Problematizing Wellbeing: Critical Feminism and Practices of Care in the Arts Therapies

Feminism is a praxis, a theory, methodology and pedagogy that engages with anti-oppressive struggles as interlinked and connected by the common denominator of experiencing the oppressions of white supremacist capitalist patriarchal power and domination. Feminism has challenged the structures of globalization, capitalism, and neoliberalism and how they have impacted women and other oppressed populations, their labor practices, and mainstream conceptions of the self and the therapeutic. This presentation engages with the concept of “feminisms” and how each presenter came to define feminism as a personal and political identity and methodology. This will be followed by two case studies to examine the application of feminist pedagogy and to trouble practices of care that attend to false conditions of safety and protection in the face of systemic oppression and violence. Suggestions for healthy critique and implications for arts therapies practice and its impact will be shared.

Professor Savneet Talwar
Professor at the Graduate Art Therapy and Counseling program atthe School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA

Professor Karen Wright
Senior Clinician and Art Psychotherapist in a Child andAdolescent Mental Health Service within the UK’s NHS.

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Part of the seminar series, The Spaces Between: Equity, Voice, Agency and Care Practices Involving the Arts and Arts Therapies

Photo by Kaz Madigan