Art Therapy Across Cultural and Race Boundaries ─ Working Against Racism

Born in South Africa during the Apartheid era, Dye saw firsthand formalized hate and the marginalization of non-whites. Through her interest in history, she learned that racial and ethnic tensions are high and easily escalated everywhere. Her studies in social work and psychology ultimately led her to art therapy, where she discovered that art therapy has the highest probability of influencing people’s lives despite cultural and racial boundaries. Art therapy at its core is an emotion-focused therapy, where art is used to access and often reveal the inner world and emotions of the individual, group, or system without confrontation and threats. Compare other therapeutic fields that are basically cognitive and rely mostly on language, thoughts and words. She emphasizes that the field of art therapy offers a powerful opportunity to working effectively and interculturally and can make a difference. Annotation ©2017 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Lorette Dye is Founder and Director of Helios Counselling Services in South Africa. She frequently presents workshops and lectures internationally on a variety of subjects, including intercultural work.