A heuristic inquiry exploring the cross-cultural therapeutic alliance in art therapy through content analysis of response art and Gestalt Journaling

This paper discusses race in cross-cultural relationships in art therapy practice through a heuristic inquiry following the author’s art therapy practicum and internship experiences. Since clients represent many races and ethnicities, a gap exists between the supply of racially and ethnically diverse art therapists and the demand of the diverse client base. As a result, most art therapists will work within cross-cultural therapeutic relationships. One way to address this is to improve cultural competence and humility in the individual art therapist therefore this research attempts to address this goal by using content analysis to explore meaning found in journals maintained while working in a cross-cultural environment, and response art paintings and gestalt journaling completed over a multi-week period. This research presents a literature review of multicultural art therapy and cross-cultural relationship theory and practice, documents a personal transformation with results that could influence art therapy praxis, and endeavors to shape professional identity for an emerging art therapist based on earnest and thorough exploration of cultural competency beyond required educational coursework.