Continuing Education Resources
Continuing Education (CE) Documentation Form
Continuing Education (CE) Information
CHED CE POLICY
CHED CE Application
CHED CE RESOURCES - LIVING DOCUMENT
CHED CE Form

Information on Continuing Education Requirements for Registered Drama Therapists

Purpose

The North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) views continuing education as an essential activity to ensure quality of services delivered by Registered Drama Therapists. Continuing education is a self-directed process which requires drama therapists assume responsibility and accountability for their own professional development. The NADTA CE Requirements provide guidance and resources for its members to be able to match their continuing education with professional expectations.  The purpose of Continuing Education is to ensure that Registered Drama Therapists stay up to date on the information in the field and continue developing skills in drama therapy, psychotherapy, and theater. These requirements are intended to be utilized by individual practitioners, DT educators, by providers of continuing education, and by agencies who have a responsibility for drama therapy staff. It is the hope of the NADTA that by establishing standards for continuing education that the individuals and communities we serve recognize drama therapists for their commitment to continuous education and professional development.

Continuing Education Hours Required

30 hours of Continuing Education are required for RDTs within a 2-year cycle, 15 hours of which need to be in the content area of Cultural Humility, Equity, and Diversity (known as CHED CEs). It is typical to count one (1) CE per clock hour for attendance at lectures, workshops, and other professional educational venues.

The cycle begins January 1 in odd numbered years and ends December 31 of the second (even numbered) year. Gathering of CE hours for new RDTs will commence in the first odd-numbered year after the receipt of their RDT. In this way all CE hours will be due at the same time.

The 30 hours represent contact hours and do not include breaks, commuting time, meals, etc. The same content cannot be used for credit more than once, either within a 2-year cycle or in consecutive 2-year cycles.

    • You can count second terms of office on the NADTA Board or continuing membership on an NADTA committee as the content of the work will be different each cycle.
    • You can get credit only once for a presentation or workshop which you present for more than one conference/organization, or for a course you teach on a regular basis.
    • You cannot count taking the same title course again, unless it is taught by a different instructor and covers different topics. Send both syllabi to document there was different content, if you are in this situation.

Note to New RDTs

Because a member’s education is current at the time of submitting the RDT application, new Registered Drama Therapists are not required to submit CE hours in the cycle in which they received their RDT.  CEs will not need to be submitted until the CE cycle following the receipt of your RDT. For example, members who are granted the RDT credential in 2011 or 2012, would not need to start acquiring CE hours until the 2013-2014 cycle.

Submission

Every RDT must submit a list of their Continuing Education hours and complete documentation for them to the NADTA Office by December 31 (at the end of each cycle year).

This will be in an odd-numbered year following the end of the cycle – i.e., in the beginning of the next CE Cycle. To find the current cycle, login to your NADTA account and visit your my Profile section.

CE forms and documentation can be uploaded into your Member Profile and approved online by the Education Chair each year. Your complete history of CEs will now be archived with your membership for easy access and review. Finalized documentation should be uploaded to your NADTA profile in the designated fields.

Audit

A certain number of individuals (approximately 10%) will be randomly audited each Continuing Education Cycle. RDTs who submit their CE hours late will automatically be audited.

No Rollover

Hours of Continuing Education over and above 30 within each 2-year cycle can only count for credit within that 2-year cycle. Hours cannot be “rolled over” to the next 2-year cycle.

Noncompliance

Any RDT who does not complete the required 30 continuing education hours, inclusive of the 15 CHED CE requirement, or who fails to submit CE documentation in a timely manner stands to forfeit their Registry status. The Continuing Education Committee will communicate in writing with RDTs who have not complied with instructions and/or deadlines on how to rectify the missing hours.

Categories and Content Areas

Each activity, whether attended, taught, or produced, must fall into one of the following content areas, and recorded by that content area number on the CE Form:

    1. Theories & Core Processes of Drama Therapy
    2. Cultural Humility, Equity, and Diversity (15 required hours)
    3. Ethical Practice & Standards
    4. Performance, Theater Perspectives, and Aesthetics
    5. Psychological & Psychotherapeutic Theories and Practice
    6. Research & Evaluation
    7. Assessment & Psychodiagnostics
    8. Supervision (individual or group)
    9. Training in Related Modalities: Creative Arts Therapy, psychodrama, Playback, and Others
    10. Leadership for the NADTA

