Conference Reflection
Main Article Content
Keywords
Arts therapies, Indigenisation, intersectionality, professionalisation, social justice
Abstract
This paper reflects on the University of Johannesburg Art Therapy Conference, held in July 2023, focusing on themes of social justice and professionalisation within the arts therapies sector. The author critically examines the intersection of race, coloniality, and professionalisation in the field of arts therapy, particularly in the African context. Drawing on insights from the conference, the reflections highlight the persistent challenges faced by minoritised practitioners and service users, who remain underrepresented and underserved within the profession. The professionalisation of arts therapies is critiqued for perpetuating inequalities, alienating marginalised groups, and reinforcing colonial power dynamics. The paper also explores the tension between altruism and economic necessity in the work of arts therapists, underscoring the exploitation and undervaluation of their labour. Building on Kim Berman's editorial, these reflections call for greater inclusivity, cultural sensitivity, and the dismantling of systemic barriers within the arts therapy profession. Our role in this ongoing dialogue and action is crucial as professional colleagues and peers in the arts therapies sector. The conference's discourse offers a platform for us to collectively work toward a more equitable and socially just practice of arts therapy in Africa and beyond.
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References
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Berman, H. (2011). The development and practice of art therapy as “Community Art Counselling” in South Africa. Art Therapy Online, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.25602/GOLD.atol.v2i2.285
Berman, K. (2024). Editorial and reflections on the conference for SAJAT: Objectives of the Training Art Therapists for Social Justice Conference. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 2(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.36615/vzbh6r95
Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (Eds.). (2013). Reflection: Turning experience into learning. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315059051
Cho, C., Ko, W. Y., Ngan, O. M., & Wong, W. T. (2022). Exploring professionalism dilemma and moral distress through medical students’ eyes: A mixed-method study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(17), 10487. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710487.
Cole, T. (2012). The white-saviour industrial complex. The Atlantic, 21(1).
Crehan, S. (1990). Patronage, the state and ideology in Zambian Theatre. Journal of Southern African Studies, 16(2), 290–306. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057079008708235
Dalton, S.-L. (n.d.). Art as a therapeutic intervention in a multicultural South African context: experiences in an under-resourced community clinic. University of Pretoria (master’s thesis).
Dewey Lambert, P., & Sonke, J. (2019). Professionalizing arts management in healthcare facilities. Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 49(3), 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632921.2018.1559264
Egetenmeyer, R., Breitschwerdt, L., & Lechner, R. (2019). From ‘traditional professions’ to ‘new professionalism’: A multi-level perspective for analysing professionalisation in adult and continuing education. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 25(1), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477971418814009
Estrella, K. (2023). Expressive arts therapy: A profession in a “wild zone”. Arts in Psychotherapy, 82, 101992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101992.
Flaherty, J. (2016). No more heroes: Grassroots challenges to the saviour mentality. Ak Press.
Fouché, C., Oosthuizen, G., & Torrance, H. (2007). Community musicians and music therapy: Exploring possibilities for collaboration. Music Therapy Perspectives, 25(1), 5–12. https://doi.org/doi: 10.109325.1.5
Government of South Africa. (n.d.). Health Professions Act: Regulations: Defining the scope of the professions of arts therapy – Comments invited. Retrieved 6 March 2024, from https://www.gov.za/documents/notices/health-professions-act-regulations-defining-scope-professions-arts-therapy
Grande, S. (2018). Refusing the university. In Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang (Eds.), Toward what justice? (pp. 47–65). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351240932-4
Guan, T., Nelson, K., Otis-Green, S., Rayton, M., Schapmire, T., Wiener, L., & Zebrack, B. (2021). Moral distress among oncology social workers. JCO Oncology Practice, 17(7), e947–e957. https://doi.org/10.1200/OP.21.00276
Horsthemke, K. (2017). Transmission and transformation in higher education: Indigenisation, internationalisation and transculturality. Transformation in Higher Education, 2(1), 1 9. https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v2i0.12
Hoyle, E. (2001). Teaching as a profession. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 15472–15476). Pergamon. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/02450-5.
Hunnewell, I. (2019). Culture, identity, and critical theory in expressive arts therapy: A literature review. Lesley University (master’s thesis).
