Date of Award
Spring 5-5-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
MAE - Master of Arts in Expressive Therapies
Department
Expressive Therapies
Advisor
Sarah Hamil
Abstract
This research, in the form of a literature review, offers a broad discussion of the factors of identity formation related to the complex negotiations of place-bound intercultural liminality, a phenomenon resultant of developmentally early experiences of multiple relocations and exposure to a multiplicity of competing cultural frames of reference without the establishment of a secure cultural home. Moreover, it serves to propose art therapy as a fitting therapeutic technique for intervention for this population due to the inherent qualities of this form of psychotherapy. This would ideally be as a proactive approach to realizing the benefits of a highly cross-cultural upbringing and therefore hindering the highly correlated development of identity confusion or even experiences of cultural homelessness. It has been argued that art therapy carries the potential to ease the transition between cultures in the event of relocation, and adolescents in particular are extraordinarily apt for self-expression and individuation through art and the creative process due to their developmental task of identity construction. As such, self-exploratory and self-reflective art therapy approaches may positively encourage strong emotional resiliency and coping, and thereby promote the formation of a cohesive bicultural identity as opposed to a confused cultural interstitiality.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Benartzy, Adee, "Place-Based Intercultural Liminality and the Potential of Art Therapy in Cultural Identity Negotitations" (2020). Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 345.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/345
Included in
Counseling Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons
Rights
The author owns the copyright to this work.
