Prior to her academic leadership at Pratt Institute, Joan worked for 16 years within the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, including serving as Director of the Creative Arts Therapy Department at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center. She has maintained an active private practice in New York City and has taught and presented extensively across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Joan has held numerous leadership positions within the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA), including service on the Approval Committee, the Standards and Ethics Committee, and the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. She also contributed to the advancement of creative arts therapy licensure efforts in New York State.

Internationally, Joan has been deeply involved in the development of dance therapy and creative arts therapies in Asia, particularly in China through her longstanding collaboration with Inspirees Institute. Since 2010, she has helped guide the development of one of the first systematic dance therapy training programs in China and has played an important role in fostering intercultural dialogue and East–West exchange in embodied and creative arts practices.

Her scholarly and clinical work focuses on dance therapy, Authentic Movement, group process, embodiment, trauma, and cross-cultural dialogue. Joan has contributed to journals and books internationally, including publications on creative arts therapy, movement psychotherapy, and intercultural practice.

Joan currently serves as President of International Association of Creative Arts in Education and Therapy (IACAET), supporting the organization’s mission to advance global dialogue, professional development, and intercultural collaboration in creative arts education, therapy, and health.

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Her clinical practice included inpatient and outpatient treatments for adults with mental health issues. In her established private practice for couples and families Michal incorporates expressive therapies to deal with intimacy issues and promote wellbeing. Dr. Lev was the head of the approval committee for YAHAT- the Expressive Therapies Organization in Israel between 2016-2022, supporting public legislation for expressive therapies. Since 2022 she is an Executive Committee member in the International Association for Creative Arts in Education and Therapy (IACAET), and a co-editor for the open access Journal – CAET. As a social activist, artist, and enterpreuner, she maintains artmaking for innovation, inquiry and knowledge. Since October 7th, 2023 terrorist attack, Michal has been significant and influential in the establishment of field-treatment centers, supervising and treating victims and survivors.

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Dr. Zhou serves on an international advisory board for the journal Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy. He founded Inspirees Education Group and Creative Arts Education and Therapy (CAET) – Eastern and Western Perspectives, the international open access journal. He is also a certified movement analyst (CMA) trained by LIMS in New York. Dr. Zhou is the team leader for the Chinese Group of Arts Therapy, Chinese Psychological Society, Guest Professor of Beijing Normal University, Co-founder and core member of World Alliance of Dance Movement Therapy. He also serves as the CEO of International Association of Creative Arts in Education and Therapy (IACAET).

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She is the Co-Founder of ‘Synchrony’, an organisation that provides mental health services and trainings through creative arts with various populations. Ms. Mehta is the elected Treasurer and the Founding board member of IADMT.  She has represented her work in India on multiple International Conferences and contributed to article on development of DMT in Asia. Her areas of interest are in that of neuro-rehabilitation, cultural consciousness in the body and working with adolescents.

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Immigrating to Aotearoa New Zealand, I studied Creative Arts Therapy (CAT) through Whitecliffe. I gained my PhD from the University of Auckland in 2016 for an arts-based autoethnographic thesis exploring my CAT practice during the Canterbury earthquakes. I moved into a senior academic role within the Whitecliffe School of Creative Arts Therapy in 2015, gaining Professorship, becoming Head of School and then Programme Chair. I returned to in(tra)dependence in 2026 and now, alongside private work, I contract to Miecat (Australia) and Whitecliffe. I am an ANZACATA registered therapist and supervisor, I supervise master’s and PhD/ProfDoc research students, am on the Miecat Academic Board and the IACAET Executive Committee, am an editor for the academic journals JoCAT and CAET, have published on various aspects of my work in a range of academic journals and books and presented at conferences/symposia in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

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She has developed training programs in trauma rehabilitation based on the therapeutic use of movement for refugee children and youth, co-authoring chapters. She is providing post-disaster support, staff-care and wellbeing sessions. Seda is the former President of the Arts Psychotherapies Association, Türkiye.

