Public Relations: Art Therapy Pedagogy Out of Bounds (Relations publiques : la pédagogie de l’art-thérapie hors limites)

This article provides an overview of the emergence of art therapies in Australia, from the perspectives of two art therapy educators from the University of Western Sydney (UWS). It introduces the context of art therapy practice and education in Australia and draws together a background history to the development of the profession, including key historical figures. The paper locates current positions and horizons within a post colonial context, revealing the innovative and hybrid practices of arts therapies that have evolved and are emerging in this particular place. A series of images provides a visual, poetic counterpoint to the text. Keywords: Art therapies, Australia, colonial legacies, art therapy education; hybrid practices

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, art therapy education was rarely taught online. This study employed a qualitative narrative research design. Its purpose was to understand the experiences of art therapy educators as they transitioned to remote and online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and to uncover the creative strategies they developed or witnessed in their higher education institutions that helped them to navigate challenges. The general population in the study was graduate and undergraduate art therapy educators. This study interviewed six art therapy educators about their experiences teaching art therapy remotely. They all shared their stories about creative strategies they used to help maintain a work-life balance while teaching online. The art therapy educators' narratives highlighted the changes in their professional teacher identities. These educators adjusted their practices, and thus their teaching identities, to provide more grace to their students, colleagues, and ultimately to themselves. They came up with creative strategies to navigate the changes that included, as examples, adapting email practices, providing lecture notes ahead of time, taking time to create art, walking more throughout the day, having spaces both in person and online for students to create art independently but together, and being more compassionate and empathetic towards each other and themselves as human.

This viewpoint asserts that art therapy education is a form of performance art. By designing class sessions as performance artworks, art therapy educators can help their students become more fully immersed in their studies. This view also can be extended to conceptualizing each semester—and the entire art therapy curriculum—as a complex and multilayered drama. Every subject taught in art therapy is a potential source of artistic inspiration.

Due to shifting standards in art therapy education and licensure an examination of how educators are preparing students for professional practice is warranted. This Delphi study used the framework of signature pedagogies to identify discipline-specific methods used by art therapy educators to teach students how to think, practice, and develop the ethics and values of the art therapy profession. A sample of 18 art therapy educators reached consensus on three common teaching methods and pedagogical worldview deemed essential to the education of art therapists: (a) experiential teaching and learning using art materials, (b) practicum/internship placements, and (c) art-based experiential learning. The results substantiate the claim that art therapy is a distinct profession with teaching methods differentiated from related disciplines.

The ability to make verbal interventions and use spoken language in a therapeutic manner is an essential competency for the art therapist to possess. Those responsible for the education and training of future art therapists must devote more direct attention to the development of verbal skills for our students within the art therapy curriculum. Many agencies who take our students for field-work as well as those who employ our graduates expect art therapists to counsel verbally in addition to providing art therapy services. Feedback from students as well as graduates who are now working as professionals in the field clearly indicates that this area of art therapist competency is one that needs greater attending to. In this article, the author addressed this very real need by offering a teaching-learning tool for students, supervisors, and art therapy educators.

The reciprocal relationship between art therapy practice and education has been addressed by Wadeson (1989). Recently, others have speculated about the future of art therapy and art therapy education in light of today's social, political, and economic climate (see Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4). This article explores the question, “What should art therapy education comprise in order for our profession to remain vital?” The question is addressed by observing patterns in the development of related professions and professional education. Three professions—medicine, social work, and psychology—are examined. Four lessons for the art therapy profession that seem apparent upon analysis of these professions are outlined. This article attempts to contribute to the discussion of the direction necessary for art therapy education.

This article describes the development of art therapy education and practice in Botswana, Chile, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, as discussed in a panel presentation, Art Therapy in the Global South, at the University of South Africa’s conference, Training Art Therapists for Social Justice. Panellists discussed the challenges and successes of varied educational paradigms, from paraprofessional training programmes to higher education courses and degree programmes. Among the panellists were citizens of the countries under discussion, as well as art therapy educators from the Global North, who worked as visiting professionals in these countries. The panellists touched on practices that have emerged from these trainings, ethical considerations for the development of Indigenous education and practice models, and questions of social justice related to the development of culturally relevant, context-specific art therapy. Included in the article are key questions identified by panellists prior to the conference, a summary of the conference presentation, and visual and written reflections from the panellists post-conference.

During the analysis of a survey of art therapy educators in 2001 (St. John, Kaiser, & Ball, 2004), issues of importance to art therapy and art therapy research education emerged. As a follow-up, the authors interviewed educators attending the 2002 Annual Conference of the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) to gain an understanding of their perspectives in three areas: emphasis on teaching qualitative and quantitative approaches, expected research competencies of graduates, and assistance programs needed to teach art therapy research effectively. Results from the study indicate that most participants perceive that qualitative research currently is emphasized more than quantitative research in art therapy education. Educators identified that the research competencies most expected from their graduates are the ability to read critically and to understand published research. Finally, with respect to teaching research effectively, most indicated that ongoing research education would support their teaching efforts. Implications for AATA and the profession are discussed.

The meaning and placement of studio components within art therapy education programs are explored in this article. The results of a survey of art therapy educators regarding the inclusion of art studio requirements in conjunction with internship in their educational curricula and the effects of including art in educational programs are discussed. Central to the discussion is the idea of place for artmaking. Supporting the idea of place, a model studio component for interns in an AATA-approved art therapy education program is discussed with a focus on student responses to participation. The studio as a container for artmaking and art's potential to heal is examined in the context of nonsupportive educational, organizational, and practical settings.“It is art which makes life, makes interest, makes importance … and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of its process” (Henry James cited in Stevens, 1951, p. 169).