Required Category/Content Area for all RDTs/BCTs

Cultural Humility, Equity, and Diversity

As an organization who upholds cultural response/ability in training, research, practice, supervision, advocacy, and organizational change, it is necessary to create a practice of accountability to ensure all members are committed to the same extent. Any CE opportunity that addresses cultural humility, equity, and diversity (as per the NADTA Code of Ethics and Cultural Response/ability) would be pertinent. Most CE opportunities in CHED have the words (cultural humility, equity, diversity, social justice, etc.) in their titles, content description, and/or program objectives. The focus of the CE opportunity does not need to be exclusively in a CHED content, but does need to speak to how the main topic intersects with CHED content area. CHED CEs can be awarded for attending presentations by professionals in drama therapy or a related mental health field (includes counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy, addictions counseling, psychology, psychiatric nursing and psychiatry). If a presentation or workshop is sponsored by the NADTA, it will denote its eligibility for CHED CEs. RDTs and BCTs can also receive CHED CEs for conducting CHED workshops, presentations, panels, academic courses and publishing on a CHED topic.

Methods for Earning CHED CEs

In an effort to make these opportunities accessible, we propose four streams of education opportunities to support members of the NADTA in reaching their CHED CE credits.

    • NADTA Annual Conference: Each year, conference proposal applicants are requested to demonstrate how their workshop or presentation contributes to cultural humility. As we continue to identify tracks for conference presentations, those workshops, presentations and performances who are marked with CHED track count towards CHED CEs. For example, if a participant attends the typical All Conference Event CHEDC Forum event, they will receive 2 continuing education credits towards CHED CEs.
    • CHED Racial Justice and Equity Calls: About once per month, CHEDC hosts diversity dialogues on a series of topics related to social justice and equity. Diversity Dialogues are community conversations about social equity concerns, where members can share together, improve practice, and strategize for a more equitable future. Each Diversity Dialogue will qualify for CHED CEs.
    • NADTA Education Committee Continuing Education Workshop Series: A series of low cost CHED CE workshops will be announced for each year. Workshops will support members in achieving a variety of CEs. Members of the NADTA community, and beyond, can submit proposals for CHED CE workshops that they would like to host. These workshops will be virtual to accommodate member participation from across the nation.
    • Self-Study: A number of peer-reviewed articles from the Drama Therapy Review (DTR) have been identified as meeting the requirements for 1.0 CHED CE credit. The CHED CE subcommittee has created a self-study worksheet that must be completed and submitted at the end of the cycle along with your CE Form. No more than 2.0 CHED CE credits can be from self-study and members are only allowed to complete a self-study on an approved article once.
CHED CE ACTIVITIES NUMBER OF CE HOURS MAX HOURS IN A REVIEW CYCLE DOCUMENTATION
 NADTA Annual Conference One (1) CE per clock hour, as determined by NADTA CHED ED/CE Committee Up to 30 hours Copy of certificate of attendance

 NADTA Education Committee CE Workshop   Series

One (1) CE per clock hour, as determined and advertised by NADTA CHED ED/CE Committee Up to 30 hours Copy of certificate of attendance
 NADTA CHEDC Racial Justice and Equity Calls One (1) CE per clock hour, as determined and advertised by CHEDC Up to 30 hours Copy of certificate of attendance
 NADTA CHED ED Self-Study One (1) CE per article or chapter reviewed Up to 2 hours Copy of self-study worksheet
 Workshop, Lecture, Conferences with CHED   Content One (1) CE per clock hour, or as determined by organization or educator Up to 30 hours Copy of certificate of attendance and receipt
 CHED Theater & Performance
  • Training
  • Performing
  • Stage Management
  • Direction
One (1) CE per clock hour Up to 20 hours Letter of participation from organization sponsoring the performance opportunity.

Additional Required Category/Content Area for BCTs

As a reflection of their roles as educators, knowledge creators, and Alternative Training facilitators, RDT/BCTs are expected to earn at least 3 of their 30 CE hours through the following BCT-specific activities:

    • Attendance at BCT trainings, conference calls, or meetings sponsored by the NADTA about alternative training
    • Mentorship/supervision of new BCTs
    • Publication of article/book chapter or (As in Methods #4 for RDTs)
    • Development of workshop, class, or media related to drama therapy practice or theory (As in Method #5 for RDTs)

Methods for Earning Continuing Education

CEs may be earned for the following activities, provided that they fall within the Eligible Content Areas. It is typical for you to earn one (1) CE per clock hour for attendance at lectures, workshops, and other professional educational venues. Continuing education activities need to be taught by credentialed professionals. For example, creative art therapy sessions taught by a credentialed or licensed creative arts therapist, mental health session taught by licensed or credentialed mental health professionals and drama therapy workshops taught by RDTs. Sessions at the NADTA conference only are vetted by the conference committee and may be used even if not led by an RDT.

