Forty years ago, the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) held its first conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The NADTA 2019 Conference Committee is excited to bring the conference back home to Pennsylvania in the formidable city of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, a great American city synonymous with independence and tolerance.

Philadelphia, a city famous for The Liberty Bell, Love Park, the Rocky Steps and Statue, and of course, Philly Cheesesteaks.

And Philadelphia, the home of the North American Drama Therapy Association’s

40th Anniversary Celebration and Conference, FORTY.

As we consider the 40th Anniversary of the NADTA, we invite our community to take a step back to acknowledge where we have been, in order to understand where we are going.

This milestone allows us the opportunity to come together in celebration and community. The celebration looks to honor our community’s rich body of work, past, present, and future, as well as our remarkable membership.

Drama therapists are often drawn to the field for two reasons: our love of theatre and performance, and our fierce desire to help others to make the world a better place. Over the past several decades, innovators in drama therapy have made significant strides to develop the field and its community.

We invite our community to join us in Philadelphia to share as presenters and participants. Let’s connect in the abundance of theoretical approaches and honor our intergenerational and diverse community with proposals that illuminate and investigate the celebration of the work.

Look to explore the advances that have been made in the areas of scholarship, research, licensure, diversity, clinical practice, and therapeutic performance. Take time to contemplate what is missing. Please consider the following as we pursue our quest of reflection, celebration, and transition:

Yesterday, visiting our past: Pioneers and Trailblazers.

Honoring the work of those who have shaped drama therapy over the past forty years.

What has inspired your work and enthusiasm as a drama therapist?

Today, living in the present: Here and Now.

How does drama therapy perform today; clinically, theatrically, scholarly?

Tomorrow, looking toward to our future: Future Projections

Where is drama therapy heading in the future? What boundaries do we encounter in our work? What is necessary in order to keep the vitality of the field strong, paying particular attention to research and licensure?

Let’s celebrate the magic of drama therapy and allow ourselves to dream big as we look to our 40th Anniversary celebration in Philadelphia.

#NADTA40

To submit your proposal, click here.

Submission deadline: February 15, 2019 at midnight.

Please note that the information you input in your proposal will appear on the online program if your proposal is selected. If you have previously created a profile in this system, please be sure to update your information (name, bio, credentials) as that will be added in the program as well.