ADTA Update from Western Member at Large



1. W H A T D I D T H E A D T A B O A R D D O F O R Y O U ?

RECRUITING FUTURE DANCE THERAPISTS
The ADTA Education Committee created a fabulous 11x17 mini-poster with cover letter, DMT career Q&A's and photos of movers. This poster will be sent out to dance studios and academic dance departments. Our '06 conference is jointly held with the National Dance Educators Organization. All of those dance teachers and dancers who attend the conference will receive the dance/movement therapy recruitment poster. We're spreading the word in the artistic dance community about choosing dance therapy as a career. There is power in numbers and we're taking action to grow our professional base. Contact me if you want copies of the poster to distribute in your area.

COUNTING PRIVATE PRACTICE HOURS FOR THE ADTR
DTR's who are licensed or certified by their state as counselors or in another mental health discipline can count their private practice hours and must obtain supervision from an ADTR concerning those hours. IMPORTANT NOTE: A Letter of Intent must be filed with the ADTA Credentials Committee BEFORE private practice hours can be counted. For more info, contact Beth Lucchi on the Credentials Committee, (503) 762-1882 or welldancer19@msn.com.

If the DTR credential is listed in the dance therapist's disclosure statement, business card or other marketing materials for their private practice, it must include the additional designation: "DTR, Academy Eligible." If the DTR is offering private practice movement groups, informational materials must include the disclaimer: "This group is not intended as Dance/Movement Therapy." For more info, contact Susan Kierr Dyer on the Standards & Ethics Committee (504) 432-4329 or skdance@bellsouth.net.

The ADTA Board researched and clarified this issue in response to member input from you! : )

BOARD CERTIFICATION TASK FORCE, ADTR-BC
The Certification Task Force continues its rigorous and detailed communication with the Board of Certifiying Associations to evaluate the ADTR criteria for equivalence to BOARD CERTIFICATION for dance/movement therapists. If the ADTA board and membership decide to fulfill Board Certification requirements and create a separate certifying organization, this designation would be ADDED to the ADTR credential, as in ADTR-BC. This is language that (a) the health care system understands and respects, and (b) that honors the stringency of our ADTR requirements. I'll keep you posted as this issue continues to develop in the months ahead.

STRATEGIC PLANNING & ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
At the spring '06 board meeting, we spent a half-day in very focused organizational development (OD) work with Peter Norlin & Judith Fischer. Both have extensive professional experience strengthening organizational performance. Peter has been a dance therapy client and Judith is a dance/movement therapist. The ADTA's problems are typical of all-volunteer non-profits. Your board of directors is taking action and doing the extra work to overcome these typical limitations and improve the performance of the ADTA to achieve better results for you, our membership!

We worked on clarity and focus by defining the ADTA's purpose and laying out the terms of a mission statement. This might not sound like much, but let me tell you that it was hard work and more importantly, that without this kind of clarity, our efforts get diffused and momentum is lost. At the Autumn '06 board meeting, we will be finalizing the ADTA mission statement and building a STRATEGIC PLAN. Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! A-D-T-A, Way To Go!

Your ADTA board of directors has taken on these extra commitments (and expenses) at this time, because we hear your frustrations and wishes for more and better services and results. The time is right because nowadays the arts are integrating into health care. The ADTA's efforts and improved effectiveness will help all of us RIDE THE WAVE of greater professional success.

ADTA DIRECTORY DATA-ENTRY NEEDED ABOUT YOU
For cryin' out loud, people! How are we supposed to know who is working with which population and what specialties you would like to receive referrals on and where the ADTA should direct its marketing, promotion and advocacy efforts, if your professional practice data is not in the online directory? Come on now, help the ADTA help you succeed in your professional life. Go to www.adta.org. Click above Member Services, then choose #7 All About You. Fill in the questions about the populations you work with, additional credentials, type of Master's education you have, etc. The ADTA wants to add up the numbers on who we are and where we work so we can focus our efforts for best results on the membership's behalf. If you don't know your user ID and password, email Christina Devereaux at: christina@cd-photo.com. She's our web mistress and will get back to you right away.

WEB SITE IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED
In the process of seeking a new web site services company, the ADTA has been told that, based on the capabilities of the web site we now have (and despite its glitches), we got a great deal for the money we spent! Now we're looking forward to additional features and more training to utilize the online data base management once we have hired a new website support firm.


2. S U P P O R T F R O M N A T I O N A L W I S H L I S T

SCHOLARSHIP MONEY FOR ADTA CONFERENCES
In my communication with Chapter leaders, I asked this question: "In your wildest dreams, what support would you like from ADTA national? Don't think about finances or logistics, just brainstorm freely and let me know." I heard about wishes for scholarship money to help with tuition for attending ADTA conferences. Possible recipients are dance therapy graduate students and chapter executive committee volunteers.