CATEGORIES OF CE ACTIVITIES NUMBER OF CE HOURS MAX HOURS IN A REVIEW CYCLE DOCUMENTATION

 Post Masters College or University Credits or Auditing

Instructors should be appropriately credentialed for the subject matter (i.e., if you are taking a drama therapy course, it should be taught by an RDT or RDT/BCT; if you are taking a clowning class, it should be taught by a bona fide clown who has been through clown college and worked professionally; if you are taking a psychology course, it should be taught by a Ph.D. psychologist or other appropriately credentialed mental health professional.

1 academic credit=15 CE hours Up to 30 hours A copy of transcript or grade report plus copy of syllabus required for verification

 Conferences

 Drama Therapy, Creative Arts Therapy, or Human Services

One (1) CE per clock hour, or as designated by organization Up to 30 hours Copy of certificate 

receipt, or letter of attendance 

 Seminars and Workshops One (1) CE per clock hour, determined by educator/presenter Up to 30 hours

Copy of certificate or letter of attendance

 NADTA Education Committee CE Workshop Series One (1) CE per clock hour, as determined and advertised by NADTA CHED ED/CE Committee Up to 2 hours

Copy of certificate or letter of attendance

 NADTA CHEDC Racial Justice and Equity Calls

One (1) CE per clock hour, as determined and advertised by CHEDC Up to 30 hours Copy of certificate of attendance 

 Authored Publication

Peer-reviewed journal article or chapter in a book 

Co-authored or authored book

 

15 CE Hours

 30 CE Hours

 

No more than 15 hours

 No more than 30 CE hours

 

Submit copy of title page or table of contents 

Supervision from an RDT, RDT/BCT, or Mental Health Professional (MA/PhD)

Please note that receiving supervision may not count towards CEs  for other state or national continuing education requirements.

 One (1) CE per clock hour  Up to 15 hours

 

Letter from supervisor confirming number of hours 

Dissertation (Related to Drama Therapy, Theater, or Psychology)

30 hours for completed dissertation   Up to 30 hours

 Copy of transcript

Leadership for NADTA
  • NADTA Board
  • Committee Chair
  • Conference Committee
  • Delegate
 One (1) CE per clock hour Up to 30 hours 

 

Confirmation letter from NADTA

Self-Study

Read a Book: Drama Therapy, Psychology, or Related Field

 

CHED ED Self-Study

 

 

One (1) CE per clock hour 

 

 

 Up to 10 hours

 

 Up to 2 hours 

 

One page annotated bibliography of book including: book’s bibliographic information, one paragraph on content, and one paragraph of critical response

Self-study worksheet associated with article 

Theater and Performance
  • Training
  • Performing
  • Stage Management
  • Direction
*Eligible for CHED ED CEs if performance covers CHED Content
One (1) CE per clock hour   Up to 20 hours Letter of participation from organization sponsoring the performance opportunity. 

Instructions for Submitting 2021-2022 CEs

Upload Documents to Your Member Profile

This allows you to upload your CE certificates and documentation into your NADTA member profile as you receive them. (Or you may choose to collect all the documentation and upload it all at the end of the CE cycle year.)

    1. After you have collected all of your CEs for the current cycle, download and complete the CE form.
    2. Scan the CE form and follow the same procedures as below to upload it to your profile.
    3. Scan your CE certificate into your computer. Please name your file using your last name, first name, and a description of the item. Example: Smith.Jane_CEform.pdf
    4. Log in to your Member Profile and SELECT the MY PROFILE link. Make sure your membership type is a Professional Member RDT or RDT/BCT. You will not be able to upload your CEUs otherwise.
    5. There will be an edit button visible on that page. Click on the edit button. Then, scroll down the page, you will see a list of attributes labeled with the CE cycle years 2021-2022.  
    6. There will be five upload fields available for documentation. Please make you are using a reliable Wi-Fi network when uploading these files and confirm that the documents have been uploaded successfully before moving forward.
    7. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND: combining PDFs, Word Documents and Images into as few uploads as possible order to use the fields provided. Please make sure your content is labeled accordingly.
    8. After the upload scroll back up to the page and click Save Profile to complete the upload step. If you have successfully completed the uploads, you will see all those documents in your profile instead of the upload button. 

If you require assistance with this process, please email the NADTA office at [email protected]. Documentation emailed, faxed and mailed to the NADTA Office will be uploaded to the member's profile and will not be saved. 