She has worked in many different roles, including as an MHPSS supervisor, dance movement therapist, trainer of trainers, and also a well-being consultant for staff mental health. Additionally, Seda has facilitated trauma-informed, movement-based trainings for teams and teachers; worked with children and mothers under protection; and is currently working in the field of post disaster recovery. Following the devastating 2023 earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, Seda has been training and supervising psychosocial support staff working within the earthquake zones, using embodied methodologies for empowerment.

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Founder and President of the Argentinean Association of Dramatherapy “DAr” and Representative of Argentina in the World Alliance of Dramatherapy (WADTh). Global South in Art and Health Envoy. Co-director of IACAET Latin America. She worked in the integration of three Faculties (Arts and Design, Medical Sciences and Education) of the National University of Cuyo to create the First Diploma in Dramatherapy (current codirector and teacher) in Argentina. Coordinator, teacher and supervisor in the “International Practicum in Dramatherapy”. Co-author of the book “Adolescents at the crossroads” and scientific articles. Her doctoral thesis focuses on the use of Dramatherapy to prevent Burnout in health personnel. She is one of the founders and director of the first Argentine playback theater company “Kurmi”. Member of the scientific and organizational committees, speaker, workshop leader and assistant in several national and international congresses of Mental Health and Dramatherapy, President of the Second Latin American Congress of Dramatherapy in 2024. Cofounder of SOMAS, a workplace wellness company.

Enthusiastic, responsible, proactive, empathic, with great skills to connect people and collaborate with others. Leading figure in the Mental Health and Dramatherapy scene in Argentina and South America.  

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She is a UKCP-accredited psychotherapist, a Fellow and Senior Registered Dance Movement Psychotherapist with the Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy UK, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the international peer-reviewed journal Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy and the author and editor of numerous influential publications.

Her research focuses on embodied psychotherapy, arts therapies, mental health, and wellbeing. She developed The BodyMind Approach, integrating embodied learning and therapeutic practice to support people experiencing persistent physical symptoms.

Through her involvement in IACAET’s Credential Steering Committee, Professor Payne brings extensive expertise in professional education, research, and the development of standards for creative arts therapies.  

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Her cross-cultural professional path has brought me into close collaboration with individuals and families affected by war, crisis, and forced displacement, including people from Ukraine, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, and other regions impacted by instability. These experiences continue to shape her commitment to trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, and ethically grounded care.

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Dr. Deschamps is currently a Visiting Scholar at The New School in New York, and serves on the leadership board of Expressive Arts Without Borders. Having lived and worked across Europe, Mexico, and the United States, her professional trajectory is deeply shaped by international and cross-cultural practice in clinical, academic, and organizational settings.

Dr. Deschamps’ clinical and research work focuses on the integration of expressive therapies, health innovation, and trauma-informed care. She is the creator of Icanfeel, a digital art-based platform designed to support metaphor-rich expression of cancer-related symptoms, currently being studied in oncology contexts. She is completing post-doctoral training in trauma-informed addiction recovery, where she designs expressive therapy interventions to support emotional regulation, reward relearning, and identity reconstruction. Her current research explores the role of attunement, embodiment, and symbolic expression in ethical and culturally relevant human–AI interaction. Across her work, Dr. Deschamps is committed to building bridges between disciplines, cultures, and forms of knowledge, and to advancing expressive therapies as a vital interface between art, science, and care.

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She has been providing individual and group expressive arts therapy for different populations including local and international schools, corporations, NGOs, youth centres and elderly homes. Prior to becoming a therapist, Joanna had been a Marketing and Communications professional with Fortune 500 companies for over 15 years. With her expertise working in corporate settings, she has been developing different arts-based programmes such as staff training and development, career counselling, employee well-being and engagement , team building, etc. She would love to promote Expressive Arts Therapy to the general public in cultivating personal growth and holistic health.

