Mestiza consciousness and Expressive Arts Therapy?

-

During the past few years I have been working on examining the connection between expressive arts therapy and the concepts of decolonialization, critical race theory, engaged pedagogy, and other emerging anti-oppressive practices and theories (such as queer theory, mestiza consciousness, social justice work and feminist theory, to name just a few). 

I feel as though I am beginning to curve back around to my research on expressive arts therapy and social action and this has coincided with a movement within the creative arts therapies in examining critical pedagogy.  I was asked to submit a small piece for a new journal (blog) on Critical Pedagogy in the Arts Therapies - and am proud to have resurrected a piece I began on sabbatical a few years ago.

Expressive arts therapy and mestiza consciousness: Practicing in a "wild zone" is an adaptation of a larger piece I have been working on that hopes to invite expressive arts therapists to engage in a process of "self-definition."  A process I feel is so important given that within the larger scholarship in arts therapies I feel we are practicing at a time when we are being continuously subsumed under larger creative arts therapy and counseling discourses.  There's more to come I hope - but please check out my piece! 

And feel free to leave a comment!


Image: Photo of the “Erased” Border. Reprinted from the website of Ana Teresa Fernández by permission of the artist.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creating a forum for discussion

-
For some time I've been discussing the possibility of creating a blog for expressive therapy on my website with one of our alum, Eve Lyons. Well, there's nothing like a pressing project (how will I motivate myself when my dissertation is done?!) to get you moving! My hope is that this can be a way to make expressive therapy even more of a living process for those of us who are interested in learning more about it. So, here we go!
Read more

100 days of dialogue!

-
Image
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash Day 1:  I'm on sabbatical again - thank you Lesley University!! I have 100 days before I'm due back on campus. So I've decided to do a small project of choosing something I'm researching, reading or writing about to share on this blog each day. I've been writing about expressive arts therapy.  My goal has been to articulate a critical perspective on expressive arts therapy, but as usual, writing is never easy, and I feel pretty alone in the writing process.  I like to write (sort of). I like to read (definitely!). And I know there is a connection between the two.   For me, research, theorizing, and critical reflection are not only for me.  Although I do enjoy the process of playing with ideas, writing (and by extension teaching and practice) for me is my work - my attempt to be part of a future building and change process that is done in community! I've been feeling a bit bereft of community, so here is my attempt ...
Read more

40th anniversary of the Lesley University Expressive Therapy Program - save the date!

-
Image
Photo:  Norma Canner, 1970s SAVE THE DATE…. 40th Anniversary of the Expressive Therapies Program at Lesley University Conference and Celebration Saturday, September 20, 2014 Please stay tuned for further details as  an official save the date and invitation from the Alumni Office is forthcoming!   We hope to see you there! Expressive Therapies celebrates 40 years of making powerful inroads in the world In 1974, The Institute for the Arts and Human Development, housing both Expressive Therapies and Creative Arts in Learning, was founded at Lesley University. The Expressive Therapies program established in that year was one of the original graduate programs in the United States to train professionals in the emerging arts therapy field and the first to integrate all of the arts. ...
Read more