Nomadic Art Therapy: A Contemporary Epistemology for Reconstructed Practice

Abstract

A Deleuzian epistemology can inform a new framework for contemporary art therapy practice. The conception of the art therapist as a nomadic force within de-territorialized spaces may accurately reflect current employment realities in which art therapists must traverse diverse settings, populations, and client needs within a single practice. The Deleuzian concept of the rhizome, which is an organic structure that grows horizontally through nodal connections, is suggested as a valuable organizing principle for art therapists that resonates with clients and knowledge structures, and positions art making as central to a broadly conceived goal of becoming. Art therapists may discover in the metaphor of a nomad a sense of nonhierarchical, open space with emancipatory potential for both clients and art therapists.