Introduction to the Special Issue — Anti-Oppressive Art Therapy: Cultural Humility

When I began my journey in the field of art therapy it became strikingly apparent to me that my path was unknown. I searched for guidance amongst a field that appeared devoid of Black women like me. I was grateful, in my deliberate search, to find those trailblazers who offered representation and advocated for cultural competence, awareness, and sensitivity (Boston & Short, 1998; Doby-Copeland, 2006; Hiscox & Calisch, 1998; Stepney, 2017). I persisted by making my way to Tervalon and her notion of cultural humility (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998). I had not heard of cultural humility and definitely not in tandem with art therapy. Yet, I experienced it as a unique blend of soil with all the nutrients I was looking for to further cultivate the art therapist I was becoming. As I began to thrive, I shared this rich material with others, initially in a book (Jackson, 2020) and further in this special issue as others contribute their own ideas as seeds to the soil.

Before beginning the journey of cultural humility, one must critically examine, explore, and understand the land on which they stand (Tervalon & Lewis, 2018). Therefore, it is imperative to give recognition to the many forms of colonization, immigration, migration, slave trade, and expatriation that transform, influence, and dictate the social context of the lands in which we live to critically examine, explore, and understand current contexts. This foundation is crucial so that when humility becomes challenged or affected it does not throw one off, but offers stabilization to continue the journey. This strong stance is depicted in Brittney Washington’s featured cover art, The Decision. With perception, surveillance, and observation, the figure is grounded and connected. Resolved in self-determination in the face of oppressive systems, this person makes the first steps forward in their new resolve and purpose. Continuing in this way, this special issue is the product of cross-cultural collaboration that spans different countries and art therapy associations. In recognition of the need to increase perspectives on anti-oppressive frameworks in art therapy, this journal, Art Therapy, focuses on cultural humility to complement the International Journal of Art Therapy special issue on intersectionality and the Canadian Journal of Art Therapy special issue on anti-colonialism and reindiginization.

The term cultural humility can be misunderstood as submissive or obedient, particularly for those who hold identities that have been disenfranchised and maligned (Moon & Sandage, 2019). Staying humble does not mean advancing delicately or giving up when there are roadblocks. It means standing up, taking accountability, and forging a path that often has not been blazed, even while remaining curious about our own reactions and responses and those of others. Don’t hide behind humility. It requires having courage and responsibility.

Cultural humility is the soil that can nourish. The land is unknown but it is through personal experiences that art therapists can lay a path forward. In developing the pathway to humility, everyone begins at a different stage based on their lived experience. Throughout this issue, each unique and thoughtful contribution acts as a stepping stone that builds a pathway. The distinctive contributions each undergird one of the four pillars of cultural humility: ensuring means for self-reflection; redressing power dynamics in the client–art therapist relationship; developing mutually beneficial partnerships including the imperative collaboration with community; and advocating for change within agencies, institutions, and societies for the advancement of the field and the human potential.

Beginning with the pillar of self-reflection, two contributions build on the capacity of art making for personal meaning making. Stella Stepney discusses how self-portraiture can yield a multicultural orientation to art therapy that includes a focus on lifelong self-critique. This idea is further examined by Deanna Barton and Zachary Van Den Berg in their art making of The Humble Chair. Both contributions serve as reminders that in moving forward, art therapists must stop and reflect in the spirit of the Ashante Andikrah symbol Sankofa; looking back and experiencing the present, while looking to the future. The authors lead by example, sharing their moments of reflection while examining their intersectional cultural contexts.

The next stepping stone brings the reader from self to interrelationships by understanding one’s own disposition and how intentions can affect others based on power imbalances. Rivkah Hetherington and Luna place lived experience at the core of their article as they introduce a model of art therapy rooted in power-from-within for assisting a lesbian adolescent in her identity and navigating social contexts. Danielle Chen and David Gussak give a perspective of power and privilege in doctoral education deconstructing either–or versus both–and examinations of identity. Listening to their stories, readers are guided through their struggles and triumphs related to microaggressions, anxiety, and liberations. Each explores the creative process and art making for its relational capacity.

The two contributions that focus on globalization secure the stepping stone of community partnership. Cultural humility requires art therapists to reexamine the us and them positionality and move toward a collaborative that offers care and advocacy, so that it allows the community to be at the lead of its own healing practices by respecting definitions of health priorities and building on existing strengths. Joyce Green, Einat Metzl, and Ana Laura Treviño navigate complex social and political landscapes to raise awareness with an international exchange of students. Rachel Crawford, Fred Kyakuwa, and Katharine Walker model the importance of dialogue and indigenous expertise with an art educator and former unhoused youth in Uganda. They depict working with the power imbalance by distributing the knowledge and decision making often and freely. In these two contributions, art therapists consider personal and interpersonal needs in a way that honors all engaged.

Lynn Kapitan offers reflections on the fourth pillar, institutional accountability. Relayed through the liminal contact zone of a social ecotone, she delivers the negotiation of power through cultural humility as an ongoing, profoundly ethical process in the practice of globalization. Stressing the commitment to social change, the article speaks about the requirement to walk across the cross-cultural path, with love, respect, and dignity.

Each of the described stepping stones offers a path to navigate cultural humility, but also forms a solid ground. As this special issue demonstrates, even though this journey includes challenges and impediments that cause strife and pain, these obstacles can bring resolve when one maintains the courage to stay on the path. With every movement forward, art therapists must continue to honor those who have laid the path by adding new stepping stones and reinforcing trails that take the profession across this land and beyond. As is evident from the brave vulnerability of the authors, humility does not suggest being docile. It is recognizing that one is not all knowing, of all things and all times. Humility means accepting that there is always room for growth and understanding. It is not fixed; it moves with what is needed to move toward just and equitable accountability. Stepping stones are placed in response to the land, rather than heavy slabs of concrete that restrict a seed’s growth. As my and others’ journeys indicate, people often have enough strength and power to push through and find the cracks to become flowers. How much lovelier would it be, though, if the concrete was not a barrier, and the flower was able to access the resources for it to bloom.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Louvenia Jackson

Louvenia Jackson, PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC, is Associate Professor and Department Chair of the Marital and Family Therapy with Specialization in Art Therapy Department at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA.