Playing with race: A theoretical framework and approach for creative arts therapists

Abstract

Our assumptions about race and the process of othering are crucial in the therapeutic relationship, with power, privilege, and personal and collective trauma impacting the encounter. In spite of this, race is seldom formally discussed in the creative arts therapies. This literature review suggests that the existing writing often problematically includes essentialist discourse, color-blind statements, unqualified suggestions that the arts transcend difference, or “how to” instructions for working with particular racialized groups. Drawing on critical race theory and performance studies, this article offers theory for understanding race as roles that are produced and performed, embodied and created in the encounter. By engaging with these roles, we may disrupt rigid notions of race, provide an ethical component of the therapeutic relationship, and work towards social change. Analysis of the “Developmental Transformations” (DvT) section of the Three Approaches to Drama Therapy (New York University, 2005) video is included as illustration of the potential, complexity, and limitations of playing with race.