Toronto Art Therapy Institute major project and thesis award recipients Tania Santer and Jesse Pajuäär share the abstracts for their award-winning papers. Congratulations!

Tania Santer, BFA, DTATI, RP(Q)
Kincardine, ON

2020 Gilda Grossman Major Project Prize: Paths of Connection: Building Community with Palliative Individuals

Labyrinths are sacred symbols that are thousands of years old. Many different cultures throughout history have used the symbol of the labyrinth as a tool for inner contemplation, meditation, and spiritual transformation. The circumambulate nature of walking or tracing a labyrinth creates a safe space in which metaphors of one’s life journey, birth and death, connection, and renewal can emerge.

This study utilizes an arts-based inquiry approach to exploring the ways in which the labyrinth symbol can impact palliative individuals, and mitigate negative stigmas associated to death and dying through community engagement. Eight palliative individuals from the Dorothy Ley Hospice (DLH) Wednesday Wellness Day Program (WWDP) were led through a six-session art therapy group that culminated in the construction of individual finger labyrinths. The purpose of this project was to provide individuals living with life-limiting illnesses accessibility to the labyrinth process, while bridging connection to the larger community of Etobicoke. The arts-based data resulted in the production of one foot by one foot circular finger labyrinths by eight participants. The final exhibition took place at a café in Etobicoke for seven days and culminated with the display of a life sized, hand painted five-circuit walking labyrinth on the final day. The results of this project concluded that palliative individuals found connection, autonomy, and well-being as being most beneficial during the construction of their finger labyrinths, while the majority of public participants expressed positive changes in thoughts and reflections on death/dying and views on palliative care.

Jesse Pajuäär, BA(Hons), DTATI, RP(Q)
Toronto, ON

2020 Dr. Martin Fischer Thesis Prize: Art Therapy Photography: Towards a Cohesive and Contemporary Theory and Praxis

This theoretical construction approach considers why the study and practice of photography in the art therapy field is both scarce and fragmented from both a political and practical lens. This study considers how certain Western hegemonies of power and privilege have historically been codified into the photographic medium, and influences how we continue to think about and experience photography today. This research contends that any politically responsible use of photography in a therapeutic setting must necessarily begin from a theoretical foundation that considers the role of these sociopolitical factors. This study advocates that this theoretical approach be rooted in systems theory. This study therefore considers how existing photographic-attended therapies (PATs) have incorporated systems theory into their theories and practices. These findings establish the foundation for an art therapy photography (ATP) theory interested in the way photography can be used to disrupt social discourses of systemic, hegemonic, and oppressive narratives of subjectivity and identity. ATP establishes a consistent, reliable, and accessible approach that focuses on contextualizing client perspectives, and emphasizes the role of sociocultural intersubjectivities in the formation of identity.