Ingold, T. (2021). In praise of amateurs. Ethnos, 86(1), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2020.1830824
Jarbandhan, D. B. (2022). The professionalisation of the South African public sector. Administratio Publica, 30(4), 24–51. https://doi.org/10.10520/ejc-adminpub_v30_n4_a3
Jones, P. (2020). The arts therapies: A revolution in healthcare. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315536989
Kalocsai, C., Agrawal, S., de Bie, L., Beder, M., Bellissimo, G., Berkhout, S., Johnson, A., McNaughton, N., Rodak, T., McCullough, K., & Soklaridis, S. (2023). Power to the people? A co-produced critical review of service user involvement in mental health professions education. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 29, 273–300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-023-10240-z
Kiguwa, P. (2024). Emotion and Affect in Social and Political Life: Community Psychology’s Contributions and Erasures. Handbook of Decolonial Community Psychology, 75. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67035-0_4
Kuja, R. (2019). 6 Harmful consequences of the white savior complex. Sojourners, 24.
Lateef, H., Nartey, P. B., Amoako, E. O., & Lateef, J. S. (2022). A systematic review of African-centered therapeutic interventions with Black American adults. Clinical Social Work Journal, 50(3), 256–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-021-00825-9
Mains, T., Clarke, V., & Annesley, L. (2024). “Music therapy is the very definition of white privilege”: Music therapists’ perspectives on race and class in UK music therapy. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, First View. https://doi.org/10.56883/aijmt.2024.20.
Maldonado-Torres, N. (2007). On the coloniality of being: Contributions to the development of a concept. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 240–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162548
Malis, D. (n.d.). Examining the identity of the art therapist: The voice of practice and relational care. Lesley University (doctoral dissertation).
Mamdani, M. (2001). Beyond settler and native as political identities: Overcoming the political legacy of colonialism. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 43(4), 651–664.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2020). African decolonisation’s past and present trajectories. Current History, 119(817), 188–193. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2020.119.817.188
Parsa, B., Murphy, S., Drynan, D., & Jarus, T. (2021). Reflection on professionalism: Retrospective review of health professional student reflections. International Journal of Practice-Based Learning in Health and Social Care, 9(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.18552/ijpblhsc.v9i1.669.
Phiri, P., Sajid, S., & Delanerolle, G. (2023). Decolonising the psychology curriculum: a perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1193241. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1193241
Qhobela, L. (2024). Training and research: Art Therapy for social justice: A keynote address. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 2(1), 21-35. https://doi.org/10.36615/5p6yq360
Quijano, A. (2000). Coloniality of power and Eurocentrism in Latin America. International Sociology, 15(2), 215–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580900015002005.
Quijano, A. (2007). Coloniality and modernity/rationality. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 168–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601164353.
Rees, C. E., Monrouxe, L. V., & Ajjawi, R. (2014). Professionalism in workplace learning: Understanding interprofessional dilemmas through healthcare student narratives. In Exploring the dynamics of personal, professional and interprofessional ethics (pp. 295–310). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447309000.ch019
Schierenbeck, I., Johansson, P., Andersson, L., & Rooyen, D. (2013). Barriers to accessing and receiving mental health care in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Health & Human Rights, 15, 110.
Swamy, S., & Webb, A. (2022). Voices of change: Learning from the lived experiences of minoritised music therapists. Music Therapy Perspectives, 40, 121–124. https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miac027
Ukim, C., & u Adora, C. (2019). Professionalising arts management in Nigeria: Challenges for arts managers in the academia. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337592902.
SAJAT. (2023). South African Journal of Arts Therapies. Retrieved 9 March 2024, from https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/sajat/issue/view/227
SANATA. (n.d.). Arts therapies. Retrieved 6 March 2024 from https://sanata.org/art-therapies/
Walcott, R. (2018). Against social justice and the limits of diversity: Or Black people and freedom. In Eve Tuck & K. Wayne Yang (Eds.), Toward what justice? (pp. 85–99). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351240932-6
Walsh, G. M. (2020). Challenging the hero narrative: Moving towards reparational citizenship education. Societies, 10(2), 34. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10020034
Wang, X., & Ho, M.-J. (2020). Professionalism dilemmas experienced by health professions students: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 34(3), 259–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2019.1649645
Wilson, C., Taghi Yasamy, M., Morris, J., Novin, A., Saeed, K., & D. Nkomo, S. (2014). Mental health services: The African gap. Journal of Public Mental Health, 13(3), 132–141. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-09-2013-0059.
