A Registered Expressive Arts Consultant/Educator (REACE®) is a professional who facilitates Intermodal Expressive Arts for a broad range of purposes including creative expression, personal growth, social action, and community building. REACE®s work in areas such as education, coaching, facilitation, consultation, community arts, recreation, organizational development, community development, health fields, and more.

A REACE® has substantial training in intermodal expressive arts facilitation as well as documented intermodal facilitation experience. The cornerstone of their work is fluency and the ability to facilitate multiple modalities such as visual art, movement, dance, creative writing, music, and poetry using an integrative/intermodal approach.

The REACE® credential recognizes professionals who facilitate intermodal expressive arts in non-clinical settings.
REAT® credentials recognize professionals who provide psychotherapy or therapeutic treatment using expressive arts within the scope of mental health practice.
Although both approaches use expressive arts and intermodal processes, they differ in their goals, scope of practice, client populations, and professional responsibilities.
REACE® practitioners facilitate creative processes that support learning, community building, personal growth, wellbeing, and organizational development. They do not represent themselves as providing psychotherapy unless separately qualified and licensed to do so.
You can find more information on the Choosing Your Path website.

Holding the REACE® credential demonstrates that you have met internationally recognized professional standards established by IEATA.

Benefits include:

• professional recognition
• professional standing to provide instruction to future REACE® applicants
• increased credibility with employers and collaborators
• recognition of your expressive arts training and experience
• inclusion in the community of credentialed professionals
• commitment to ethical practice and ongoing professional development
• support for professional identity within the field of expressive arts

Yes. IEATA is an international organization, and the REACE® credential is designed for practitioners around the world.Applicants from any country are welcome to apply, provided they meet the published credential requirements.

The REACE® credential remains valid according to IEATA’s current credential renewal policy. Credential holders are expected to maintain ethical practice according to the REACE® Code of Ethics, and renew membership yearly.

Expressive arts consultants and educators come from many educational, cultural, and professional backgrounds.
Some have followed traditional university pathways, while others have developed extensive expertise through professional training, community practice, mentorship, and years of facilitation.
Offering both pathways allows REACE® to recognize multiple routes to professional competency while maintaining consistent standards for ethics, expressive arts training, and facilitation practice.
Both pathways reflect IEATA’s commitment to accessibility, diversity, and excellence in expressive arts facilitation.

Choose the pathway that best reflects your educational background.
If you hold a qualifying Master’s degree (or higher) in a related field, you should apply through the Formal Pathway. (1,200 hours facilitation hours required)
If you do not hold a qualifying Master’s degree, you should apply through the Non-Formal Pathway. (2,000 hours facilitation hours required)
If you are unsure whether your degree is considered related, you are encouraged to consult the REACE® application guidelines or seek clarification before submitting your application.

Many universities use different terminology for similar programs.
If your degree title does not clearly indicate the field of study, you will be asked to provide additional documentation, such as a transcript, course descriptions, or a brief explanation of your program.
This helps reviewers determine whether your degree aligns with the Formal Pathway requirements.

Applicants must complete a minimum of 200 hours of intermodal expressive arts facilitation training from one or more qualified training providers. Training can be obtained before, during, and/or after work experience hours.

Within these 200 hours, at least 60 hours must be completed through in-person learning experiences. The remaining hours may be completed through approved learning formats that meet the REACE® training requirements.

Applicants are responsible for providing documentation in the application PDF that verifies both the content and duration of their training.

Note that a practitioner may have many years of experience facilitating creative activities but still need additional training in areas such as:

• intermodal expressive arts theory and practice
• expressive arts facilitation methods
• ethical frameworks
• reflective practice
• approaches that distinguish expressive arts facilitation from other creative or educational practices

REACE® recognizes that experienced practitioners bring valuable knowledge and skills. Additional training is not a reflection of the value of their experience; rather, it ensures that all credential holders share a common foundation in expressive arts facilitation principles and competencies.

Intermodal expressive arts is the practice of intentionally sequencing between two or more art modalities—such as visual art, movement, music, drama, creative writing, storytelling, poetry, or sound—to deepen exploration, creativity, reflection, and meaning-making.
Rather than focusing on mastery of a single art form, intermodal practice emphasizes the relationship between different artistic modalities and how movement between them can support creative processes.
Because intermodal practice is a foundational principle of expressive arts, REACE® applicants are expected to demonstrate training that reflects this approach.

The REACE® credential recognizes intermodal expressive arts facilitation rather than instruction in a single artistic discipline.

Training should prepare practitioners to facilitate creative processes that invite participants to explore multiple forms of artistic expression that are typically sequenced or layered. Intermodal practice encourages flexibility, curiosity, and multiple avenues for meaning-making, which are central to expressive arts philosophy.

Yes. Applicants may combine training from multiple universities, organizations, institutions, workshops, or certificate programs, provided the combined training meets the REACE® requirements for content, duration, and intermodal expressive arts facilitation.

