Where Healing Meets Method: Community Art Therapy in the Caribbean
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This article introduces a culturally grounded methodological framework for community art therapy research in Caribbean communities. Integrating arts-based research, community-based participatory research (CBPR), and radical reflexivity, the framework was developed through ongoing fieldwork and co-designed interventions with local collaborators. It addresses methodological challenges at the intersection of structural vulnerability, cultural relevance, and emotional accountability in postcolonial contexts. Community art therapy is positioned as both intervention and epistemology, emphasizing visual journaling, positionality work, and creative co-authorship. Art is treated as a valid form of embodied, relational, and affective knowledge, resonating with Caribbean expressive traditions. The framework demonstrates flexibility in the face of climate-related crises and prioritizes ethical engagement through sustained community partnerships, iterative feedback loops, and culturally responsive analysis. This paper contributes to qualitative methods by advancing a model of research that centers care, creativity, and cultural humility. It offers scholars and practitioners an adaptable approach to knowledge production in contexts where conventional methodologies may fall short. By embedding reflexivity and co-authorship into every phase of the research process, the article expands how rigor, ethics, and relevance are conceptualized in participatory and arts-based inquiry.
Author: Karina Donald
Institution: Florida State University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,650
Funder: Florida State University
OpenAlex ID: W4411078553