Feminist approaches to art therapy

A feminist approach is implicit rather than explicit for many art therapy practitioners. Sensitivity towards ‘gender issues’ in general is regarded as good practice, though what precisely is meant by this varies (Hogan and Cornish 2014). In terms of publications which explicitly discuss feminism, this approach is most associated with Hogan’s edited volumes (1997, 2003, 2012a) and a special edition of The Arts In Psychotherapy on Gender Issues (2013). The edited volumes are Feminist Approaches to Art Therapy (1997), Gender Issues in Art Therapy (2003) and Revisiting Feminist Approaches to Art Therapy (2012). Hogan has in-turn been principally influenced by the work of Simone de Beauvoir (1908–86) especially in adopting a perspective that sees gender as socially mediated and in flux. Feminist art therapy practice could sit under the umbrella term ‘social art therapy’, which is discussed in the next chapter. Both approaches are interested in how individuals are shaped by their social context and how illness is generated by and within social structures and relationships. But feminist art therapy is an important philosophy in its own right as women are subject to different pressures and constraints to those influencing men. For this reason, it is a topic worthy of separate consideration.