Documentation provided in the application PDF should clearly identify the instructor, dates, topics, description, and number of training hours completed.

Training hours should represent the clock hours you were in the training. Many university courses utilize semester credit hours. The typical calculation is 15 clock hours of instruction per 1 semester credit hour, but there may be differences based on your university.

Online training that is live and interactive may be utilized, but only up to 140 hours out of the required 200 hours. Self-directed study without instructor or peer feedback is not appropriate.

In-person learning offers opportunities for embodied, relational, and experiential learning that are central to expressive arts practice.

Working together in a shared physical space allows participants to engage more fully with intermodal processes, creative witnessing, group dynamics, and embodied artistic experiences that are difficult to replicate in virtual settings.

The in-person requirement helps ensure that all applicants have participated in substantial face-to-face experiential learning.

Exceptions may be considered for medical or other significant barriers to in-person training. Applicants should contact the REACE® Committee before applying to provide a brief explanation and request an exception.

Some training completed through expressive arts therapy programs may count if it includes substantial preparation in intermodal expressive arts facilitation that aligns with the REACE® competencies. Training should be in facilitation rather than clinical therapy.

Applicants should not assume that all therapy training automatically fulfills the REACE® requirements. The review considers the actual content of the training rather than the title of the program.

Please refer to Program Self-check for more information.

Training solely in one artistic discipline does not satisfy the expressive arts training requirement. However, we understand training may be limited in some countries, and may consider relevant arts training as part of their broader educational background. A case-by-case review is required and approval is not guaranteed. Applicants should contact the REACE® Committee before applying to provide a brief explanation and request an exception.

Yes. Training completed in languages other than English is welcome.

Applicants may be asked to provide English translations of certificates, transcripts, or supporting documents to assist the Committee in reviewing the application. 

We encourage applicants to ensure the training is relevant to Expressive Arts facilitation training using the Program Self-check list, as well as to take courses from experienced practitioners.

No specific time limit applies for the application as long as there is documentation for the training provided in the application PDF. 

Through the application, applicants are encouraged to demonstrate that their knowledge remains current through ongoing professional development, continued facilitation practice, and engagement with the expressive arts field.

Training provides foundational knowledge and skills, while facilitation experience demonstrates the ability to apply those skills in real-world settings. Experience hours can be obtained before, during, and/or after training.

Facilitation hours allow applicants to demonstrate:

1. ability to design and facilitate intermodal expressive arts activities 
2. capacity to guide individuals and groups through creative processes
3. understanding of group dynamics
4. ability to respond flexibly during facilitation
5. ethical and culturally responsive practice
6. integration of expressive arts principles into professional work

Qualifying facilitation involves guiding participants through intermodal expressive arts processes

Examples may include:

• Facilitating intermodal expressive arts workshops
• Leading community arts groups
• Guiding creative reflection groups
• Designing expressive arts-based educational programs
• Facilitating arts-based wellness programs
• Providing coaching using intermodal expressive arts activities
• Leading organizational creativity workshops
• Supporting group creative processes in community settings
• Teaching expressive arts approaches where the focus is on the creative process rather than technical art instruction

The key consideration is whether the practitioner is facilitating an intermodal expressive arts process.

Activities that generally do not qualify include:

• Personal art-making without participants
• Attending expressive arts workshops as a participant
• Volunteering or observing without facilitation
• Performing or exhibiting artwork
• Teaching technical art skills without expressive arts processes
• Administrative duties unrelated to facilitation
• General employment hours where expressive arts facilitation is not part of the role
• Expressive Arts Therapy or Counseling hours with clients
• Supervising Expressive Arts Therapy students or teaching Expressive Arts Therapy for clinical purposes

Yes.Volunteer experience may count when it involves meaningful expressive arts facilitation responsibilities.

Applicants should provide documentation on the work experience form located in the application PDF.

It depends on the nature of the teaching. Teaching may count when it involves facilitating expressive arts processes, creativity, reflection, exploration, or experiential learning.

Teaching that focuses only on technical instruction in an art form may not meet the facilitation requirement.

For example:

• A teacher guiding students through intermodal creative exploration may qualify.
• A teacher only teaching painting techniques may not qualify.
• A teacher teaching clinical art therapy approaches for clinical uses may not qualify.

REACE advisory is a non-clinical session designed to support Expressive Arts facilitators. These advisory sessions focus on developing intermodal expressive arts facilitation skills through discussion and guidance with credentialed REACE®s.

If you are interested in connecting with a credentialed REACEs for REACE advisory, please use the Credentialed REACE directory to connect with various REACE advisors.You can find more information on our REACE page.

Applicants should calculate only the time spent actively facilitating expressive arts processes.

For example:

• A weekly 2-hour expressive arts group facilitated for 50 weeks = 100 facilitation hours.
• A 3-day workshop where the applicant facilitates 6 hours per day = 18 facilitation hours.

Administrative work, planning, travel, and general employment hours should not automatically be counted unless they involve direct facilitation.