Frequently Asked Questions

The ATCB Board has established the following related mental health fields: Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work, Psychology, addiction counseling, Psychiatric Nursing, and Psychiatry.

Applications are reviewed as soon as possible in the order they are received. Reviews begin once applications that are complete-have all required application materials. The review process takes eight to twelve weeks. Applicants should check their MYATCB accounts for application updates. ATCB will notify applicants in writing regarding their application after the review of the application.

Not at this time. The ATCB  does not require  ATR-P credential holders to submit updated or new supervision contracts to Headquarters. 

ATCB is a credentialing board, not a membership association, which means we follow a set certification year: July 1 through June 30. This fixed annual cycle ensures that all credential holders are renewing based on the same timeline and attestation requirements each year.

Once a credential is awarded, it is active for the remainder of the credential year, which ends June 30. The application fee covers the review and approval of the initial credential—it’s separate from the annual renewal fee that supports continued credential.

Here’s a quick comparison:

Rolling renewal model (typical of membership orgs): Your membership expires one year from the date you join

ATCB’s model: Everyone’s certification year runs July 1–June 30, regardless of when they were initially credentialed

All ATR-P credential holders in good standing should utilize the ATR upgrade application. This application is located in MyATCB portals; there is a $65 fee. The ATR upgrade application requires verification of post-education agreement forms and three references.

The ATR-P is a credential that requires renewal every year by June 30. The main function of the annual renewal of your credential is to complete and file the mandatory annual ethics attestation. There is a $25 administrative fee for credential renewals. As a non-profit, all fees cover the costs of maintaining the credentials, the national registry, and The Code of Ethics, Conduct, and Disciplinary Procedures.
The ATR-P can be used for five years; in that time, the ATR-P should collect direct client contact hours and direct supervision of those hours to qualify for the ATR. Learn more about the ATR requirements. 

Yes, the ATCB accepts group supervised direct client contact experience.

Applications are reviewed as soon as possible in the order in which they are received. Once the application is complete (all required materials submitted), the review process takes eight to twelve weeks. Applicants should check their MYATCB accounts for application updates. ATCB will notify applicants in writing regarding his/her application after the review of the application.

ATCB operates on a fixed annual renewal cycle that runs from July 1 through June 30, regardless of when a credential or certification is first awarded.

If you received your credential or board certification in February, it is still tied to the previous certification year, which ends June 30. The payment made during your application covers the cost of reviewing and processing of your initial application—it did not include the annual renewal fee.

This differs from a rolling renewal model often used by membership organizations. ATCB is a credentialing board, and all credential holders renew on the same annual timeline to ensure consistency in ethics/compliance attestation and reporting requirements.

Credential holders, employers, verification agencies, and consumers may use the national registry, found here, to obtain free online verification of all ATCB credentials and certifications. 

Official verifications of credential status can be obtained by completing a verification request in the MyATCB portals. Verifications are for credential status and examination scores only.

 Prometric provides unofficial scores immediately upon exam completion, while official scores are processed and uploaded to MyATCB within 7–10 business days.

When providing supervision as an ATR-BC to prospective ATR applicants, please note the following:

1. At least 50% of all ATR applicants supervision hours must be completed by an ATR-BC.
2. When completing application materials for an ATR applicants use only the current forms provided by the ATCB-any application materials on outdated form will not be accepted.

Before documenting your Continuing Education (CE) activities, refer to the ATR-BC Recertification Standards for information regarding requirements, acceptable CE activities, and CE activity values.

Please note this CE tracker is for the personal management of CE credits. This CE tracker is not part of the recertification process, it is a tool available to ATR-BC’s to manage and store their CE information. Adding CE activities to your CE tracker does not mean you have recertified. When due to recertification board certification, click the recertification link on the main page to complete the five-year recertification application. CE’s  from your tracker will populate into the recertification application. This step must be completed within the recertification application before you can finish your recertification.

No, there is no waiting period in order to take the exam. You are eligible to register for the certification examination if you are a Registered Art Therapist (ATR). You must possess a current ATR credential to register for the exam.

An ATR-BC is a Registered Art Therapist (ATR) whom carries Board Certification (BC) distinction on the credential. The ATR is the credential and requires annual renewal.

Board Certification is awarded in 5 year cycles. When a certification cycle ends, a recertification application is required to gain another five year cycle.  

Thus on year five, and ATR-BC will have two processes to complete before the start of the credential year (July 1): The annual renewal of the ATR and the five year recertification of the BC. 

Credential holders, employers, verification agencies, and consumers may use the national registry, found here, to obtain free online verification of all ATCB credentials and certifications. 

Official verifications of credential status can be obtained by completing a verification request in MyATCB portals. Verifications are for credential status, supervision records and examination scores only.

Like all ATCB credentials, the ATCS is voluntary, and the ATCB does not require that ATR applicants receive supervision from an ATCS. The ATCB does require at least 50% of all supervised hours to be done with an ATR-BC. 

Completing the annual renewal before the beginning of each credential year, which is July 1, the fee is currently $25. An active ATR with board certification status in good standing is required for the ATCS.

*All previously required CEs for the ATCS is part of the board certification recertification process.

