1st Edition
The Expressive Use of Masks Across Cultures and Healing Arts
The Expressive Use of Masks Across Cultures and Healing Arts explores the interplay between masks and culture and their therapeutic use in the healing arts such as music, art, dance/movement, drama, play, bibliotherapy, and intermodal.
Each section of the book focuses on a different context, including viewing masks through a cultural lens, masks at play, their role in identity formation (persona and alter ego), healing the wounds from negative life experiences, from the protection of medical masks to helping the healing process, and from expressions of grief to celebrating life stories. Additionally, the importance of cultural sensitivity, including the differences between cultural appreciation and appropriation, is explored. Chapters are written by credentialed therapists to provide unique perspectives on the personal and professional use of masks in the treatment of diverse populations in a variety of settings. A range of experiences are explored, from undergraduate and graduate students to early professionals and seasoned therapists.
The reader will be able to adapt and incorporate techniques and directives presented in these chapters. Readers are encouraged to explore their own cultural heritage, to find their authentic voice, as well as learn how to work with clients who have different life experiences.
Chapter 3 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.
Part 1. Cultural Masks 1. Masks: Rites, Rituals, and Transformations 2. I Contain Multitudes: Writing, Poetic Masks and Parts of Self 3. The Leelah Play: Avatar as Mask in Trauma-Informed Dramatherapy 4. A Transformative Journey of Masks in Drama Therapy: Reversing the Sequence in Lecoq's Physical Theatre Pedagogy 5. Integrating Voice Movement Therapy and Mask Work and Why it Works Part 2. Masks at Play 6. The Role of Mask in Cultivating Imagination and the Expression of PlayFULLness' 7. Mask Work: Increasing Imagination and Developing Self Awareness in Children: Through a False Face One Finds a True Face 8. Using Neutral Masks with Adolescents 9. Victim Empathy: Unmasking Vulnerability Part 3. Wearing a Mask 10. Metaphors in the Mask: A Process of Exploring Personal and Professional Identities 11. Building Trust Through Mask Making in East and West Jerusalem: Developing and Exposing, Disguising and Divulging Clinically and in Phototherapy Training 12. Encountering the Mask with Undergraduate Expressive Therapies Students: Engaging Ritual, Dialogue, and Reflection 13. Working with Masks in Narradrama 14. Sexing the Mask: Explorations in Mask Making for Gender and Sexuality Part 4. Healing the Wounds 15. Super Art Therapy 16. Painting Masks, Reflecting on Gaps: Student Veterans Explore Internal and External Realities During an Art Therapy Group 17. Healing the Wounds of War 18. Faces Behind the Masks in Times of War: First Aid of the Soul in Ukraine 19. Working with Masks in Moscow: A Trauma-Informed Group Narradrama Practice Part 5. From Protection to Healing 20. Mask Masking as a Featured Process in a Hospital-Based Open Studio 21. The Transformation of a Radiation Mask 22. The Avatar: Masks of Hope and Healing 23. The Exploration of Using a Kintsugi-Inspired Mask Making Process in Addictive Behaviors 24. Revealing ED: Theraputic Uses of Masks in the Treatment of Eating Disorders Part 6. Celebrating Life Stories 25. Mask as Starting Point: Usability in Crisis Sand Therapy 26. The Use of Power Masks in Processing Grief 27. Exploring Inner Emotions Using Masks with Children and Youth 28. Masks, Grief, and the Unseen Realms: The Power of the Image
Biography
Susan Ridley, LPC, NCC, ATR-BC, REAT, associate professor of Creative Arts Therapy at West Liberty University, WV, is an artist, educator, and counselor with over 35 years’ experience.
"This addition to the literature on healing through the arts is a most welcome contribution. Susan Ridley has done an excellent job of gathering contributors from around the globe who help the reader learn about the use of masks to heal through a fascinating variety of lenses. Such a diverse group of authors, working in many different countries and cultures, make this book intriguing, lively, and a rich read."
Judith A. Rubin, PhD, ATR-BC, art therapist, psychologist, psychoanalyst, and past president and honorary life member of the American Art Therapy Association
"Both beginning and experienced therapists and anyone working in arts and health who work with diverse populations and in a variety of settings will find this book extremely informative and applicable. If you are an educator, therapist, or arts and health provider looking for innovative and effective ways to integrate masks into your work, training or curriculum this book is for you."
Mitchell Kossak, PhD, LMHC, REAT, professor and coordinator of Counseling and Expressive Arts Therapy at Lesley University
“This book is an outstanding collection of essays on the usage of masks across disciplines and describes ways in which mask making contributes towards the understanding of the human condition. Susan Ridley's excellent choice of sections, themes, and topics takes us on a journey across the full spectrum of humanity, human relations, and human transformation. This book will hopefully become a requirement for anyone working and studying in a cross-section of fields, from philosophy and religion to psychology, sociology, and human development.”
Phillip Speiser, PhD, RDT-BC, co-founder of International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA)
