“It has to be held”: Exploring the social unconscious among art therapy students in a South African context through social dreaming
Main Article Content
Keywords
Art therapy, intersectionality, pedagogy, social dreaming, social unconscious
Abstract
The content of this article explores a social dreaming matrix (SDM) and art-making workshop among art therapy trainees in South Africa. This article is a preliminary investigation into the social unconscious of art therapy trainees, as art therapy practitioners and allied practitioners, who need to promote thinking that derives from an intersectional framework, as practising from this framework may help practitioners to be empathetic, culturally attuned, and culturally sensitive within a multicultural context. In this article, I argue that analytic group-based practices or interventions, such as an SDM, are a worthwhile method of getting to know and actively engage in the critical discourse around the lived experiences of students, practitioners, and citizens of South Africa. It may also prove a worthwhile directive for clients wishing to explore their social unconscious. This study considers knowledge and issues surrounding the complexities, contradictions, and discomfort of the lived experiences of future art therapists in South Africa. This exploratory approach aims to facilitate new insights into art therapy trainees’ social unconscious related to their identities as art therapy trainees and future practising art therapists. The central conclusion of the findings reveals that art therapy trainees’ social unconscious comprises five elements: power, privilege, identity, alienation, and violence related to their roles as art therapists. Moreover, the SDM and art-making offer a tool to empower the pedagogical process for art therapy trainees.
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References
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Merriam-Webster, Inc. (2023). Ambivalence. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambivalence
Murphy, P. (1996). Introduction: Defining pedagogy. In P. Murphy, & C. V. Gipps (Eds.) Equity in the classroom: Towards effective pedagogy for girls and boys. (1st Edition ed.). Routledge.
Pule, N., & May, M. (2021). Insights on student leadership using social dream drawing: Six propositions for the transformation role of South African student leaders. Transformation in Higher Education, 6(11), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v6i0.138
Solomon, G. (2005). Development of art therapy in South Africa: Dominant narratives and marginalized stories. International Journal of Art Therapy, 10(1), 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/17454830500112318
Talwar, S. K., Clinton, R., Sit, T., & Ospina, L. (2018). Intersectional reflexivity: Considering identities and accountability for art therapists. Art Therapy for Social Justice. (1 st Edition ed.). Routeledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315694184-4
Tsevreni, I. (2014). The empowering role of art in a critical pedagogy of place. Children, Youth and Empowerment, 24(1), 138-157. https://doi.org/10.1353/cye.2014.0042
Van Lith, T. (2016). Art therapy in mental health: a systematic review of approaches and practices. Arts in Psychotherapy, 47, 9-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2015.09.003
Weinberg, H. (2007). So what is this social unconcious anyway? Group Analysis, 3, 307-322.Wicks, J. (2016). Twitter erupts after KZN estate agent calls black people ’monkeys’. Mail and Guardian. https://doi.org/10.1177/0533316407076114
American Psychological Association (2023). Splitting. APA dictionary of psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/splitting
Berman, H. (2022). Traversing the Unknown: Group analytic approaches to intersectionality within tertiary education. In J. Collier, & C. Eastwood (Eds.), Intersectionality in the arts psychotherapies. Jessica Kingsley.
Berman, H., & Manley, J. (2018). Social dreaming and creativity in South Africa: Imagi (ni) ng the unthought known violent states and creative states – from the global to the individual.
Bermudez, G. (2018). The social dreaming matrix as a container for the processing of implicit racial bias and collective racial trauma. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207284.2018.1469957
Blackwell, D. (2003). Colonialism and globalization: A group analytic perspective. Group Analysis, 36(4), 445-463. https://doi.org/10.1177/0533316403364002
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Caughey, J. L. (2006). Negotiating cultures and identities: Life history issues, methods and readings. University of Nebraska Press.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139-168.
Dalal, F. (1998). Taking the group seriously: Towards a post-Foulksian group analytic theory. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429483233-14
Dalal, F. (2011). The social unconscious and ideology: In clinical theory and practice. In E. Hopper, & H. Weinberg (Eds.), The Social Unconcious in Persons, Groups and Societies (pp. 243-264). Karnac Publishers.
D’Amico, D. (2005). Race, class, gender and sexual orientation in adult literacy: Power, pedagogy and programs. National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.
DiAngelo, R. (2011). White fragility. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(3), 54‑70.
Durrheim, N., Mtose, X., & Brown, L. (2011). Race trouble: Race, identity and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa. Lexington Books.