Risk, rupture and change: Exploring the liminal space of the Open Studio in art therapy education

Background: Societal conflicts, racial oppression, and marginalisation can contribute to a sense of isolation among Asian and Asian-American art therapists, increasing their risks of burnout and disengagement from the field of art therapy. Fostering belongingness and connection within cultural and professional communities can strengthen a diverse and inclusive art therapy workforce. Aims: This study examines the lived experiences of four Asian/Asian-American art therapy educators navigating professional, cultural, and sociopolitical contexts. Methods: This collaborative autoethnography consists of individual self-reflection and collective dialogue, facilitated by reflexive art-making, conducted over one year to provide insight into the following topics: (1) Multiple identities, (2) Belonging, (3) Identity in the Classroom, and (4) Mentoring. Results: Through the intersubjective analysis of personal narratives and art-making, this qualitative study revealed a pervasive theme of compartmentalisation and disconnection between the perceived professional and personal selves, contributing to a profound sense of non-belonging. Conclusions: Factors driving this disconnection include the lack of validation and curiosity, stereotyping and devaluation, repeated needs to explain culture and race-related issues, and insufficient accountability for microaggressions. To address these challenges, we propose cultivating curiosity, fostering collective responsibility, and promoting active inclusion as pathways to bridge disconnection. Implications: Our findings contribute to a conceptual framework of belongingness, emphasising the integration of professional and personal identities through community care. This study underscores the importance of addressing systemic inequities and fostering community care to enhance belonging within the art therapy field and beyond. Plain-language summary We are four Asian/Asian-American art therapy educators who came together to explore our experiences in professional, cultural, and sociopolitical contexts. Through collective storytelling and art-making, we discovered a common struggle: compartmentalising our identities, keeping our ‘public’ professional selves separate from our ‘private’ personal selves. This separation, while offering protection, left us feeling disconnected and unsupported, contributing to a deeper sense of non-belonging. Art-making played a key role in helping us explore these experiences layered through multiple identities. In our discussions, we identified several factors contributing to this disconnection, including a lack of validation and curiosity, being stereotyped and undervalued, having to repeatedly explain culture and race-related issues, and the absence of accountability for microaggressions. These challenges often forced us to hide parts of who we are to fit into environments dominated by others’ expectations. As we reflected on our journeys, we realised the importance of creating bridges between our professional and personal selves. Fostering curiosity, taking shared responsibility, and actively including diverse voices emerged as essential steps toward building connection and belonging. Together, we developed a vision for integrating all parts of our identities through community care and mutual support. This process gave us a space to reconnect and reclaim our voices while highlighting the need for systemic change in academia and beyond. Ultimately, our work emphasizes that belonging is not a static achievement but an ongoing, collective process rooted in connection, mutual support, and community care.

(1993). Introduction to Special Issue on Art Therapy and Professionalism: Is There a Crisis in Art Therapy Education? Art Therapy: Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 122-128.

The objective of this study was to understand the current status of counselor, creative arts therapist and art therapist multicultural education-specifically student development of personal multicultural identity; and to propose an educational intervention tool to aid in the advancement of art therapy student multicultural identity development. Information that was analyzed describing the population of the United States, racism, societal oppression, race and counseling, multicultural counseling education and creative arts therapy education informed a presentation of literature about art therapy education as it relates to self-education and specific methods of instruction in counseling and art therapy education. The investigation helped develop the experiential art task proposed in the discussion chapter. The major findings of this literature-based study include a collection of criticism about multicultural education of counselors within the context of a pluralistic society. Current literature suggests that more multicultural education leads to more developed multicultural counseling competency. Literature emphasizes multicultural identity development and its critical role in the ability of a professional to competently practice multicultural counseling. This study encountered several limitations bound by the type and amount of research available involving counseling, creative arts therapy and art therapy multicultural education. The scope of this thesis limits the depth of exploration of other forms of social identity, and has investigated racism and counseling in detail. Also, possible inadvertent omission of somepertinent literature by the researcher must be included. No one has an objective point of view when talking about race So the literature reviewed and opinions presented in this study are shaped by inherent bias because this is a society and world where everyone is racially situated (Miller & Garran, 2008).

In this article I use a visitor-focused lens to examine ways in which art therapy and art museum education share similar goals and could join their efforts to serve people and communities in mutually beneficial ways. Benefits of such collaboration include affective and social development and education of visitors, a useful framework for exploring sensitive topics, opportunities for community engagement, and creating inclusive environments for diverse groups. I close with a consideration of the implications of art therapy and art museum education, and the ways in which art therapists and art museum educators can communicate and learn from one another to build successful art therapy museum programs.

This paper clarifies the history and development of art therapy as a profession in the Czech Republic since 1913. The author describes how the profession began with an initial interest in an intuitive understanding of the therapeutic possibilities inherent in art making for people with physical disabilities and psychiatric illnesses. An account is presented of how art therapy has grown into a profession that is understood as a form of psychotherapy which takes into account the complexity of unconscious processes as well as the role of the art object in its form and in its possibilities of a shift in art-making. The paper includes a discussion of the significant professionals and institutions which have been integral to the development of art therapy as a profession in the Czech Republic. Key Words: Art therapy, Czech Republic, art therapy history, art therapy education and training.