Well, I asked, but the ADTA can't be Mama Bountiful--however, keep reading. We can empower ourselves to do this on our own in the Western Region. If 20 ADTA members in the West donate $15 each, then we have enough money to provide two 50% scholarships. If 40 members each donate $15, then we raise twice as much money. I would be willing to track and hold the funds--only with a task partner for help and financial security--and chapters would have to come up with criteria for how to select scholarship recipients. We can use the group list of this email to communicate with each other AS A REGION. My only requirement is that my task partner be someone who is NOT volunteering for the ADTA or their local membership group. Hey, folks! It's your life and your career. Step onstage from the wings and do a pirouette with me in the real world dance of self-empowerment and abundance thinking. For more info, contact Christine at (206) 361-0737 or wisedancer@theriver.com.

ANNUAL EVENTS AND DEADLINES CALENDAR
Ah, the details and logistics of everyday life. Yes, we can make things easier for ourselves, pace our time commitments and increase the enjoyment and gratification resulting from volunteering for the ADTA. Your board of directors is already working on this, especially regarding project timelines for producing our annual conference. Yes, indeed, why re-invent the wheel every year?

By the way, this is a good example of a typical problem for an all-volunteer non-profit. Everyone is so busy and who has time to stop and build infrastructure amidst the ongoing flow of getting tasks done? There is nothing unusual about the ADTA for being in this dilemma. What is unusual is that your board of directors is DANCING WITH SHOVELS, that is, we are digging our organization out of this hole and creating a more functional future for our membership. Now, how can our regional membership and chapter leadership participate in this improvement process locally and regionally?

Back to the wish for an annual calendar and here's where you come in! Let's get this going for ourselves, because it will be incredibly useful to all of us, chapter leadership volunteers and members as well. All I need is one person to do this with. We'll put our heads together and create a list of ADTA dates, such as: conference proposal deadlines, national newsletter deadlines, annual reporting from chapters due dates, board meeting dates, etc. Then we'll distribute the completed calendar list and update it as needed. So, here's the reality--if you want this itemized calendar, then step up to help create it. This is a task-specific, time-limited project. I'm waiting for your call or email . . . .

In the meantime, I'm here to remind you that CHAPTER REPORTS FROM EACH CHAIRPERSON AND TREASURER ARE DUE AROUND THE END OF THE ADTA FISCAL YEAR, THAT'S JUNE 30

CHAPTER LEADERSHIP RESOURCE BOOKLET
This one's from my wish list. Volunteering for chapter leadership is great for developing and practicing professional management and administrative skills, adds wow to your resume and is a lot of fun. How can the ADTA provide better support to chapter leaders? How about an orientation and resource booklet that strengthens hand-off transitions when new leaders come on board, offers some basics about non-profit group leadership, makes it easy to know who to contact about what on the ADTA board, has a few witty cartoons and some foundational wisdom about keeping a chapter thriving and successful. I'm on point to create a draft booklet and will be checking in with you all for feedback and critiques. The booklet will be co-created with the other two M-A-L's and presented to the ADTA board for approval and production go-ahead at the autumn '06 meeting.

Why am I doing this? Three reasons. First of all, I love to write this sort of focused, to the point, informational stuff. Secondly, the final product will go into my writing portfolio--yay for me! Thirdly, I am very motivated to improve the way the ADTA supports its membership and volunteers, because I'm mad about past situations that have not gone well. You've heard the phrase, don't get mad--get even? Well, my variation on that is, yes, get mad and then take action. So if you're hoppin' mad about how things could be better in the ADTA, then get hoppin'! Hop on board any of these projects and processes and join our ORGANIZATIONAL IMPROVEMENT DANCE!

3. W H A T ' S C O M I N G U P N E X T ?

ADTA CONFERENCE 2006 WITH NATIONAL DANCE EDUCATORS ORGANIZATION
Our conference this will be jointly held with the National Dance Educators Organization. Won't it be wonderful to meet up with, learn from, teach and dance with hundreds of artistic dancers? Kind of like an extended family reunion! Check them out at www.ndeo.org for more info about this dance education organization.

RAFFLE PRIZES NEEDED FOR OUR CONFERENCE
Any knitters? Seamstresses? Visual artists? DMT props creators out there? Other prizes useful for dancers and dance therapists include music CD's, movement DVD's, etc. What can you or your Chapter, Study Group or Cluster put together for raffle prizes? Just remember, some prizewinners may be traveling a long ways home, including internationally, so prizes need to be easily transportable I have heard that time is speeding up and, while I may not be as clear as some about the reason, I have to agree to the basic perception. There is never enough time..."to do the things you want to do once you've found them..." (that's a Jim Croce song for those of you too young to remember).


Glenda O'Rourke, Web Meistress