Feb 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
Q: Why is the ATCB making changes to reinstatement?
A: The reinstatement process remains unchanged; what is changing is how long a credential can be inactive and qualify for reinstatement. The reinstatement fee is changing from $400 USD to $250 USD.
1. The mission of the Art Therapy Credentials Board is to protect the public by promoting the competent and ethical practice of art therapy through the credentialing of art therapy professionals. When an ethics attestation is not completed and filed for a credential before the start of the credential year (July 1), it will become inactive and delisted from the public registry. This ensures that anyone practicing art therapy with an ATCB credential abides by the Code of Ethics and Conduct and assures ATCB meets its charter of public protection. Earning and maintaining a credential indicates that the individual meets the minimum professional experience and complies with the ATCB’s ethical Code and professional conduct standards set by ATCB.
2. The ATCB is a non-profit; all fees cover operations costs. The Board of Directors, in accordance with their fiduciary responsibility, assesses operational expenses for every facet of ATCB programming. With the continued advancement of technologies and automation, along with the change in reinstatement eligibility, the ATCB can operate the reinstatement process with less expense and lower the fee.
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Q: I am not practicing art therapy or using my credentials. Am I required to keep them active?
A: Credentials conferred by the ATCB are an independent assessment of competency and a greater attestation of an individual’s ethical compliance and current skills than education or work experience alone. ATCB credentials are voluntary; thus, you can relinquish them anytime. As state licensure for art therapy continues to grow exponentially, we recommend you check with your state regulations regarding the practice of art therapy; some states require an ATCB credential.
The ATCB offers Temporary Inactive Status. A good-standing credential holder may request Temporary Inactive Status at any time, requiring board approval. Temporary Inactive Status is valid for five years. If a registered art therapist who carries board certifications (ATR-BC) misses the recertification cycle while on Temporary Inactive Status, the five-year certification cycle will reset to that of the year the recertification is completed. For example, if an ATR-BC on temporary inactive status returns to active in 2025, and their certification cycle ended when they were inactive, they will need to complete the recertification process in 2025 for the BC to be active. Before they can complete the recertification, they will need to complete the renewal of the ATR.
There is a one-time $25 fee to apply for temporary inactive status, and the application is located in MyATCB portals. When temporary inactive status is in effect, the annual renewal requirement is paused.
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Q: What is required for reinstatement?
A: The ATCB credential year runs from July 1 to June 30. All renewals must be completed via MYATCB to ensure an attestation of compliance with the ATCB Code of Ethics, Conduct, and Disciplinary Procedures. If a credential is not renewed by June 30, 11:59pm EST, the ATCB allows a 30-day grace period, July 1 through July 31, to complete renewal; a late fee of $30 will be applied.
If by July 30, you do not complete the annual renewal, your credential will become inactive. Effective July 1, 2024, all inactive credentials have a one-year period to be reinstated.
To reinstate:
Complete the reinstatement application located in your MYATCB portal. With this application, you must include a letter from a current ATCB credential holder (ATR or ATR-BC) endorsing your return to active status. The letter requesting reinstatement must include a statement of attestation that you have studied the current ATCB Code of Ethics, Conduct, and Disciplinary Procedures and will continue to abide by this Code.
Reinstatement follows the same ethics review as that of all ATCB applications. The reinstatement fee covers the cost of the ethics review, the relisting on the national registry, all administrative costs, and the annual renewal fee.
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Q: I am on Temporary Inactive Status. Do the changes to reinstatement impact me?
A: So long as you return to active status via the renewal process before your Temporary Inactive Status expires, these changes DO NOT impact you. However, if your Temporary Inactive Status expires and renewal is not completed, the credential will be inactive and require reinstatement to return to active status.
The expiration of Temporary Inactive Status can be found in your MyATCB portal.
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Q: I have been inactive for some time; how long do I have to reinstate?
A: Effective 12:00am EST on July 1, 2024, all inactive credentials have one year (July 1 to June 30) to utilize the reinstatement process to restore the credential to active. If you are inactive, you have until 11:50pm EST on June 30, 2025, to return to active status. As of 12:00am EST on July 1, 2025, you must reapply for a new credential if your credential is inactive.
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Q: I am a supervisor and did not realize my credential was inactive. Will any of the hours I supervised while inactive count for ATR applicants?
A: As a supervisor, you are ethically bound to ensure your credentials are active. The supervision hours will not count; any hours provided after becoming active can be submitted for an ATR application.
Feb 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
Q: Why is the ATCB ending retirement?
A: The ATCB allowed individuals to retire credentials but continue to practice with that retired credential in a volunteer capacity. To maintain compliance with the NCCA, which accredits the board certification program, credential holders who carry the BC must have an active ATR and current BC to use those credentials in any capacity; thus, a retired ATR-BC using the credential to provide volunteer service is not allowable. Reviewing this requirement and the practices of other certification organizations, the board determined that retirement status will end across the board to ensure competency and equity.
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Q: I have a retired ATR-BC *annual and want to continue practicing.
A: You must take your ATR with BC out of retirement. You will need to complete the renewal of the ATR, and if your board certification window passed while the credential was retired, you will need to recertify the BC. Renewal and recertification are separate processes with separate functions.
1. Renewal of the ATR is the completion and the filing of the ethics attestation. A new attestation must be completed and filed before the start of each credential year, which is July 1 to June 30.
2. Recertification of the BC. This requires the completion and documentation of 100 continuing education credits. The purpose of recertification is to ensure anyone carrying board certification is as competent as one who recently took and passed the certification exam (ATCBE). If you need to recertify, you must review the recertification standards, which are found here:
If you plan on taking a credential out of retirement, LeeAnn will help you. Contact her at leeann@atcb.org.
