Dr. Elizabeth Hlavek, DAT, LCPAT, ATR-BC is an art therapy clinician, scholar, and advocate. In 2012 Elizabeth spearheaded efforts to develop a clinical art therapy license in Maryland, and subsequently sat on the MD Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists, and later the American Art Therapy Association's Board of Directors.  She continues to hold leadership roles within AATA. Elizabeth's doctoral research examined artwork made by victims in Nazi captivity which she grounded to existential theory. Her book, A Meaning-Based Approach to Art Therapy: From the Holocaust to Contemporary Practices, details her phenomenological study in which she interviewed surviving artists about their experiences creating artwork. She posited that art-making allowed victims to find meaning in their experience, a concept that informs her clinical work. Elizabeth frequently lectures and teaches about her research. She also adjuncts at the International Institute for Existential Humanistic Psychology and St Mary of the Woods college.

With 20 years of experience working with families, adolescents, adults, and children, Kerry intends to provide a well-rounded and holistic therapy experience for her clients. She has prior experience in intensive in-home family-centered treatment, group work in substance abuse and sexual abuse trauma therapy, and inpatient crisis stabilization and detoxification treatment for adults. In her experience providing art therapy to children, adolescents, adults, and families, she has witnessed the power and effectiveness of strengths-based, solution-focused, and experiential art therapy to foster awareness, recovery, growth, and healing.

Kerry has worked with a wide range of individuals experiencing a range of life conflicts to include substance abuse and recovery, depression, anxiety disorders, self-esteem, life phase conflict, peer and family conflict, sexual abuse, and PTSD. She is passionate about learning about the brain and how psychotherapeutic approaches, particularly art therapy and EMDR, can effectively change perception and neurological function.  Kerry describes her treatment approach as a coordinated synergy of person-centered art therapy, humor, positive psychology, narrative therapy, motivational enhancement, and family systems in order to address immediate concerns and to promote growth and progress.  She believes in fostering a creative, therapeutic space in which self-discovery and growth are possible.

She is an avid presenter and public speaker and has presented her research as well as other topics on the practice of art therapy locally, nationally, and internationally.  She also has experience as a Human Rights Coordinator, providing advocacy for individuals receiving community behavioral and developmental services.  Kerry is also an Adjunct Faculty member in the Graduate Counseling & Art Therapy program at Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences University at Old Dominion University (formerly known as Eastern Virginia Medical School).

Heather Denning is a licensed professional art therapist in Ohio and a board-certified art therapist. She is the director of the undergraduate art therapy program and Chair of the Art, Design, and Communication department at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. Heather is an adjunct faculty member at Ursuline College and Southwestern College. She serves as a member of the AATA Undergraduate Education Subcommittee and Secretary of the Buckeye Art Therapy Association.  Heather’s passions in art therapy are group work, service-learning, and art therapy education. 

Jen Schwartz is a licenced professional art therapist in Ohio and board certified art therapy supervisor. She is the Program Director of Art Therapy and Service Learning Coordinator at Ursuline College in Cleveland, OH. She was recently elevated to Honorary Lifetime Member status within the Buckeye Art Therapy Association (BATA), where she currently serves as External Relations Chair. She is past Chair of AATA’s Undergraduate Education Subcommittee, and served on AATA’s first Undergraduate Education Task Force.

Heather McLaughlin, MA, ATR-BC, RMFT-S, is an art therapist with over 20 years’ experience specializing in relational and trauma work. She is also a registered couple and family therapist, licensed psychotherapist, and clinical supervisor. An assistant professor and program coordinator for Concordia University’s Art Therapy program, she is the founder and Director of the Concordia Arts in Health Centre which is a service-first, campus-based creative arts therapies clinic offering free, equitable, and accessible therapy. Her work focuses on creative and systemic approaches to community care and climate action, with an emphasis on supporting and connecting community initiatives, mobilizing resources, and engaging in research that strengthens these efforts.

Peggy Kolodny, MA, ATR-BC, LCPAT, earned her master’s in art therapy from GWU in 1982. Specializing in trauma-focused multimodal art therapy across the lifespan, she is trained in IFS and in EMDR. She is adjunct faculty for GWU and FSU Art Therapy Graduate Programs trauma tracks and is workshop faculty for the Ferentz Institute and Chesapeake Beach Professional Seminars. Currently Peggy is Co-Chair for the EMDR Special Interest Group for the International Society on the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) and recent past Chair of the Creative Art Therapists Special Interest Group. Past positions include Vice-chair of the Maryland Chapter of American Professional Society on Abuse of Children; Chairperson of Central Maryland Sexual Abuse Treatment Task Force; and President of Maryland Art Therapy Association. Past faculties include University of Maryland School of Social Work, Maryland Institute College of Art, and Goucher College.

Peggy recently published several chapters on neurosequential art therapy in Art Therapy in the Treatment of Addictions and Trauma (Quinn, 2021), co-authored (Mazero) a chapter on “The Interweave of IFS, EMDR and Art Therapy” in EMDR and The Creative Arts Therapies (Davis et al, 2023). She has 3 more chapters in press for 2025-2026 including “Active Imagination: Jungian Underpinnings of IFS, EMDR and Art Therapy” in IFS-informed EMDR (Polidi, Dec. 2025); Dissociation & DID in Art Therapy” in Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy (Gussak & Rosal, 2025); and “Create, Destroy, Transform” in From Mourning to Meaning: The Expressive Arts in Grief Therapy (Thompson & Neimeyer, in press).

