Editorial Psycho-Spiritual Practices in Arts Therapies in Africa and the Global South
Main Article Content
Keywords
Psycho-Spiritual Practices, Arts Therapies, Africa, Global South
Abstract
The late Zulu sangoma and keeper of African wisdom, Credo Mutwa, once reflected on a profound moment of healing that challenged his understanding of therapeutic intervention. Having exhausted Western medical approaches to address his psychological distress following a violent attack in 1937, it was his grandfather, a man dismissed by missionaries as an ‘ungodly heathen’, who ultimately restored him to health (Mutwa, 1964). This experience led Mutwa (1964) to question why those dismissed by missionaries as ‘ungodly heathens’ possessed healing knowledge that Western medicine lacked. This poignant reflection encapsulates the central tension that this special issue of the South African Journal of Arts Therapies seeks to address.
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References
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Pather, V. (2025). Beautiful Justice. The role of beauty in restoring psycho-spiritual well-being in a post-colonial, post-apartheid South Africa. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, Special Issue.
Pillow, W. S. (2019). Epistemic witnessing: Theoretical responsibilities, decolonial attitude and lenticular futures. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 32(2), 118–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1576938
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
Ramírez-Barrantes, R., Arancibia, M., Stojanova, J., Aspé-Sánchez, M., Córdova, C., & Henríquez-Ch, R. A. (2019). Default mode network, meditation, and age-associated brain changes: What can we learn from the impact of mental training on well-being as a psychotherapeutic approach?. Neural Plasticity, 2019(1), 7067592. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/7067592
Ranchod, K. (2025). A framework for understanding the role of spirituality in health. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, Special Issue.
Ray, A. (2025). Drawing on a spiritual connection: Reflections of an art therapist working with dementia patients in and around Johannesburg. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, Special Issue.
Svalastog, A. L., Donev, D., Jahren Kristoffersen, N., & Gajović, S. (2017). Concepts and definitions of health and health-related values in the knowledge landscapes of the digital society. Croatian Medical Journal, 58(6), 431–435. https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2017.58.431
Vessel, E. A., Isik, A. I., Belfi, A. M., Stahl, J. L., & Starr, G. G. (2019). The default-mode network represents aesthetic appeal that generalizes across visual domains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(38), 19155-19164. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1902650116
Wa Thiongʼo, N. (1986). Decolonising the mind: The politics of language in African literature. James Currey; EAEP; Heinemann.
Wa Thiong’o, N. (2012). Globalectics: Theory and the politics of knowing. Columbia University Press.
Wilkinson, J. (1992). Talking with African writers: Interviews with African poets, playwrights & novelists. James Currey; Heinemann. https://doi.org/10.2307/40148776
Brownson, R. C., Colditz, G. A., & Proctor, E. K. (Eds.). (2018). Dissemination and implementation research in health: translating science to practice. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190683214.001.0001
Captari, L. E., Sandage, S. J., & Vandiver, R. A. (2022). Spiritually integrated psychotherapies in real-world clinical practice: Synthesizing the literature to identify best practices and future research directions. Psychotherapy, 59(3), 307. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000407
Chilisa, B. (2024). Relational ontologies and epistemologies that are informed by our philosophies: Inaugural Ubuntu Annual Lecture 2022. African Journal of Social Work, 14(3), 158–165. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v14i3.8
Chilisa, B., & Mertens, D. M. (2021). Indigenous made in Africa evaluation frameworks: Addressing epistemic violence and contributing to social transformation. American Journal of Evaluation, 42(2), 241–253. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214020948601
Corso, M., DeSouza, A., Brunton, G., Yu, H., Cancelliere, C., Mior, S., Taylor-Vaisey, A., MacLeod-Beaver, K., & Côté, P. (2022). Integrating Indigenous healing practices within collaborative care models in primary healthcare in Canada: A rapid scoping review. BMJ Open, 12(6), e059323. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059323
Dos Santos, A., & Brown, T. (2021). Music therapists’ empathic experiences of shared and differing orientations to religion and spirituality in the client-therapist relationship. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 74, 101786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2021.101786
Dudgeon, P., Bray, A. (2023). The Indigenous turn: Epistemic justice, Indigenous knowledge systems, and social and emotional well-being. In Ravulo, J., Olcoń, K., Dune, T., Workman, A., Liamputtong, P. (Eds.) Handbook of critical whiteness. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1612-0_31-1
Dutta, U. (2022). Decentering “Community” in community psychology: Towards radical relationality and resistance. In Kessi, S., Suffla, S., Seedat, M. (Eds.) Decolonial enactments in community psychology. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75201-9_4
Guimarães, D. S. (2019). Dialogical multiplication. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26702-5
Isaack, J. S. (2024). “They will never know what we lost when we lost our home”: How do women in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, remember forced removals (1960-1990)?. University of the Witwatersrand (master’s).
