A systemic-relational perspective on community-based art therapy: centring the power of the collective

Community-based art therapy (CBAT) expands therapeutic range while it also increases the therapist’s exposure to diverse systemic and relational complexity, which may require adaptation of professional knowledge and lenses. When CBAT is defined and practiced within the core dyadic structure of psychotherapy (i.e. therapist–community), nondominant models of culturally responsive care may be sidelined. Drawing on long-term experiences with CBAT, this self-reflexive, collaborative account advocates for a systemic-relational vision of the community as an interconnected, living cooperative with collectively held power. CBAT is constructed as a collective form of therapist to treat the collective self. Artworks in this multidimensional alliance are released from the subject–object binary and welcomed as active relational partners of support and healing. This essay contributes a community-created, multi-relational model of CBAT to the discourse that may provide scaffolding for future modelling of CBAT as practiced by and for communities beyond dominant frameworks.Plain-language summary As the field of art therapy continues to expand internationally, there is interest in providing services within diverse community settings. However, dominant cultural biases that are rooted in professional training can resist adaptation to a community’s own ways of knowing. When a therapist frames their approach as a relationship between a therapist and a community, or as group therapy on a larger scale, other ways of providing care that align with its culture may remain unexplored. This essay draws on a long-term collaborative experience of community-based art therapy that demanded continuous examination of how power is held and shared, and advocates for a broader, systemic-relational perspective on practice. The community is reimagined as a collective form of therapist to treat its collective self. The artworks they create are invited into the healing relationship as active partners and supports. As a dynamic, interconnected cooperative, the community holds its power collectively, by all its members. This multi-relational model, created by the community itself, offers a distinct perspective on community-based art therapy. Readers may find ideas and language for building future models of community-based practice that are closely aligned with a community’s socio-cultural contexts and needs.