 

FAQs for CHED ED Requirements

Q. How many of my CE hours need to be in CHED ED?

A. Each Registered Drama Therapist is required to complete 15 of their 30 Continuing Education hours (per 2-year cycle) required to maintain their RDT credential to activities in the category of Cultural Humility, Equity, and Diversity (CHED CEs). We are not asking you to complete more CEs than usual, but instead asking you to make intentional choices with your continuing education to ensure the topics you select intersect with cultural humility, equity, and diversity.

Q. Why require continuing education in the content area of Cultural Humility, Equity, and Diversity?

A. As a member of the NADTA, you have committed to uphold the best practices of a drama therapist as outlined in our Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Cultural Response/ability in Training, Research, Practice, Supervision, Advocacy, and Organizational Change. By having each active RDT/BCT commit 15 hours of their continuing education to CHED, we will be able to better uphold our Code of Ethics, practice cultural response/ability, provide more competent care and professional services and establish these discussions as community-wide norms.

We ask members to hold in mind the following commitments in the Guidelines for

Cultural Response/ability when making CHED ED Continuing Education choices:

    • Drama therapists demonstrate commitment to the treatment of all persons with dignity and respect, regardless of differences in age, ethnicity, geographic region, gender identity, gender expression, military status, physical, mental, or developmental capacity, nationality, political views, race, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and historical experiences with the dominant culture.
    • Drama therapists actively seek out knowledge and understanding about how cultural oppression (e.g. racism, homophobia, transphobia, poverty, sexism, religious intolerance, ableism, sizeism, ageism etc.) affects them personally and in their work.
    • Drama therapists are encouraged to seek out educational, consultative, and training experiences including language acquisition to enrich their understanding and effectiveness in working with clients who have historical and cultural backgrounds and experiences that are different from their own.
    • Drama therapists also take responsibility for educating themselves about relevant identity development models, historical and current discriminatory practices at the societal level (i.e., racism, classism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, sizeism, ageism, transphobia, etc.), and global sociopolitical and intergenerational issues (i.e., wars, occupation, and natural disasters in country of origin) that may be affecting the psychological welfare of clients in care.
    • The simple truth is that needing to center these issues through mandates is a reflection of the ways in which white supremacy/dominant culture is already at play in our training programs and the NADTA at large, and it is our collective obligation to be actively dismantling systems of oppression in all areas of our field. By making intentional choices around our continuing education, we commit to engaging in the necessary education and ongoing self-reflection to hold ourselves and each other accountable for delivery of culturally responsible care.

Q. What content areas or topics typically qualify for CHED ED?

Given the depth and breadth of identity, it would be impossible to provide a comprehensive list of content areas. We ask that drama therapists use their best judgement and self-assessment of educational needs when selecting continuing education activities to attend. Some areas to consider receiving continuing education include, but are not limited to: age; ethnicity; geographic region; gender identity; gender expression; military status; physical, mental, or developmental diversity and capacity; nationality; political views; race; religion; socioeconomic status; sexual orientation; cultural oppression; racism; classism; sexism; homophobia; sizeism; ageism; transphobia; global sociopolitical issues; intergenerational issues; language acquisition;

Q. How do I know if the continuing education activity I want to attend meets CHED ED requirements?

The following areas can be used as a  general guideline to determine if eligibility of a continuing education activity: Does the CE activity increase your awareness of your own cultural values and biases? Does the CE activity increase your awareness of your client’s worldview? Does the CE activity teach you culturally appropriate intervention strategies?

    • Any CE opportunity that addresses cultural humility, equity, and diversity (as per the NADTA Code of Ethics and Cultural Response/ability) would be pertinent.
    • Most CE opportunities in CHED have the words (cultural humility, equity, diversity, social justice, intersectionality, etc.) in their titles, content description, and/or program objectives.
    • The focus of the CE opportunity does not need to be exclusively in a CHED content, but does need to speak to how the main topic intersects with CHED content areas. CHED CEs can be awarded for attending presentations by professionals in drama therapy or a related mental health field (includes counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy, addictions counseling, psychology, psychiatric nursing and psychiatry).
    • If a presentation or workshop is sponsored by the NADTA, it will denote its eligibility for CHED CEs.
    • RDTs and BCTs can also receive CHED CEs for conducting CHED workshops, presentations, panels, academic courses and publishing on a CHED topic.

Q. How do I know if a continuing education activity I want to teach meets CHED ED requirements?

The easiest way to know if your workshop or lecture meets CHED CE criteria is to review the learning objectives and content of your presentation. If your learning objective incorporates a CHED content area and/or speaks to how the main topic of your presentation intersects with a CHED content area, then it qualifies for consideration as a CHED CE workshop. We ask that when preparing a workshop you utilize an intersectional and equity lens when determining the content of your presentation.