Maintaining & Renewing ATCB℠ Credentials

Renewal applies to your credentials, such as Registered Art Therapist (ATR℠), Provisional Registered Art Therapist (ATR-P®) and Art Therapy Credentialed Supervisor℠ (ATCS℠) and must be completed annually to keep the credential active.

Recertification applies to your board certification and is required every five years. It involves meeting continuing education requirements to demonstrate ongoing professional competence.

While they may occur around the same time, renewal and recertification are separate processes with different requirements.

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.  

This separation is due to a limitation of the current MyATCB℠ portal, which processes renewal and recertification as two distinct transactions.

The workflow was implemented for the 2024 renewal and recertification cycle, at the request of credential holders, to ensure that individuals recertifying their Board Certified also renew their Registered Art Therapist (ATR℠) credential. An active ATR℠ is required for the board certification to be valid.

In addition, the attestations required for each credential and certification are different, which necessitates handling them separately. We are actively working to streamline this workflow in future cycles.

ATCB renewal and recertification fees support the administration and maintenance of the credentialing programs that protect the integrity and value of ATCB credentials.

These activities include, but are not limited to:

• Credential maintenance and verification
• Public registry services
• Ethics attestation and disciplinary processes
• Credentialing system operations and support
• Examination development and maintenance
• Job Task Analysis and competency studies
• Accreditation compliance and reporting
• Application review and processing
• Continuing education review and recertification administration
• Customer support and credential holder assistance
• Technology, security, and record management systems

Renewal and recertification fees help ensure that ATCB credentials remain credible, defensible, and recognized by employers, regulators, credential holders, and the public.

ATCB is a credentialing organization. Fees support the ongoing administration of the credentialing programs and the standards that underpin them.

ATCB recognizes that credential holders may occasionally experience financial hardship.

Requests for hardship consideration are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and may require additional information regarding the nature of the hardship and the assistance being requested.

Because ATCB is a nonprofit credentialing organization, any fee reductions, waivers, or accommodations must be administered fairly and consistently. Decisions regarding hardship requests are made in accordance with established policies and available resources.

Credential holders seeking hardship consideration should contact ATCB and provide information regarding their circumstances for review.

The Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB℠) and the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) are separate organizations and are not affiliated.

If you renewed a Credentialed Professional membership with AATA, that payment supports membership. It does not cover or fulfill any credential renewal or board recertification requirements with ATCB.

To maintain your credentials or board certification, you must complete the required ATCB℠ renewal or recertification process separately through the MyATCB℠ portal.

ATCB℠ offers options for individuals experiencing personal or professional hardship. Depending on your situation, you may be eligible to request Temporary Inactive Status (TIS).

Each option has different implications for maintaining your credentials or board certification, including rules around reinstatement and use of professional designations.

To learn more, visit: Inactive Status and TIS Overview

If there is an active ethics or compliance inquiry, your credential or certification will remain active during the investigation. Deadlines for renewal or recertification are suspended until the matter is resolved, and you may continue using your credential or certification during this time.

The Registered Art Therapist (ATR℠) is your foundational credential and must be renewed annually to remain active—even if you also hold the Board Certified Registered Art Therapist℠ (ATR-BC®) designation. The ATR-BC® is a certification that builds on the ATR℠ but does not replace or include it. Both must be maintained separately.

You must complete your ethics/compliance attestation and pay the renewal fee by June 30 each year. If you miss the deadline, a grace period is available from July 1–31, with a $30 late fee. If you haven’t renewed by August 1, your credential becomes inactive.

See Inactive Status and Deferred Status Overview to learn more.

If your credential is not renewed by July 31, it becomes inactive. You have one year (until June 30 of the following year) to complete the reinstatement process, which includes a $250 fee.

If reinstatement is not completed within that one-year window, the credential—and its number—becomes permanently inactive.

For details, visit the Reinstatement Process.

Note: Reinstatement is only for your credentials (ATR, ATR-P® and ATCS℠). Board certification can not be reinstated.