Fanon, F. (1952). Black skins, white masks. Pluto Press.
George, T. (2021, December 6). Exploratory research: Definition, guide & examples. Retrieved 15 May, 2022, from Scribbr: https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/exploratory-research/
Gipson, L. R. (2015). Is cultural competence enough? Deepening social justice pedagogy in art therapy. Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 32(3), 142-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2015.1060835
Hankivsky, O. (2014). Intersectionality 101. Institute for Intersectionality Research & Policy.
Hooks, D. (2004). Fanon and the psychoanalysis of racism. Juta Academic Publishing. https://doi.org/10.33043/JSACP.4.2.117-119
Hooks, D. (2012). A critical psychology of the postcolonial: The mind of apartheid. Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, 4(2), 117- 120.
Hopper, E., & Weinberg, H. (2011). Introduction. In E. Hopper, & H. Weinberg (Eds.), The social unconscious in persons, groups and societies. (pp. 1-28). Karnac Books.
Hyyppä, H., & Bowles, J. (2016). Necessary darkness- inspiring light: Social dreaming - creative space, experience and method. Finnish Institute for Social Analysis in association.
Johnson, R. (2009). Inner work: Using dreams and actice imagination for personal growth (1st Edition ed.). Harper Collins.
Lawrence, G. (2000). The social dreaming phenomenon. Harry Stack Sullivan Society Lecture.
Long, W. (2017). Essence or experience? A new direction for African psychology. Theory and Psychology, 27(3), 293-312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354316686428
Macduffie, K., & Mashour, A. G. (2010). Dreams and the Temporality of Conciousness. American Journal of Psychology, 123(2), 189-197. https://doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.123.2.0189
Madison, S., & Hamera, J. (2005). Sage handbook of performance studies. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412976145
Manley, J. (2020). The jewel in the corona: crisis, the creativity of social dreaming and climate change. Journal of Social Work Practice, 34(4), 429-443. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2020.1795635
Manley, J., Gosling, J., & Patman, D. (2015). Full of dreams: Social Dreaming as Liminal Psychic Space. APROS Stream 19.
Mcbride, D. E., & Mazur, A. G. (2008). Women’s movements, feminism and feminist movements. In G. Goertz, & A. G. Mazur (Eds.), Politics, gender and concepts: Theory and methodology (pp. 219-243). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511755910.010
Merriam-Webster. (2023). Alienation. Merriam-Webster.com. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alienation
Merriam-Webster, Inc. (2023). Ambivalence. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambivalence
Murphy, P. (1996). Introduction: Defining pedagogy. In P. Murphy, & C. V. Gipps (Eds.) Equity in the classroom: Towards effective pedagogy for girls and boys. (1st Edition ed.). Routledge.
Pule, N., & May, M. (2021). Insights on student leadership using social dream drawing: Six propositions for the transformation role of South African student leaders. Transformation in Higher Education, 6(11), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v6i0.138
Solomon, G. (2005). Development of art therapy in South Africa: Dominant narratives and marginalized stories. International Journal of Art Therapy, 10(1), 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/17454830500112318
Talwar, S. K., Clinton, R., Sit, T., & Ospina, L. (2018). Intersectional reflexivity: Considering identities and accountability for art therapists. Art Therapy for Social Justice. (1 st Edition ed.). Routeledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315694184-4
Tsevreni, I. (2014). The empowering role of art in a critical pedagogy of place. Children, Youth and Empowerment, 24(1), 138-157. https://doi.org/10.1353/cye.2014.0042
Van Lith, T. (2016). Art therapy in mental health: a systematic review of approaches and practices. Arts in Psychotherapy, 47, 9-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2015.09.003
Weinberg, H. (2007). So what is this social unconcious anyway? Group Analysis, 3, 307-322.Wicks, J. (2016). Twitter erupts after KZN estate agent calls black people ’monkeys’. Mail and Guardian. https://doi.org/10.1177/0533316407076114
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Jul 13, 2023
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“It has to be held”: Exploring the social unconscious among art therapy students in a South African context through social dreaming. (2023). South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 1(1), 7-27. https://doi.org/10.36615/sajat.v1i1.2578
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How to Cite
“It has to be held”: Exploring the social unconscious among art therapy students in a South African context through social dreaming. (2023). South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 1(1), 7-27. https://doi.org/10.36615/sajat.v1i1.2578