1st Edition
Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy Theory and Praxis
Introduction: Situating Queer Worlds in Art Therapy
Part 1: History and Theory
1. Queering the Archive: Cis-Heterosexist Epistemological Foundations in 20th Century Art Therapy
Zachary D. Van Den Berg
2. Queering Art Therapy’s Lineage: A Comic
Mikey Anderson
3. AIDS, the Crisis That Nearly Killed Us All: Art, Activism and Community
Danniel Anthon
4. Queer Worldmaking for Gender Emergence Across the Lifespan
MaKael White
5. Sexual Identity Development and Becoming
Daniel Blausey and Yasmine Awais
Part 2: Praxis
6. Queer Camp Aesthetics and Performativity in Art Therapy
Zachary D. Van Den Berg, Renée S. D. Tate, and Alison Wren
7. Where Color Refuses to Blend: Supporting Queer and Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in Art Therapy
Michael Galarraga and Maqueita S. Eleazer
8. Navigating the In-Between: Celebrating Bi and Pan Identities in Art Therapy
Renée S. D. Tate, Marilyn Holmes, and Hannah Muller
9. Art Therapy in Asexual and Aromantic-Affirming Practice
Jess L. Minckley and Maryssa Beare
10. Fostering Belonging: Art Therapy with Queer Individuals with Disabilities
BA Short
11. When the Body Is Sickening, It's Serving Pain and Symptoms: Queer and Living with Chronic Illness
Karen Lill
12. Supporting LGBTQIA+ Older Adults in Art Therapy
Sharon Arbtin and Marissa Singer
13. Queering Group Art Therapy or Why I Hate Groups
Jessie Holder and Penny Orr
14. Constellations and Connections: Diversity in Relational Structures
Kachina Mooney and Elena Kourounis
15. The Intersection of Queer and Kinky Worlds in Art Therapy
Tamara Galinsky and Allison Marx
16. LGBTQIA+ Intimate Partner Violence and Queer Trauma-Informed Art Therapy
Dani DeLade
17. Family Art Therapy with Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming and Queer Youth
Val Newman and Jenni Ford
18. Application of the Creative Arts Therapies in Identity Development and Medical Decision-Making for Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals
Benjamin Davis et al
19. "I Learned to Paint the Body that Finally Felt like Home": Body Liberation and Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy Eating Disorder Treatment
Wednesdae Reim Ifrach and Kyle Congdon
20. Underneath the Paper Moon: A Queer Harm Reduction Perspective on Working with Addictions in Art
Nicholas “Nick” Denson
21. Expanding the Map, Drawing New Territories: Queer Worldmaking and Psychedelic-Assisted Art Therapy
Alyssa Gursky
22. A Queer Declassified School Survival Guide: Supporting LGBTQIA+ Students via Art Therapy in the School System
Sara Blevins-Ranes and Sarah Pregmon
23. Exploring Spiritual and Religious Worlds in Art Therapy for Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color
Eileen Marie Pagán Muñoz
Part 3: Ethics
24. Queering Multiple Relationships in Small Communities
Magdalena Karlick and Natalie Rae Carlton
25. The Future is Nonbinary: Localized Queer Art Therapy in a Global Context
Ling Cheun Bianca Lee
Biography
Zachary D. Van Den Berg, MA, LPC, ATR-BC (they/he), is an art therapist, scholar, and founder of the Coalition for Queer Creative Arts Therapies Inc. in Austin, Texas, United States.
"Reading this book has opened my eyes to multiple new ways of thinking for which I am deeply grateful. Its many chapters and contributors introduce the reader not only to a group of people, but also to a perspective on existing ways of understanding and helping that is both sharply critical and tenderly compassionate. It is a major contribution to the literature of the profession, and should be required reading in all art therapy training programs."
Judith A. Rubin, PhD, ATR-BC, HLM, past president and honorary life member of the American Art Therapy Association, co-founder of the Expressive Media Film Library, author of seven books including Approaches to Art Therapy: Theory and Technique, 3rd Edition, and creator of thirteen films
"Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy is a timely anthology that gathers critical essays on queerness, art and therapy to challenge the cis-heteronormative foundations of the field. Bridging theory and practice, the collection reimagines art therapy as an inclusive, socially engaged discipline grounded in a queer ethos of care—one that values multiplicity, fluidity, and relationality. Acknowledging the field’s exclusionary histories, the contributors propose “queer worldmaking” as a transformative framework for survival, meaning-making, and collective healing, inviting new possibilities for care, resistance, and belonging beyond therapy."
Savneet K. Talwar, PhD, ATR-BC, professor in art therapy at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, editor of Art Therapy for Social Justice: Radical Intersections
"I’ve been waiting for such a lively, informative, and grace-filled book all my professional life: Filled to the brim with the practice wisdom of art therapists who are audaciously generating new possibilities for queer life in its many meaningful, life-enhancing forms. Deeply scholarly and refreshingly accessible, this expansive collection offers a potent professional resource for readers that will draw them into the creative project of queer worldmaking and transform their capacity to practice a queer ethos of care with imagination, depth, and solidarity."