The renewal fee supports the ongoing administration and integrity of your credential. This includes oversight of the ATCB℠ Code Governing Standards of Practice, Eligibility for and Regulation of Credentials, and Disciplinary Procedures, compliance review, the international credential registry, and the MyATCB℠ portal. It also helps cover communication, verification, and operational costs necessary to maintain a national credentialing program.

The Registered Art Therapist (ATR℠) is a credential that must be renewed annually to remain active. The Board Certified Registered Art Therapist℠ (ATR-BC®) is an advanced certification that is held in addition to the ATR℠ and requires recertification every five years.

Each has its own requirements, timeline, and associated fee. While renewal and recertification may happen around the same time, they are separate processes. We recognize the experience can be confusing and are working to improve it in future cycles.

If you previously held an ATCB credential and created a new account instead of accessing your existing record through the First-Time Access process, your credential history, applications, continuing education records, and other information may not appear in the newly created account.

In most cases, the information has not been lost. Instead, it remains associated with your original ATCB record while the newly created account exists separately.

When duplicate accounts are created, ATCB must review the records and, if appropriate, merge the accounts so that your credential information is associated with the correct profile.

If your credentials, continuing education records, renewal history, or applications do not appear in MyATCB, please contact ATCB through the Contact Form for assistance.

To help avoid delays and duplicate records, credential holders should not create additional accounts if they have previously held an ATCB credential.

To complete your renewal and recertification, log in to your account on the MyATCB℠ system and follow these steps:

To renew your credential (ATR, ATR-P®, or ATCS℠):

1. On you Dashboard, navigate to the Registered Art Therapists Area. Under Things to Do, you will see the application to renew your ATR-P® or your ATR℠. Please note this application only appears during the Annual Renewal and Recertification period.
2. Complete the application and ethics attestation.
3. Pay the renewal fee.

To recertify your ATR-BC® (if applicable):

1. After completing your ATR℠ renewal, return to your main dashboard.
2. Navigate to your Board Certification Area.
3. If you have not entered your CEs, do so by clicking on the View CE Credits at the bottom of the blue box in Current Requirements or by clicking on CE at the top of your dashboard.
4. The box in Current Requirements will turn green when all of your CEs have be tracked.
5. Complete the application and ethics attestation.
6. Pay the recertification fee.

Note: Renewal of your ATR℠ is required before you can access the ATR-BC® recertification process. If it is your recertification year, and you carry an ATCS℠, you can not renew your ATCS℠ until you complete you board recertification.

To submit or track CE hours for your board certification recertification:

1. Log in to your account on the new MyATCB℠ Portal. If you need assistance with logging in, visit the MyATCB℠ Transition Hub for steps and tutorial.
2. Once on your dashboard, in the top navigation menu, click on "CE"
3. On the left hand side of the page click "+ Add CE"

For detailed, step-by-step instructions, and video tutorials on entering a CE, visit the MyATCB℠ Transition Hub section on the ATCB℠ website.

Note: The Continuing Education tracker is available year-round and populate into your recertification process.

In the top navigation menu of the MyATCB℠ Portal, click on History and then payments.

Please note that the new MyATCB platform was implemented under updated data governance and privacy standards. Certain historical transactional records, including older payment and order details, were not migrated into the visible user interface to align with current data protection practices and limit exposure of sensitive information.  This does not affect your credential status or standing. If you require documentation related to a specific prior transaction, please use the contact form to contact ATCB℠ for assistance. 

As we near the renewal and recertification period, which is the busiest time of the year, we want to remind credential holders that they must use the appropriate forms to contact the ATCB. Requests sent directly to staff will be redirected to the approporiate form for submission before they can be reviewed.

ATCB℠ does not mail certificates due to the costs associated with printing and shipping. Instead, the certificates are available immediately in your MyATCB℠ account to download. To access them, log in and locate the "Download Certificate" at the top of each credential or certification Area.

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