The standards are as follows:

1. 500 hours of art therapy supervisory experience.
2. At least 10 hours of formal education training in clinical supervision and/or supervised supervision. These education/training hours must have taken place within ten years of the application date.

All applicants must meet the requirements of the ATCS credential; other supervisory credentials will not automatically translate.

An applicant for the ATCS must hold the ATR-BC for a minimum of 24 months before applying and must maintain the ATR-BC as one of the conditions of retaining the ATCS.

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. 

In 2017, the ATCB implemented the provisional ATR credential. The intent of this credential was twofold:

1. To afford recently graduated master-level art therapy students a credential they may need for employment.
2. 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.

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:

1. Apply for the ATR using the existing application by June 30, 2024, 11:59 p.m. EST. The application will be valid for one year, during which time you can submit the application requirements. The ATR application is located in the MyATCB portals. The application fee is $125.

2. If an ATR application was not submitted by June 30, 3034, you must 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. Any hours collected after July 1, 2024 that is not done with an ATR-P credential or as part of an application submitted before the July 1, 2024 date will not be eligible.

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.

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.

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. 

No, this is for new applicants only. The effective date for this change is July 1, 2024. There is a grace period for ATR applications submitted before that date.

Registered Art Therapists who hold the Board Certified (ATR-BC) distinction must complete the recertification process every five years through their MyATCB account.

The recertification application includes documenting at least 100 continuing education (CE) credits, including a minimum of 6 in ethics and 6 in supervision. The full application must be submitted through the Board Certification dashboard in your portal by the deadline in your recertification year.

The five-year recertification fee for the Board Certified Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC) is $100.

Please note that this fee is separate from the annual renewal required to maintain your Registered Art Therapist (ATR) credential, which must remain active for the ATR-BC certification to be valid.

CECs can be earned through eligible activities such as attending or teaching workshops, lectures, and courses; publishing articles, books, or videos; or participating in juried art shows. To count toward recertification, activities must fall within the approved content areas outlined in the Recertification Standards.

For a full list of eligible activities and content areas, refer to the Recertification Standards  for details.

Ethics CECs must address the principles of professional conduct as outlined in the ATCB Code of Ethics, Conduct, and Disciplinary Procedures. These CECs are typically titled with “ethics” and may include presentations by professionals in art therapy or related mental health fields such as counseling, psychology, social work, or psychiatry.

You may also earn ethics CECs by teaching or presenting ethics content, publishing on ethics topics, or leading panels or academic courses in ethics.

If you are unable to complete your required Continuing Education (CE) hours by the recertification deadline, you may request a recertification extension through your MyATCB portal.

If approved, the extension grants you an additional 90 days, starting after the July 31 grace period ends. The extension request must be submitted before your board certification lapses, and no more than two extensions will be granted per recertification cycle.

Please note that CE’s must be entered within the recertification application. The CE tracker on your portal is not part of the recertification process, it is a tool available to ATR-BC’s to manage and store their CE information.

No. The board certification is a separate certification that requires recertification every five years, in addition to your Registered Art Therapist (ATR). Your ATR credential must still be renewed annually. Both must be active for your board certification to remain valid.

If you do not complete your Board Certified Registered Art Therapist (ATR-BC) recertification by June 30, you have a grace period through July 31 to submit your application with a $30 late fee.

If no recertification is submitted by August 1, your board certification will no longer be valid. To regain board certification, you must either appeal to reopen your recertification or retake the ATCB Exam.

ATCB is required by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) to audit 10% of all recertification applications each year. The audit group is selected randomly, and ATCB staff conduct all audit reviews.

If your application is selected, you’ll be notified through the MyATCB system and asked to upload documentation that supports your reported Continuing Education Credits (CECs). This may include certificates of attendance, event programs, course syllabi, transcripts, or documentation for juried shows. All materials must be submitted within the recertification application.

Audit candidates are selected randomly by the MyATCB system. ATCB staff and board members do not select or influence who is chosen for audit.

ATCB is only made aware of audit selections once the audited recertification application is submitted for review. At that point, ATCB staff conduct the audit in accordance with established procedures.

The recertification fee helps sustain the board certification program, including continuing education review, compliance processes, certification audits, and the development and maintenance of the ATCB Exam. It also supports policy and advocacy work, as well as the operational infrastructure required to manage a national board certification.

The reinstatement process remains unchanged; what is changing is the length of time a credential can be inactive and qualify for reinstatement. The reinstatement fee is changing from $400 USD to $250 USD.

1. The ATCB will not hold onto personal data in inactive portals for more than one year to meet data security and privacy regulations.

2.  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. 

3. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Becoming an SME allows you to give back to the profession, collaborate with peers, and contribute to the BACB’s vital mission of consumer protection, all while furthering your professional growth. An added benefit is earning Learning CEUs that count toward recertification. The ATCB will also cover all necessary travel expenses for on-site meetings.

Yes. We welcome all Registered Art Therapists with board certification (ATR-BC) at all experience levels. We need a wide range of perspectives to inform examinations that assess the knowledge required for entry-level professionals. A diverse panel also helps us ensure that examinations stay relevant and up to date by identifying any evolving skills needed in the profession.

No prior experience is necessary! The ATCB will provide all required training.

Yes. SME participation is entirely voluntary and unpaid. The ATCB does award continuing education credits for this work.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.