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CATS 639

Interdisciplinary Topics: Cross-cultural Competence in the Creative Arts Therapies

1 credits · Graduate

Winter 2026 · Cross-cultural Competence in Creative Arts Therapies

Topics

  • Multicultural counselling and creative arts therapies
  • Cultural influences on clinical work
  • Power, privilege and oppression
  • Cultural comfort and anxiety
  • Language in clinical practice
  • Effects of oppression on mental health
  • Cultural opportunities
  • Microaggressions and cultural repair
  • Disability language, ableism and neurodiversity
  • LGBTQ and queer approaches
  • Cultural humility and social-justice practice

Readings

  • S. Hadley. Experiencing Race as a Music Therapist: Personal Narratives. Barcelona Publishers, 2015.
    Recommended / optional / reference
  • Required, lesson 1 (music therapy): American Music Therapy Association. Professional Competencies, with attention to competencies related to culture. https://www.musictherapy.org/about/competencies/
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 1 (music therapy): Canadian Association of Music Therapists. Professional Competencies, with attention to competencies related to culture. The source links the April 9, 2012 interim standards of practice.
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 1 (art therapy): American Art Therapy Association. Art Therapy Multicultural Diversity Competencies, 2011. https://www.arttherapy.org/upload/multiculturalcompetencies2011.pdf
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 1 (drama therapy): North American Drama Therapy Association. Guidelines on Cultural Response/Ability in Training, Research, Practice, Supervision, Advocacy & Organizational Change.
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 2: G. Tuckwell. “Race and theoretical approaches to counselling and psychotherapy.” In Racial Identity, White Counsellors and Therapists, pp. 63–70. Open University Press, 2002.
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 3: M. Fors. A Grammar of Power in Psychotherapy: Exploring the Dynamics of Privilege, chapter 1. American Psychological Association, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000086-000
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 3: P. McIntosh. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Peace and Freedom, July/August 1989.
    Listed reading
  • Recommended, lesson 3: S. Hill. “Study shows that bias at work harms women of color and their ability to thrive.” Black Enterprise, 2018.
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 4: C. Babu. “Why I left my white therapist.” VICE, 2017. The outline citation is incomplete after the publication name.
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 5: G. W. Hyatt. “What’s in a word? The evolution of disability language.” SPARC BC News, 2005.
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 5: L. Powers. “Guest blogger Lia writes: Music therapy as an Autistic music therapist.” The Musical Autist, 12 August 2019.
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 5: L. Pellicano. “Watch your language when talking about autism.” The Conversation, 13 July 2015.
    Listed reading
  • Required video, lesson 5: Portico Network. Psychology and disability: Minimizing ableism in the counselling room, 24 April 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ_a4N1IekQ
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 5: A. Whitehead-Pleaux et al. “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning: Best practices in music therapy.” Music Therapy Perspectives 30(2), 158–166, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/30.2.158
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 6: D. W. Sue and D. Sue. “Microaggressions in counseling and psychotherapy, The dynamics and dilemmas of microaggressions.” In Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice, pp. 167–173. John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 7: C. L. Bain, P. R. Grzanka and B. Crowe. “Toward a queer music therapy: The implications of queer theory for radically inclusive music therapy.” The Arts in Psychotherapy 50(1), 22–33, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2016.03.004
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 7: O. P. Karcher. “Sociopolitical oppression, trauma, and healing: Moving toward a social justice art therapy framework.” Journal of the American Art Therapy Association 34(3), 123–128, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2017.1358024
    Listed reading
  • Required, lesson 7: J. N. Hook, D. Davis, J. Owen and C. DeBlaere. “Multicultural Orientation.” In Cultural Humility: Engaging Diverse Identities, pp. 30–39. American Psychological Association, 2017. Case Study 1 is specified.
    Listed reading
  • Background reference cited in the course introduction (not separately assigned): P. Pedersen. “The multicultural perspective as a fourth force in counseling.” Journal of Mental Health Counseling 12(1), 93–95, 1990.
    Listed reading
Sources