Kendall-Taylor, N., & Levitt, P. (2017). Beyond hat in hand: Science advocacy is foundational for policy decisions. Neuron, 94(4), 708–712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.04.039
Kinnear, S. (2025). An analytical review of Kim Berman’s Art therapy training in South Africa: Pedagogical strategies for social action during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, Special Issue.
Low, C., |Useb, J. (2022). Mental health and the San of southern Africa. In Danto, D., Zangeneh, M. (Eds.) Indigenous knowledge and mental health. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71346-1_6
Marko, J., & Constantin, S. (2019). Against marginalisation: The right to effective participation. In Human and minority rights protection by multiple diversity governance (pp. 340–395). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315544724-9
McKinnon, R. (2016). Epistemic injustice. Philosophy Compass, 11(8), 437–446. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12336
Mkhize, N. (2006). Communal personhood and the principle of autonomy: The ethical challenges. CME: Your SA Journal of CPD, 24(1), 26–29.
Moonga, N. (2025). Integrating arts therapies in Zambia: A reflection on psycho-spiritual cultural dispositions and their potential for healing. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, Special Issue.
Mutwa, C. (1964). Indaba my children: African tribal history, legends, customs and religious beliefs. Blue Crane Books.
Nyathi, P. A. (2024). Exploring forced removals and dispossession in the Dukuduku Forest, KwaZulu Natal, before and after 1994. History, 1468-229X.13438. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-229X.13438
Okri, B. (1992). The famished road (Vintage ed.). Vintage.
Okri, B. (1997). A way of being free. Phoenix House.
Pather, V. (2025). Beautiful Justice. The role of beauty in restoring psycho-spiritual well-being in a post-colonial, post-apartheid South Africa. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, Special Issue.
Pillow, W. S. (2019). Epistemic witnessing: Theoretical responsibilities, decolonial attitude and lenticular futures. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 32(2), 118–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1576938
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
Ramírez-Barrantes, R., Arancibia, M., Stojanova, J., Aspé-Sánchez, M., Córdova, C., & Henríquez-Ch, R. A. (2019). Default mode network, meditation, and age-associated brain changes: What can we learn from the impact of mental training on well-being as a psychotherapeutic approach?. Neural Plasticity, 2019(1), 7067592. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/7067592
Ranchod, K. (2025). A framework for understanding the role of spirituality in health. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, Special Issue.
Ray, A. (2025). Drawing on a spiritual connection: Reflections of an art therapist working with dementia patients in and around Johannesburg. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, Special Issue.
Svalastog, A. L., Donev, D., Jahren Kristoffersen, N., & Gajović, S. (2017). Concepts and definitions of health and health-related values in the knowledge landscapes of the digital society. Croatian Medical Journal, 58(6), 431–435. https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2017.58.431
Vessel, E. A., Isik, A. I., Belfi, A. M., Stahl, J. L., & Starr, G. G. (2019). The default-mode network represents aesthetic appeal that generalizes across visual domains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(38), 19155-19164. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1902650116
Wa Thiongʼo, N. (1986). Decolonising the mind: The politics of language in African literature. James Currey; EAEP; Heinemann.
Wa Thiong’o, N. (2012). Globalectics: Theory and the politics of knowing. Columbia University Press.
Wilkinson, J. (1992). Talking with African writers: Interviews with African poets, playwrights & novelists. James Currey; Heinemann. https://doi.org/10.2307/40148776
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Jul 21, 2025
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Editorial: Psycho-Spiritual Practices in Arts Therapies in Africa and the Global South. (2025). South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 3(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.36615/frqe2672
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How to Cite
Editorial: Psycho-Spiritual Practices in Arts Therapies in Africa and the Global South. (2025). South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 3(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.36615/frqe2672