Date of Award

Spring 7-9-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Major

Expressive Therapies

First Advisor

Basel Zayed

Second Advisor

Mitchell Kossak

Abstract

The goal of this thesis was to reveal the interconnectedness of disparate discourse across diverse disciplines and locate it within one queer domain. The intersection of (expressive) art and (community/participatory) action is a space within which queer collaboration can take place. It is a space that can accommodate and energize non-normative idea generation and exchange which can mobilize queer resistance to create societal change (Fernández & Fine, 2024; Rutten, 2016). By engaging with interdisciplinary literature and situating conceptual frameworks in dialogue this review provides a foundation for liberatory expressive arts research (LExAR) and practice. Key themes include: centering queer and trans (QT) and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), co-constructing knowledge, amplifying counter-narratives, storytelling as queer archive, destabilizing binaries in representation and inquiry, unpacking the role of queer subjectivity as evidence, social justice and liberation, deconstructing dominant narrative. This review lays the groundwork for future inquiry in and liberation through expressive arts therapy (ExAT) research and practice as both queer method and queer archive. It is a call to action for creative arts therapy (CAT) and ExAT scholars and practitioners everywhere.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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