A Blanketing Ceremony: Exploring Cultural Identity using Aboriginal and Art Therapy Approaches

By Michelle (Juba) W. Reid

This thesis explores the use of art therapy as a teaching modality in an Aboriginal social work class. The Advanced Social Work Practice with Individuals course was designed to assist students with understanding their cultural influences and to develop knowledge and skills to work with culturally diverse clients. The course uses and Indigenous relational model, the ADDRESSING Framework and a phenomenological approach for exploring cultural diversity and interpreting the artwork. This thesis is unique in examining the use of art therapy and Aboriginal modalities in teaching social workers and utilizes a personal narrative to identify the researcher's experiences as a co-facilitator with observations in the class, and analysis of the students' written text and artwork.

Art and healing are integral aspects of Aboriginal cultures. There is a growing body of literature that supports the use of art therapy and creative art processes for providing holistic healing to Aboriginal peoples. There is some literature on art therapy with Aboriginal people, but not specifically with using art therapy modalities for teaching and learning within Aboriginal social work programs. I believe this research demonstrates that using art therapy approaches in an Aboriginal social work class are congruent and beneficial for student learning. Additionally, this study shows the benefits of using art therapy as a teaching modality to explore cultural identity contexts. Overall, I believe students' met the main course learning goals: they increased their individual and group awareness regarding their cultural influences; and develop therapeutic knowledge and skills to work with culturally diverse clients.