Louvenia Jackson, assistant professor of marital and family therapy, was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Art Therapy Association, and Nadia Paredes ‘12, an alumni of the MFTH program, was elected Treasurer. Both were inducted at the recent AATA Annual Conference in November.
Jackson received her Ph.D. from Notre Dame de Namur University, where she was one of the first cohort and the first African-American. Her work focuses on cultural humility, acquiring new knowledge and self-exploration in art therapy. Jackson supports cultural humility in art therapy education through the involvement of collective art projects with diverse cultural communities, and her work on cultural humility and art therapy education earned her the May 2016 Outstanding Service Award in the Art Therapy Psychology Department Ph.D. Program from Notre Dame de Namur University and the American Art Therapy Association 2016 Perlie Roberson Scholarship on behalf of the associations Multicultural Committee.
In her acceptance speech, Jackson said, “Thank you, everyone, that voted and supported my election to the AATA Board of Directors. I feel honored and privileged to be placed alongside the other elected members. I will do my best to honor my position and wholeheartedly support the field of art therapy and those whom we serve. I recognized that I could not be here without all of you and look forward to your feedback and support. I am humbled to be amongst those who came before me and those I will currently be working with.”
Paredes is an art therapist and licensed marital therapist who has been practicing clinical art therapy for the past seven years. She has been specializing in senior mental health and has been involved with the latino senior community, providing support with immigration, aging issues and cultural adaption. She is a Mexican immigrant who came to the United States in 2010 and has been providing bilingual and bicultural mental health services from the beginning of her professional career. She has also been involved in disaster crisis intervention both in the United States as well as Mexico.
The AATA is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, professional, and educational organization dedicated to the growth and development of the art therapy profession. Founded in 1969, the AATA is one of the world’s leading art therapy membership organizations, with a stated mission to advocate for expansion of access to professional art therapists and lead the nation in the advancement of art therapy as a regulated mental health and human services profession.
Pictured above (l to r) are Nadia Paredes ‘12, Louvenia Jackson, and Genia Young ‘10, President-Elect, Southern California Art Therapy Association.