Lynn Kapitan, PhD, HLM, ATR-BC, professor emerita of art therapy at Mount Mary University, past president and honorary life member of the American Art Therapy Association and former executive editor of Art Therapy, author of Introduction to Art Therapy Research, 3rd Edition
"Van Den Berg masterfully weaves together the disparate experiences of numerous clinicians, therapists, and artists through impactful historical reflections, personal narratives, clinical applications, epistemological examinations and ethical considerations, to create a singular illustration of inclusivity and belonging. To say this book is timely is simply unjust; it should have been available years ago. We owe them a debt of thanks."
David E. Gussak, PhD, ATR-BC, HLM, professor/director, Florida State University Institute for the Arts and Art Therapy with the Imprisoned, honorary life member of the American Art Therapy Association, co-editor of The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy, 2nd Edition
"Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy offers culturally relevant tools for practice and education. The deep exploration of intersectionality carries a thoughtful examination of communities and experiences absent from art therapy literature. The expansive variety of perspectives depicts compelling introspection and dynamic case studies. Eclectic and practical applications prompt us to examine our biases, offering ways to discover and activate equitable therapeutic spaces."
Louvenia Jackson, PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC, professor and department chair of marital and family therapy with specialized training in art therapy at Loyola Marymount University, former board member of the American Art Therapy Association and author.
"Zachary D. Van Den Berg and colleagues bring us an unprecedented collection of writings that promise to enhance awareness and understanding for LGBTQIA+ topics. This edited volume is a must read for all art therapists seeking to better meet the needs of queer and trans patients and clients in the art therapy community and beyond."
Girija Kaimal, EdD, MA, ATR-BC, professor and chair of Drexel University’s Department of Creative Arts Therapies and past president of the American Art Therapy Association, co-editor of Arts-Based Approaches to Support Mental Health and Well-Being
"When I presented on art therapy and coming out at the American Art Therapy Association conference in 2000, I could have only hoped for a resource like this one. This volume is a bold and proud declaration of the generational protest chant, ‘We’re here! We’re queer! Get used to it!’ With attention to unique aspects that inform LGBTQIA+ experiences, contributors offer theories, practices, and cases that appreciate how queer joy, queer discrimination, queer resistance, and queer community coalesce as a foundation for comprehensive and responsive art therapy."
Jordan S. Potash, PhD, ATR-BC, LPAT (DC), LCPAT (MD), associate professor of art therapy at The George Washington University, former executive editor of Art Therapy
"Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy is a groundbreaking contribution that reimagines therapeutic practice. Van Den Berg and the extensive collective of contributors they have gathered refuse to simply add LGBTQIA+ perspectives to existing frameworks: they audaciously challenge art therapy to become a space of radical transformation where materials become co-conspirators in reshaping identity and possibility. This book equips art therapists with the critical consciousness and concrete tools needed for genuine allyship, making it essential for practitioners ready to embrace social justice and liberation as fundamental to therapeutic practice."
Dr Alex McDonald, art therapist and researcher, professional development manager at the British Association of Art Therapists, and former editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Art Therapy
"Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy is the kind of book that the art therapy profession has been waiting for. It centers diverse voices of LGBTQIA+-identified clients and art therapists and deftly challenges the dominant cultural paradigms. But it does much more: It leads us to a vision of a radically inclusive future for all, where we relate to each other with a deep sense of care and the commitment to justice in our hearts."
Miki Nishida Goerdt, LCSW, LCSW-C, ATR-BC, adjunct professor at George Mason University Department of Social Work, former board member for American Art Therapy Association
"Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy fills a critical gap in the field by bringing together essential information and resources that have long been missing from mainstream art therapy discourse. Grounded in a queer orientation, this groundbreaking work uplifts often marginalized histories, theories, and practices within the profession. It thoughtfully addresses inclusivity and social justice, offering guidance to enhance our therapeutic practices with greater awareness, sensitivity, and cultural humility. In a time when the LGBTQIA+ community continues to face violence and discrimination, this resource is not only timely but vital. I deeply applaud the authors' efforts in creating such a comprehensive and necessary contribution to the field."
Charlotte Boston, MA, ATR-BC, LCPAT, past president of the Art Therapy Credentials Board, former chair of the American Art Therapy Association’s Multicultural Committee
"Van Den Berg has assembled a landmark book that comprehensively reaches into unspoken spaces to clearly articulate a new paradigm in praxis. They extract and uncover the roots of sexuality and gender within art therapy, while the breadth of contributing authors envision new paths of inclusive engagement, examining structures of oppression, illustrating relationally attuned queer worldmaking in our post-modern future."
Mary Andrus, DAT, LCAT, LPC, ATCS, assistant professor of art therapy and co-director of the art therapy masters’ program at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Counseling and Education
"Queer Worldmaking in Art Therapy: Theory & Praxis is an exhilarating read with plenty of wide-ranging stimulating polemical writing. This book is going to be helpful for all art therapists, as chapters challenge oppressive binaries, emphasising the 'emergence' of gender across the lifespan, 'in-betweenness,' 'fluidity' and the 'non-binary.'"Susan Hogan, PhD, D.Litt., professor of arts & health, College of Health & Humanities, UoD and professorial fellow at Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, editor of Gender and Difference in the Arts Therapies and Arts Therapies & Gender: International Perspectives on Research
