Revisiting Feminist Approaches to Art Therapy

Susan Hogan encourages us to work with women to explore the construction of their identity not only on a personal level, but also on a cultural [one]...Feminist writers challenge us to look not only at other practices in order to locate biases, but to look also within [our own field's] epistemology. [...]
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Susan Hogan encourages us to work with women to explore the construction of their identity not only on a personal level, but also on a cultural [one]...Feminist writers challenge us to look not only at other practices in order to locate biases, but to look also within [our own field's] epistemology. American Journal of Art Therapy This is an accomplished, well-researched, well-referenced book on feminist art therapy...It has coherence; edges of definition touch and overlap, patterns of thought and experience are picked up and expressed in a different area, in different terminology, in phototherapy...It expresses the richness of texture that is feminism at work. Susan Hogan...locates art therapy, western-style, in its cultural context, as a cultural practice inextricably woven together with others. Inscape: Journal of the British Association of Art Therapists Most psychotherapies lack the depth of the sociological and anthropological explorations and debates that Hogan's stimulating books provoke...even psychologists very often do not adequately consider the race, class, gender, nationality, and even the age of their clients...Hogan is a scholar well-renowned for her bright and stirring work on such issues as the social construction of women's mental health and sexuality..., the social/cultural representation of women in psychiatric discourse, and the socio-political dimension of women's lives. Here she has applied her remarkably lucid analytical methods and writing skills...Writing for an audience of students and scholars, Hogan demonstrates clarity in her presentation of theoretical issues. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art Therapy Art therapy has been slow to embrace the critical and theoretical viewpoints, including feminism, that have made a huge impact on other areas of the humanities and social sciences. Art therapists are ideally situated, however, to respond to the growing awareness of how language, media, and images influence gender inequality and the pressures that can lead to poor mental health, and diminished wellbeing, among women. The contributors explore the ways in which gender issues can be addressed through art therapy. By being sensitive to the socio-cultural dimensions of women's lives, therapists can become more receptive to the needs of their female clients.The case studies included here illustrate how issues of class, ethnicity, and gender introduce a social element into what is sometimes described as a purely personal, cathartic process. By discussing empowerment, sexuality, pregnancy, and childbirth, this volume provides a comprehensive survey of women's issues within art therapy and will prompt a re-evaluation of current training and practice in the field. Susan Hogan is Professor of Cultural Studies and Art Therapy at the University of Derby and an art therapist in private practice specializing in work with women. Her research focuses on the position of women within psychiatry and in women's experience of pregnancy and childbirth.