y Muhs, G. G., Niemann, Y. F., González, C. G., & Harris, A. P. (2012). Presumed incompetent: The intersections of race and class for women in academia. University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt4cgr3k
Atkins, S., Knill, P. J., Simoneaux, G., Abbs, K., Kalmanowitz, D. L., Huss, E., MacLeod, C., Alalu, J., Lloyd, B., & Zavala, M. (2011). Art in action: Expressive arts therapy and social change. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Berman, H. (2011). The development and practice of art therapy as “Community Art Counselling” in South Africa. Art Therapy Online, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.25602/GOLD.atol.v2i2.285
Berman, K. (2024). Editorial and reflections on the conference for SAJAT: Objectives of the Training Art Therapists for Social Justice Conference. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 2(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.36615/vzbh6r95
Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (Eds.). (2013). Reflection: Turning experience into learning. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315059051
Cho, C., Ko, W. Y., Ngan, O. M., & Wong, W. T. (2022). Exploring professionalism dilemma and moral distress through medical students’ eyes: A mixed-method study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(17), 10487. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710487.
Cole, T. (2012). The white-saviour industrial complex. The Atlantic, 21(1).
Crehan, S. (1990). Patronage, the state and ideology in Zambian Theatre. Journal of Southern African Studies, 16(2), 290–306. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057079008708235
Dalton, S.-L. (n.d.). Art as a therapeutic intervention in a multicultural South African context: experiences in an under-resourced community clinic. University of Pretoria (master’s thesis).
Dewey Lambert, P., & Sonke, J. (2019). Professionalizing arts management in healthcare facilities. Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 49(3), 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632921.2018.1559264
Egetenmeyer, R., Breitschwerdt, L., & Lechner, R. (2019). From ‘traditional professions’ to ‘new professionalism’: A multi-level perspective for analysing professionalisation in adult and continuing education. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 25(1), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477971418814009
Estrella, K. (2023). Expressive arts therapy: A profession in a “wild zone”. Arts in Psychotherapy, 82, 101992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101992.
Flaherty, J. (2016). No more heroes: Grassroots challenges to the saviour mentality. Ak Press.
Fouché, C., Oosthuizen, G., & Torrance, H. (2007). Community musicians and music therapy: Exploring possibilities for collaboration. Music Therapy Perspectives, 25(1), 5–12. https://doi.org/doi: 10.109325.1.5
Government of South Africa. (n.d.). Health Professions Act: Regulations: Defining the scope of the professions of arts therapy – Comments invited. Retrieved 6 March 2024, from https://www.gov.za/documents/notices/health-professions-act-regulations-defining-scope-professions-arts-therapy
Grande, S. (2018). Refusing the university. In Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang (Eds.), Toward what justice? (pp. 47–65). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351240932-4
Guan, T., Nelson, K., Otis-Green, S., Rayton, M., Schapmire, T., Wiener, L., & Zebrack, B. (2021). Moral distress among oncology social workers. JCO Oncology Practice, 17(7), e947–e957. https://doi.org/10.1200/OP.21.00276
Horsthemke, K. (2017). Transmission and transformation in higher education: Indigenisation, internationalisation and transculturality. Transformation in Higher Education, 2(1), 1 9. https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v2i0.12
Hoyle, E. (2001). Teaching as a profession. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 15472–15476). Pergamon. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/02450-5.
Hunnewell, I. (2019). Culture, identity, and critical theory in expressive arts therapy: A literature review. Lesley University (master’s thesis).
Ingold, T. (2021). In praise of amateurs. Ethnos, 86(1), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2020.1830824
Jarbandhan, D. B. (2022). The professionalisation of the South African public sector. Administratio Publica, 30(4), 24–51. https://doi.org/10.10520/ejc-adminpub_v30_n4_a3
Jones, P. (2020). The arts therapies: A revolution in healthcare. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315536989
Kalocsai, C., Agrawal, S., de Bie, L., Beder, M., Bellissimo, G., Berkhout, S., Johnson, A., McNaughton, N., Rodak, T., McCullough, K., & Soklaridis, S. (2023). Power to the people? A co-produced critical review of service user involvement in mental health professions education. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 29, 273–300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-023-10240-z
Kiguwa, P. (2024). Emotion and Affect in Social and Political Life: Community Psychology’s Contributions and Erasures. Handbook of Decolonial Community Psychology, 75. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67035-0_4
Kuja, R. (2019). 6 Harmful consequences of the white savior complex. Sojourners, 24.
