‘There is a sense of bravery in having to make a mark’: Resilience and art therapy in South Africa

Abstract

This article is located within the complex landscape of South Africa’s mental healthcare system and its associated challenges regarding socioeconomic and historical injustices. Despite decades of enquiry across diverse fields, the concept of resilience remains subjective. Although tentative connections to creativity, artmaking, and art therapy exist, a contextually relevant South African-focused investigation is missing, providing the gap for this research. Using a constructivist-interpretivist framework and qualitative methodology, discoveries as to how training art therapists conceptualise, utilise, and safeguard their resilience through artmaking were generated. Data was gathered using individual, semi-structured interviews amongst five purposively sampled training art therapist participants and thematic analysis was used to present the findings. Results provide insight into how training art therapists foster resilience through artmaking which equips them to offer similar opportunities for their clients. Findings also suggest that resilience is as crucial for practitioners as it is for clients, especially if the modality is to be sustained long term. Some suggestions for safeguarding practitioner resilience are offered. Consequently, the article offers some evidence as to how and why art therapy offers an accessible and alternative form of healing for people living in South Africa.