My vision is to collaborate with the membership in creating a real, and palpable culture of belonging for our member community; not an ‘illusion of inclusion’ but equity: an engaged reciprocal relationship with one another built on humility and humanity; to hold space through our growing pains--our organizational development, and give it voice and traction; to embrace our roles as activists, as allies, as change-agents, as artists and clinicians, in all the myriad ways we identify, in our practice and our profession and our communities; and to consider how we might course-correct as needed to position ourselves for the 21st century by reassessing old paradigms and innovating for our future. Maslow said we all need to experience a sense of belonging. We join associations for that reason -- to feel what it is to belong. My vision is that we all feel that and hold our rightful place here, where we belong, in our drama therapy community and grow with it.

Susan Ward is a drama therapist living and working in Montreal. She has been involved with practicing drama therapy with children, families, the elderly and newly arrived immigrants and refugees, supervising interns and teaching and supervising students in the MA program at Concordia University. Susan was the first Canadian to sit on the NADTA Board. Before receiving her RDT, she was invited to sit on the Board as an observer supporting the Board in learning about the needs of Canadian drama therapists. After receiving her RDT and then her BCT, she served several terms as the official Canadian Rep and as the Membership Chair.

In addition to Board service, Susan was the Conference Chair of the first NADTA conference held in Montreal in 2007 and the Program Chair for the next Canadian conference in 2013. She has served on the conference committee several times, has worked on rewriting the by-laws leading to the name change and the ethics committee. Current interests include developmental trauma, becoming an ally and collaborating with Indigenous Canadians, parent-child relationship therapy and the new Graduate Play Therapy Certificate at Concordia. She is a believer in life-long learning and works to change the systems which continue to marginalize certain members of the community.

As the President Elect, I am dedicated to learning from the President. I have already learned so much from the Presidents with whom I have served: Alice Forrester, Sally Bailey, Sherry Diamond, Nadya Trytan, Nisha Sajnani, Jason Butler and Laura Wood.

My goals are to continue to develop an inclusive and diverse organization which meets the needs of and is representative of all of our members. I would like to strengthen the mentorship initiative and provide support to members who may be more isolated from their communities. I believe in collaboration and unity and acknowledge the strengths of our sister creative arts therapists. I believe that we are better together and would continue to engage in joint projects and research.

Finally, service is something that inspires and guides me. I believe that each member has something to offer the organization. It is and will continue to be a privilege to serve my community.

I am a graduate of Concordia University’s Drama Therapy Program, am a RDT and LCAT currently located in Brooklyn, NY. Since 2016 I’ve volunteered my time to three NADTA conferences, served as chairman helping to create and implement the organization’s PR packet, starting in 2018 I joined our Cultural Humility, Equity, and Diversity Committee, and served as the Eastern Region Representative for the 2019/21 Board Term. I work at Kings County Hospital as a full time drama therapist, serving the inpatient psychiatry population.

My hope as research chair would be to continue the amazing work done by the previous chairs, Calli Armstrong and Jason Frydman. In addition, I want to work to demystify research for anyone in our community who may feel hesitant to engage with the process. Research should be accessible and I hope to encourage new researchers through this position. I am open to ideas from emergent and established researchers of how to continue moving the drama therapy field toward empirically based research in order to continue to show the efficacy of what we do

Diana Chu is a Marriage and Family Therapist and a Registered Drama Therapist in San Francisco. Diana manages Asian Family Institute (RAMS) and provides counseling services for children, individuals, and families. She is a multicultural and bilingual mental health clinician and is passionate about Mental Health and Technology. She also hosts a podcast called Waves of Change, which promotes mental health awareness in Asian American communities. She worked at various community mental health settings, including Community Youth Center, Counseling Enriched Educational Program, School-Based Counseling, Family Engagement Programs and Autistic Spectrum Disorder Clinic. For more information, visit dianachutherapy.com.

My vision/goal as Education Chair is to assist our universities and educators to continue to uphold and improve the standards of Drama Therapy Practitioners.  As well as keeping up with academic trends and using best practices with the advancement of technology in mind. 

If re-elected, I will endeavor to continue my current projects with respect to the ethics committee and the NADTA: building space within the community to discuss ethics issues, developing the ethics committee to increase its representativeness, and increasing transparency and clarity around ethics processes. Concrete next steps: increase engagement with student members around ethics supports; participate with Board in process of DEI training and anti-oppressive audit for association procedures; and continue to develop a series of virtual discussions of emerging ethics issues related to technology, touch, and drama therapy with vulnerable populations.

