Joan Woddis awarded our new lifetime achievement award

Starting as an art teacher in special education services from the 1960s, Joan taught and advocated for children with a range of physical and emotional difficulties. She also worked with adult stroke survivors and people with Parkinson’s.

Inspired by this work, in 1980 Joan enrolled on the postgraduate diploma in art therapy at Goldsmiths College. At that time, this was a specialist in-service programme for qualified teachers. She then joined the teaching team.

Later, Joan trained as a group analyst. She was part of the team that set up the PG Dip in Group Psychotherapy at Goldsmiths.

Providing an inter-cultural experience for trainees and working towards ensuring greater representation of the full range of voices in our community was always really important for her.

Throughout her career Joan has remained true to her political roots and the values that brought her to this work. She works to empower people, especially those who have not had their voices heard by society and existing services.​

Joan played a pivotal role in achieving statutory regulation for art therapists, giving the verbal presentation and arguments for inclusion on the Register to the Council of the CPSM in 1996. She also helped make a strong case to the Whitley Council for recognition of the arts therapies and a career and salary structure in the NHS.

Alongside her work as an art therapy educator, supervisor and lecturer in the UK, Joan also worked abroad externally examining students in Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy and Russia; attending and contributing to AATA conferences in Chicago and Washington DC and lecturing to psychology students at the University of Toronto.

We would like to wish Joan our warmest congratulations and gratitude for her hard work and dedication to the profession.