Abstract

It has become an ethical responsibility for art therapists to examine one's own cultural values and biases and learn about the client's worldview, in order to provide equitable services to culturally diverse clientele. Assuming the responsibility to develop cultural sensitivity is essential, yet a few guidelines or methods exist to assist art therapists or other health practitioners to actively engage in this process. This research, using an arts-based heuristic approach, addresses the researcher's own journey in utilizing a response art procedure to explore her felt responses to cross-cultural experiences, and how it may assist her to gain cultural awareness and knowledge. Outcomes build upon other practitioners' personal work and findings, with the intention of growing knowledge in the field of art therapy toward social justice. Ultimately, this research presents the value of engaging in the path of cultural humility through a process of critical self-examination, and the potential of integrating creative, intuitive and imaginative components within it.