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She also worked as a primary school teacher for a number of years and was Educational Director of Young People’s theatre in South Africa. Her PhD, from the University of Melbourne Australia, examined the role of oral art forms in supporting Drama pedagogy and intercultural understanding within teacher education and her Masters, from the University of Fort Hare South Africa, examined personal and contextual constraints in the use of classroom drama. She has published and presented numerous papers, books and workshops nationally and internationally. Some of her most recent work involves examining ways in which the Arts (particularly Drama) creates dialogical spaces and supports cultural identities in early childhood, primary, enabling and teacher education contexts. Another of her research interests, that she continues to explore, is identifying Drama strategies and techniques to support and enhance learning and teaching in diverse learning and teaching contexts.

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She continues to serve as Coordinator of the EADMT Conference Working Group, supporting international professional exchange and collaboration.

Julia is also the Founder and Program Director of TAOMI – Therapeutic Art of Movement Institute, an international professional education initiative. She has extensive experience in teaching, supervision, and professional training across Europe and Central Asia.

With a background spanning medicine, psychotherapy, and movement-based therapeutic approaches, Julia brings an interdisciplinary and intercultural perspective to her work. As Chair of IACAET’s Communications, PR and Partnerships Committee, she contributes to strengthening the association’s global visibility, professional connections, and international partnerships.

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With an extensive background in somatic psychology, movement practices, and cultural research, Adel has taught at the Universities of Tehran and Peking and facilitated professional training and workshops across Asia, particularly in China, Japan, and Taiwan. His work integrates approaches from anthropology, psychotherapy, contemplative traditions, and movement-based inquiry.

He has developed the DSAR Method, an approach to somatic and movement psychotherapy that integrates embodied awareness, somatic attunement, and empathic dialogue. His professional practice also draws on Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, Hakomi, and other somatic and expressive movement traditions.

Through his involvement in IACAET’s Asia Regional Committee, Adel brings a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective to advancing dialogue, professional exchange, and collaboration in creative arts education, therapy, and embodied practices. 

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She has collaborated with Diane Waller to establish a partnership with Goldsmiths College and her training program and has been directing the training program for more than 20 years. Mimma has been teaching art therapy at the University of Milan, in the medical faculty of psychiatric rehabilitation, and is now co-director of advanced studies at Art therapy Italiana. Teaching art therapy has been a major commitment during her forty years of practice, but she also has a private practice and supervises students and professionals from the mental health field. She has many publications and wrote an handbook on psychodynamic oriented art therapy, co-edited one on children art therapy and another one on group art therapy. Mimma is a painter and I enjoy writing, doing art and spending time in nature.

Mimma works with a broad range of people including psychodynamic oriented art therapist, group trainer, group and individual supervision, creative arts journey and interdisciplinary arts therapies projects, women identity, body tracing applications, creative process and its modalities, art based research, squiggle game and intervisione (ISG)

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Nsamu, a PhD candidate at the University of Pretoria, is a lecturer at the University of Pretoria and the University of Johannesburg. Nsamu’s PhD research explores how people with cancer can utilise the indigenous musical arts to manage anxiety and distress. He has multiple publications, including book chapters and journal articles, and is a regular speaker at conferences. He also serves on the editorial boards of two journals, Voices and the South African Journal of the Arts Therapies. His work explores health, lifestyle choices, medical complications, human sexualities, gender, spiritual experiences, and psychosocial support, focusing on anti-oppressive practices and non-interventionist practices.

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She is part of the São Paulo State Art Therapy Association, AATESP and is a member of the editorial board of the AATESP Scientific Magazine. Director of GSAHW Brasil (Global South Arts & Health Week). She is currently a professor of the Postgraduate Course in Art Rehabilitation at the Instituto Faces e ArteReab. She provides art therapy and art rehabilitation services to elderly people with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. She carries out research in art therapy and encaustic painting at Ana Carmen Nogueira Ateliê de Artes. 

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