Lilla Ohrstrom, MA, ATR-BC has had her research and artwork have been published in the Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Art Therapy, Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research, International Journal of Education through Art, International Journal of Education and the Arts, Visual Inquiry: Learning and Teaching Art; Art Education, Liminalities: A Performance Studies Journal and Music Therapy Perspectives. She is also a major contributor in the volume, Art for Children Experiencing Psychological Trauma: A Guide for Art Educators and School-Based Professionals. She has published two books Therapeutic Approaches in Art Education (2020) and Restorative Practices in Education through the Arts (2025).

Kathy Marmet is trained as a lawyer and an educator but has been impaired in her ability to find vocational fulfillment until her recent blossoming as a poet and artist. Healing has been a lifetime quest and a full time occupation for more than eleven years now. In the most recent five years, she has received effective help from a team of highly qualified professionals using neurofeedback, Somatic Experiencing, bodywork, art therapy and psychedelic assisted therapy. She has participated in at least seven psychodrama workshops and has consistently found them helpful. Marmet was born to parents who were ill-equipped to meet the needs of children. The first of her mother’s eleven full term pregnancies, her being has been marked by the effects of chronic childhood traumatization. Wounds of maternal depression during her infancy are the deepest. Self-help has been Kathy’s life-long practice. Self-expression through poetry, art and song began early.

At this point, Marmet has survived for the average U.S. span of life. Ten years ago she had the good fortune to connect with the growing body of innovative scientific and clinical work which increasingly illuminates possible paths to healing. This led to her receiving help from professionals skilled in several modalities which have proven effective in helping her nervous system learn to be more fully embodied and alive. Marmet’s art and writings give voice to her struggle to become her self. She published her poetry collection, Freeing the Voice of a Less Than Fully-Mothered Child: Poetic Artifacts of a Healing Journey in 20205.

Charmaine Husum RCAT, DKATI, RTC, CT is a Professional Artist, Registered Canadian Art Therapist, Registered Therapeutic Counsellor, and Kundalini Yoga & Meditation teacher. Within her private Somatic Art Therapy Practice, Centre of the HeArt she supports clients both in person and online to move through difficult experiences from trauma, depression, anxiety, suicidality, addiction, and other mental health symptoms towards a path of transcendence and healing.

Helping people find a personalized route to healing using trauma-informed art therapy, clinical psychotherapeutic approaches, transpersonal psychology, mindfulness, yoga, and somatic counseling is the foundation of her work. Believing that true and lasting healing lives within every individual; the work she does focuses on one’s inner strength, power, and innate capacity to thrive beyond difficult experiences in life.

For the past 10 years, she has also been working to help others prepare for and Integrate the powerful experiences that take place during Altered States of Consciousness and Psychedelic Journeys. To support this, she teaches courses and workshops both online and in person around the world using Art Therapy, Dreamwork, Somatic Processes, Kundalini Meditation, and Yoga that follow the trauma-informed protocols outlined by Bessel van der Kolk and Judith Herman. They can be found at www.courses.centreoftheheart.com.

Dr. Bethany Altschwager is an art therapist, art therapy educator, and art therapy supervisor. She has twelve years of clinical experience in community-based and healthcare settings with people from diverse backgrounds and across the lifespan. She serves as the President Elect and Continuing Education Chair of the New York Art Therapy Association and as an adjunct faculty member at New York University, the School of Visual Arts, and West Liberty University. Her primary areas of interest are trauma, digital media, and fiber arts.

Melissa is mixed race, Chinese American, multidisciplinary artist and licensed and board certified art therapist. She is currently on staff with the Mental Health Services team at Apex for Youth, a non-profit organization serving Asian American youth from low-income and immigrant backgrounds in NYC. Before joining Apex, Melissa worked providing therapeutic support to survivors of torture and asylum seekers, as well as with children and families in various clinical and educational settings. She practices a strengths-based, client-centered, and trauma-informed approach to healing, and as a multi-racial therapist, Melissa values the intersections of identity, culture, and community. She received a B.A. in Design from the University of California at Davis and an M.A. in Art Therapy from New York University. As an artist and art therapist, Melissa values the creative process as a means to discovering narratives of resilience.

Harapan Hope Limansah is a Queens-based art therapist and interdisciplinary artist. She received her B.A. in Studio Art from Florida State University and her M.P.S. in Art Therapy from Pratt Institute. She currently works as an art therapist in acute inpatient psychiatry and has past experience working with: families and elementary-aged children in school/ community-based settings, older adult populations & folks with dementia, and individuals with SPMI in supportive housing and shelter settings. Her work as an artist spans a variety of mediums, though she is particularly moved by writing, performance, and all things sculpture. Familiar themes within her artwork include: intersecting identities & the biracial experience, intergenerational trauma & inherited versus chosen paths, living with mental illness, past lives, the unconscious, animism, and perceptions of god.

Mayra Iris Guevara, MPS, ATR-BC, LCAT, is a bilingual licensed Creative Arts Therapist with over 16 years of experience. Mayra has expertise in clinical supervision, program administration, psychotherapy, client treatment, and state/local child welfare systems. She works extensively with various multicultural groups such as LGBTQIA+, refugees, unhoused, undocumented populations of all ages. Mayra is currently enrolled in KINT Institute for the Certificate Training Program in Creative Arts for Trauma. In her creative practice, Mayra creates fiber arts sculptures, mixed media collage, and painting. She currently splits her time between practicing in Texas and her private practice in New York.