ABSTRACT

This book explores Asian art therapist experiences in a predominantly white professional field, challenging readers with visceral, racial, and personalized stories that may push them far beyond their comfort zone.

Drawing from the expertise and practices of Asian art therapists from around the world, this unique text navigates how minority status can affect training and clinical practice in relation to clients, co-workers, and peers. It describes how Asian pioneers have broken therapeutic and racial rules to accommodate patient needs and improve clinical skills and illustrates how the reader can examine and disseminate their own biases. Authors share how they make their own path—by becoming aware of the connection between their lives and circumstances—and how they liberate themselves and those who seek their services.

This informative resource for art therapy students and professionals offers non-Asian readers a glimpse at personal and clinical experiences in the White-dominant profession while detailing how Asian art therapists can lead race-based discussions with empathy to become more competent therapists and educators in an increasingly diversifying world.

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

Unsettling Matter of Race and Ethnicity

chapter 1|16 pages

History Matters

Stories about Identity, Culture, and Art Therapy

chapter 2|16 pages

The Portrait of a Color-Blind Art Therapist

A Japanese Art Therapist Working with Minority Clients in NYC

chapter 3|14 pages

Returning to the Sacred Circle, Immigrant and Indigenous Allies

A Heuristic Perspective

chapter 4|10 pages

My Optional Practical Training Experience

My Perspective as a Japanese Art Therapy Student

chapter 5|10 pages

An Art Therapist's Perspective on Cultural Humility in Diverse Setting

A Personal Journey from India to the United States of America

chapter 6|8 pages

Between Melting Pots

A Filipino American Art Therapist and the Bean Project

chapter 7|10 pages

Unrealistic Expectations and Harsh Realities

Navigating Career Development as an Asian Art Therapist

chapter 8|14 pages

Find Lost Name

Self-Reflection on the Journey of Being an Art Therapist

chapter 10|18 pages

Intracultural Practice for Asian Art Therapists

“Are You One of Us, or Are You One of Them?”

chapter |4 pages

Conclusion

A Need for Cognitive Diversity in Multicultural Training