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Q: I have an ATR-BC *annual retirement but don’t have the required continuing education; what can I do?
A: While the ATCB ends retirement on July 1, 2024, we will allow 16 months for retired credential holders to gain the necessary continuing education. Reminder: any “Annual Retired” or” Lifetime Retired” credential can be taken out of retirement no later than June 30, 2025, at 11:59pm EST.
Review the recertification requirements here.
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Q: I am an ATR-BC and do not want to complete the recertification of my BC.
A: Board certification is a voluntary certification for the ATCB. If you no longer want that distinction but would like to remain a Registered Art Therapist (ATR), you only need to contact LeeAnn-leeann@atcb.org so she can help you take your credential out of retirement and complete the renewal process.
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Q: I am an annual retired credential holder and don’t plan on using an ATCB credential to practice art therapy; what are my options?
A: There are several things you can do:
1. Let the credential become inactive.
2. Convert the credential to Lifetime retired.
Please remember that any inactive credential requires reinstatement. Also, any credential (and credential number) “retired” after 12:00am EST on 7/1/2025 will remain retired. As of July 1, 2025, anyone wishing to practice art therapy with an ATCB credential that is permanently retired will need to apply for a new credential with a new credential number under current ATCB standards.
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Q: I am an annual lifetime credential holder and don’t plan on using an ATCB credential to practice art therapy; what do I need to do?
A. Nothing; if your credential is Lifetime retired and you don’t want to end that status, it will remain Lifetime retired. Please remember that any inactive credential requires reinstatement. Also, any credential (and credential number) “retired” after 12:00am EST on 7/1/2025 will remain retired. As of July 1, 2025, anyone wishing to practice art therapy with an ATCB credential that is permanently retired will need to apply for a new credential with a new credential number under current ATCB standards.
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Q. What is the fee to take my credential out of retirement?
A. There is no fee to end retirement status; LeeAnn will take care of this for you. But once out of retirement, the credential is treated just as every credential. It will require renewal annually, which is $100. The function of the annual renewal of your credential is to complete and file the mandatory yearly ethics attestation. As a non-profit, all fees cover the costs of maintaining the credentials, the national registry, ATCB operations, and the Code of Ethics, Conduct, and Disciplinary Procedure, including the Ethics Officers.
If you have any questions about the changes to retirement and how it impacts you, contact LeeAnn; she or someone from the ATCB will help you.
Feb 13, 2024 | Uncategorized
Q: Why is the ATCB requiring the ATR-P to become an ATR?
A: In 2017, the ATCB implemented the provisional ATR credential. The intent of this credential was twofold:
- To afford recently graduated master-level art therapy students a credential they may need for employment.
- To ensure anyone practicing art therapy and using those direct client contact hours as part of a Registered Art Therapist application was collecting these hours as a practicing ATCB credential holder following the Code of Ethics, Conduct, and Disciplinary Procedures.
In 2018, the board decided to implement the ATR-P credential and opted to delay requiring the ATR-P for the ATR so they could collect additional data to assess if this requirement was needed. The board determined it was required. The board delayed making the ATR-P a mandatory requirement in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the May 11, 2023, expiration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, the ATCB is fully implementing the ATR-P as intended.
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Q: I am not an ATR-P but collecting my required hours to become an ATR. How does this impact me?
A: If you are currently collecting supervision on direct client contact hours for the ATR and have NOT officially applied for the ATR credential, you must either:
- Apply for the ATR using the existing application by June 30, 2024, 11:59pm EST. The application will be valid for one year to allow you to submit the application requirements. The ATR application is located in the MyATCB portals. The application fee is $125.
Review the ATR application requirements here.
- Apply to become an ATR-P; the ATR-P application is in the MyATCB portals. The application fee is $60.
The hours collected before becoming an ATR-P will be honored toward the ATR so long as either an ATR application or an ATR-P application is submitted by July 1, 2024.
Review the ATR-P application requirements here.
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Q: I am not an ATR-P but collecting my required hours to become an ATR. How can I count group supervision?
A: The special committee reviewing credentialing standards reviews supervision requirements; group supervision best practices are among this work. The current allowable practice for group supervision is for group supervision to count as 1:1, meaning supervisees can count a full hour if the group is an hour long.
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Q: Once I become an ATR-P, what is expected of me?
A: The ATR-P is a credential and will require renewal annually. The purpose of the annual renewal is the yearly completion and filing of the ethics attestation before the start of each credential year. The yearly fee for an ATR-P renewal is $25.
Review the ATR-P credential requirements here.
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Q: How do I become an ATR once the application is unavailable?
A: On July 1, 2024, the ATR standard application will not be available. If you have not already applied to become an ATR using the standard application by July 1, 2024, you will need to become an ATR-P. Once you have met the requirements (direct client contact hours, supervision, and references), you will apply for the ATR using the ATR upgrade application located in your portal. DO NOT apply for the ATR upgrade until you have completed the requirements.
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Q: I am an ATR or ATR-BC. Does this impact me?
A: No, this is for new ATR applicants only, and the effective date for this change is July 1, 2024. There is a grace period for ATR applications submitted before July 1, 2024.
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Q: I am a supervisor; how does this change impact me?
A: As a supervisor, you are ethically bound to ensure your supervisee (s) have accurate information about the credentialing requirements of the ATCB. Supervisors should review credential requirements annually, ensure their supervisees (s) are aware of these changes, and follow the registration standards.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CHANGES TO THE ATR REQUIREMENTS AND HOW IT IMPACTS YOU, CONTACT LEEANN; SHE OR SOMEONE FROM THE ATCB WILL HELP YOU.
