminar open to the public.
- Offer to run a career day with colleagues at a local high school or college.
- Provide a staff development in-service to broaden the knowledge of other professionals in your own institution or agency.
- Visit other schools, nursing homes, day-care centers to provide a creative arts therapy experience.
- Arrange a display at your local library (and in your own institution or agency!).
- Put up posters and leave flyers wherever you go.

Suggestions for Media Coverage:

- Send out press release to your local paper announcing Creative Arts Therapies Week activities in your community.
- Send a letter or e-mail to the Public Service Director of your local radio and TV stations for a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (Be sure to include your contact information).
- Arrange for you or a colleague to be INTERVIEWED by a local paper or station, highlighting your work.

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CREATIVE ARTS THERAPIES WEEK 2009 EVENTS

Portland's Creative Art Therapy Week 2009

This year CAT week will be city wide!
A week of movement, drama, writing, art & music therapy workshops, lectures and celebration! Open to the public and people involved in mental health and social work fields.
CEU's available at $5 per credit hour added to the cost of workshop.
To register call 503-2332-3457 or email us at the100th@the100thmonkeystudio.com

More information: http://www.the100thmonkeystudio.com

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Ithaca, New York

Learn about the profession of creative arts therapy and the use of arts modalities and creative processes for personal growth, therapy, and rehabilitation. After an introductory lecture, participants are guided through a creative arts therapy experience to enhance self-expression and awareness. Handouts and materials provided. *No previous art experience is necessary. Space is limited: Pre-registration suggested.

This program is open to Mental Health Professionals and the general public. For more information and to register, contact The Mental Health Association in Tompkins County at: Phone: 607-273-9250, E-mail: info@mhaedu.org.

6:30 – 8:30 pm
March 12, 2009
Borg Warner Room, Tompkins Public Library
Ithaca, New York

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Bronx, NY

The Creative Arts Therapies Department at Bronx Psychiatric Center invites you to our annual
Creative Arts Therapies Week celebration on Wednesday March 11, 2009 at 12:00 PM

Please join us for a potluck lunch, an exhibition of artwork by BPC clients recently featured at the State Office of Mental Health in Albany, and a performance by the BPC Band

Bronx Psychiatric Center Rehab Building Library
1500 Waters Place, Bronx, NY

For further information please contact:
Gillian Stephens Langdon, Director of Creative Arts Therapies, 718-862-3334,
brrhgll@omh.state.ny.us
Toshiko Kobayashi, Senior Art Therapist, 718-862-5717
Carlos Rodriguez Perez, Director of Rehabilitation Services, Drama Therapist,
718-862-3330

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Philadelphia, PA:

During the 2009 CAT Week, March 8-15, 2009 the Drexel University Department of Creative Arts Therapies is hosting several free events on the Center City Campus:

New College Building, Geary Lobby Join us throughout the day on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday (March 10-12) for participatory arts events. For example, come and contribute to our progressive community sculpture” to be created from found objects. Our theme is "Making Something Out of Nothing," ...the essence of creativity and a living out of the metaphor that says to those we serve, "anything is possible."

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Lesley University Students Celebrate CATS Week

Lesley’s week-long Creative Arts Therapies celebration included a presentation on professional development as an Expressive Therapist, an open-studio night featuring a free pilates lesson, and a community arts outreach event—called ArtsPlay—on Saturday, March 21. All events were coordinated by Lesley’s newly-formed Expressive Therapies Student Association (ETSA). ArtsPlay featured community art making, including sidewalk chalk and group mural making, drum circles and music making, face painting, and hula hooping. The event, which reached out to members of the Cambridge community of all ages, drew over 100 participants—many of whom walked off the main street to join the outdoor event—and raised funds for the expressive therapies program at The Women’s Lunch Place, a Boston shelter.

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Archives:

Creative Arts Therapies Week 2008

Creative Arts Therapies Week 2007

Creative Arts Therapies Week 2006

Creative Arts Therapies Week 2005

Creative Arts Therapies Week 2004