Lateef, H., Nartey, P. B., Amoako, E. O., & Lateef, J. S. (2022). A systematic review of African-centered therapeutic interventions with Black American adults. Clinical Social Work Journal, 50(3), 256–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-021-00825-9
Mains, T., Clarke, V., & Annesley, L. (2024). “Music therapy is the very definition of white privilege”: Music therapists’ perspectives on race and class in UK music therapy. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, First View. https://doi.org/10.56883/aijmt.2024.20.
Maldonado-Torres, N. (2007). On the coloniality of being: Contributions to the development of a concept. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 240–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162548
Malis, D. (n.d.). Examining the identity of the art therapist: The voice of practice and relational care. Lesley University (doctoral dissertation).
Mamdani, M. (2001). Beyond settler and native as political identities: Overcoming the political legacy of colonialism. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 43(4), 651–664.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2020). African decolonisation’s past and present trajectories. Current History, 119(817), 188–193. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2020.119.817.188
Parsa, B., Murphy, S., Drynan, D., & Jarus, T. (2021). Reflection on professionalism: Retrospective review of health professional student reflections. International Journal of Practice-Based Learning in Health and Social Care, 9(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.18552/ijpblhsc.v9i1.669.
Phiri, P., Sajid, S., & Delanerolle, G. (2023). Decolonising the psychology curriculum: a perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1193241. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1193241
Qhobela, L. (2024). Training and research: Art Therapy for social justice: A keynote address. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 2(1), 21-35. https://doi.org/10.36615/5p6yq360
Quijano, A. (2000). Coloniality of power and Eurocentrism in Latin America. International Sociology, 15(2), 215–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580900015002005.
Quijano, A. (2007). Coloniality and modernity/rationality. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 168–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601164353.
Rees, C. E., Monrouxe, L. V., & Ajjawi, R. (2014). Professionalism in workplace learning: Understanding interprofessional dilemmas through healthcare student narratives. In Exploring the dynamics of personal, professional and interprofessional ethics (pp. 295–310). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447309000.ch019
Schierenbeck, I., Johansson, P., Andersson, L., & Rooyen, D. (2013). Barriers to accessing and receiving mental health care in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Health & Human Rights, 15, 110.
Swamy, S., & Webb, A. (2022). Voices of change: Learning from the lived experiences of minoritised music therapists. Music Therapy Perspectives, 40, 121–124. https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miac027
Ukim, C., & u Adora, C. (2019). Professionalising arts management in Nigeria: Challenges for arts managers in the academia. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337592902.
SAJAT. (2023). South African Journal of Arts Therapies. Retrieved 9 March 2024, from https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/sajat/issue/view/227
SANATA. (n.d.). Arts therapies. Retrieved 6 March 2024 from https://sanata.org/art-therapies/
Walcott, R. (2018). Against social justice and the limits of diversity: Or Black people and freedom. In Eve Tuck & K. Wayne Yang (Eds.), Toward what justice? (pp. 85–99). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351240932-6
Walsh, G. M. (2020). Challenging the hero narrative: Moving towards reparational citizenship education. Societies, 10(2), 34. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10020034
Wang, X., & Ho, M.-J. (2020). Professionalism dilemmas experienced by health professions students: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 34(3), 259–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2019.1649645
Wilson, C., Taghi Yasamy, M., Morris, J., Novin, A., Saeed, K., & D. Nkomo, S. (2014). Mental health services: The African gap. Journal of Public Mental Health, 13(3), 132–141. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-09-2013-0059.
y Muhs, G. G., Niemann, Y. F., González, C. G., & Harris, A. P. (2012). Presumed incompetent: The intersections of race and class for women in academia. University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt4cgr3k
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Nov 22, 2024
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Conference Reflection. (2024). South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 2(2), 5-20. https://doi.org/10.36615/hr16yw57
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Conference Reflection. (2024). South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 2(2), 5-20. https://doi.org/10.36615/hr16yw57