Nomadic Art Therapy: A Contemporary Epistemology for Reconstructed Practice. Issue 3 (3rd July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Reyhani Ghadim, Mitra
• Is Part Of: Art therapy. Volume 38:Issue 3(2021)
• Page Start: 127
• Page End: 136
• Publication Date: 2021-07-03
• Subjects: Art therapy -- nomad -- rhizome -- Deleuze -- becoming; Art therapy -- Periodicals; Art Therapy -- Periodicals; 615.85156
• DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2020.1746617
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0742-1656

Abstract

Abstract: A Deleuzian epistemology can inform a new framework for contemporary art therapy practice. The conception of the art therapist as a nomadic force within de-territorialized spaces may accurately reflect current employment realities in which art therapists must traverse diverse settings, populations, and client needs within a single practice. The Deleuzian concept of the rhizome, which is an organic structure that grows horizontally through nodal connections, is suggested as a valuable organizing principle for art therapists that resonates with clients and knowledge structures, and positions art making as central to a broadly conceived goal of becoming. Art therapists may discover in the metaphor of a nomad a sense of nonhierarchical, open space with emancipatory potential for both clients and art therapists.