The wild beyond: Creativity, play, and the future of expressive arts therapy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Aligning with Harney and Moten’s (2013) concept of the Undercommons, this article challenges conventional psychological practice frameworks that have, arguably, marginalized arts-based healing practices, sometimes reducing them to mere tools for analysis rather than full recognition of their capacit...

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Main Authors: Tatjana Jansen, Richard Wainwright
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: F1000 Research Ltd 2025-01-01
Series:Routledge Open Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://routledgeopenresearch.org/articles/4-2/v1
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author Tatjana Jansen
Richard Wainwright
author_facet Tatjana Jansen
Richard Wainwright
author_sort Tatjana Jansen
collection DOAJ
description Aligning with Harney and Moten’s (2013) concept of the Undercommons, this article challenges conventional psychological practice frameworks that have, arguably, marginalized arts-based healing practices, sometimes reducing them to mere tools for analysis rather than full recognition of their capacities. Such reductionist approaches have constrained the arts’ potential to contribute more holistically and transformatively to therapeutic practices. We therefore argue that these historical models often overlook the interconnectedness of humans and nonhuman entities as well as the embodied nature of identity and subjectivity, which are central themes to both the arts and therapeutic practices. Harney and Moten’s Undercommons envisions a space of subversion and resistance, where traditional knowledge and marginalized practices are nurtured, at a length from the institutional gaze that seems to co-opt them. Drawing on Harney and Moten’s work, along with a revisiting of phenomenology through the lens of posthumanism and new materialism and other interdisciplinary perspectives, this paper argues for a radical reorientation in the Expressive Arts. We propose working in the Undercommons, a space that is continuously in motion, engages the ‘wild beyond’ of established norms and pushes for a more expansive and interconnected artistic practice.
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spelling doaj-art-1e6f2b1dd3dc4aba91ad15e775ff51ea2025-08-20T03:11:40ZengF1000 Research LtdRoutledge Open Research2755-12452025-01-01410.12688/routledgeopenres.18774.120079The wild beyond: Creativity, play, and the future of expressive arts therapy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]Tatjana Jansen0Richard Wainwright1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0555-661XVancouver Art Therapy Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaThe European Graduate School, Valais, SwitzerlandAligning with Harney and Moten’s (2013) concept of the Undercommons, this article challenges conventional psychological practice frameworks that have, arguably, marginalized arts-based healing practices, sometimes reducing them to mere tools for analysis rather than full recognition of their capacities. Such reductionist approaches have constrained the arts’ potential to contribute more holistically and transformatively to therapeutic practices. We therefore argue that these historical models often overlook the interconnectedness of humans and nonhuman entities as well as the embodied nature of identity and subjectivity, which are central themes to both the arts and therapeutic practices. Harney and Moten’s Undercommons envisions a space of subversion and resistance, where traditional knowledge and marginalized practices are nurtured, at a length from the institutional gaze that seems to co-opt them. Drawing on Harney and Moten’s work, along with a revisiting of phenomenology through the lens of posthumanism and new materialism and other interdisciplinary perspectives, this paper argues for a radical reorientation in the Expressive Arts. We propose working in the Undercommons, a space that is continuously in motion, engages the ‘wild beyond’ of established norms and pushes for a more expansive and interconnected artistic practice.https://routledgeopenresearch.org/articles/4-2/v1Expressive arts therapy posthumanism new materialism creativity therapeutic practiceeng
spellingShingle Tatjana Jansen
Richard Wainwright
The wild beyond: Creativity, play, and the future of expressive arts therapy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
Routledge Open Research
Expressive arts therapy
posthumanism
new materialism
creativity
therapeutic practice
eng
title The wild beyond: Creativity, play, and the future of expressive arts therapy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_full The wild beyond: Creativity, play, and the future of expressive arts therapy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_fullStr The wild beyond: Creativity, play, and the future of expressive arts therapy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_full_unstemmed The wild beyond: Creativity, play, and the future of expressive arts therapy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_short The wild beyond: Creativity, play, and the future of expressive arts therapy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
title_sort wild beyond creativity play and the future of expressive arts therapy version 1 peer review 2 approved
topic Expressive arts therapy
posthumanism
new materialism
creativity
therapeutic practice
eng
url https://routledgeopenresearch.org/articles/4-2/v1
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