Chabreah is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist in NY, Licensed Mental Health Counselor in MA and Registered Drama Therapist, currently living in Brooklyn, NY. She graduated from Lesley University in 2018 and is currently working in private practice and with a telehealth University Mental Health platform. Chabreah has worked with adults with Multiple Sclerosis, children & adolescents in a partial hospitalization program, adults with dual diagnosis at a psychiatric day treatment program and in juvenile detention with adolescent boys with criminal charges. Chabreah has also written for the Drama Therapy Reviews 8.1 and 9.1. 

 My goal as CHED Chair is to help re-evaluate the NADTA’s systems and structures to create opportunities for growth and enhancement in our field. I hope to learn from and collaborate with the board and CHED Committee to explore new initiatives that encourage inclusion and reinstate previous ones. I aim to challenge our community to grow in our competencies and abilities as drama therapists and continue to check our biases to be the change agents we truly need are. I hope for reciprocal collaboration and support within our community! 

Angelle Cook, PhD, RDT-BCT is a drama therapist who runs her own private practice. Dr. Cook is an associate professor at Lesley University and in the fall will adjunct at NYU and Antioch in their drama therapy departments. She is the Managing Editor for the Drama Therapy Review. With the NADTA, Angelle has served as conference chair and on the research committee for the past two years. She holds a masters in theater education from Emerson College and completed her drama therapy course work through the alternative track program. Angelle earned her Ph.D. in expressive arts therapy from Lesley University.

My hope as research chair would be to continue the amazing work done by the previous chairs, Calli Armstrong and Jason Frydman. In addition, I want to work to demystify research for anyone in our community who may feel hesitant to engage with the process. Research should be accessible and I hope to encourage new researchers through this position. I am open to ideas from emergent and established researchers of how to continue moving the drama therapy field toward empirically based research in order to continue to show the efficacy of what we do.

One obvious fact about the Canadian Region: it is geographically huge! If chosen to represent Canada to the NADTA, my mandate would be to recognize the diversity of Canadian membership and to focus both on supporting local initiatives and on creating national events accessible to all. In the pandemic context we have all learned a lot about working online and have developed tools for connecting across distance that offer many possibilities for bringing drama therapists together. I have many ideas, including online performances and workshops that offer community care and spaces for creative and professional development. Most importantly though, these ideas need to arise in response to the actual needs and desires of Canadian drama therapists and for that I would rely on your engagement, your ideas, and your questions, in order to ensure that you are well represented to the NADTA Board and the broader community of drama therapists. It can be so lonely to be a drama therapist, but we have such a rich resource in our membership; it would be a privilege to support greater connection and greater involvement within the Canadian region and beyond.

Lisa began her journey to becoming an RDT at Kansas State University. Lisa is a Registered Drama Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified School Counselor, a UIL One Act Play Adjudicator, and a triple certified educator in Texas. Lisa currently works for the Children’s Bereavement Center Rio Grande Valley. Her work at CBC RGV is focused on supporting children, teens, and families experiencing a death loss.

The vision for the Central Region is to create connection across our expansive diverse region.  The goal is to know and support the work of our colleagues. Each RDT has a specialized method of practice based on their population of focus and artistry.  This creates a vast community of wisdom we can all grow from. With intention, we will highlight the work being done and create a system of support within specialized populations. We can empower each other with the wisdom of experience, support the journey of future RDTs, and enhance our ability to be advocates. The Central Region includes 20 states, together I hope to hold space for us to collaborate despite the miles that separate us.

Ryan has been involved with the NADTA since starting the Drama Therapy MA program at Lesley University in 2016. Ryan graduated from Lesley in 2018 and has been working as a Therapist since then. Ryan currently works as a Drama Therapist at the Huntington Hospital's Psychiatric Unit in Pasadena, California where he serves many marginalized and stigmatized populations of patients. 

I have been deeply grateful to be part of the NADTA and I want to contribute to its continued progress as an inclusive and transformative organization. My biggest priority is ensuring that intersectionality is further emphasized as a key focus for the NADTA. I feel that providing spaces for people's unique identities and perspectives to be heard is essential.  My vision is to facilitate and organize events that foster empathy and motivate people to use Drama Therapy to create social change.