This essay is an autoethnography that is written from the perspective of the sociocultural self with regards to the experiences of a master’student in art psychotherapy when performing the fieldwork of art psychotherapy. I as a researcher and an aut...
This essay is an autoethnography that is written from the perspective of the sociocultural self with regards to the experiences of a master’student in art psychotherapy when performing the fieldwork of art psychotherapy. I as a researcher and an autoethnographer represent the experiences of the fieldwork performed by a master’s student in the art psychotherapy program and go further to illustrate the layers of their meanings. Therefore, this essay is a tool of a master’s student for his or her self-reflection. Moreover, its methodological contributions are to show the utility of autoethnography as primary source.
In this essay, immigration background adolescents refers to a group of Chinese adolescents who migrated to and live in South Korea after being born and growing up in China as their motherland. The existing related literature shows that the numbers of children and adolescents who immigrate to South Korea due to their parents’ migration or invitation are increasing. Therefore, the need for their emotional support as well as their psychotherapeutic arbitration emerges. Thus, the researcher examines herself as the major research subject and take as its research topic the self-reflection as well as the experiences of growth that the researcher discovered through her art psychotherapy and field training with the youths of immigration background.
The research questions involve; “what kind of experiences did I have as a master’s student in art psychotherapy through the fieldwork for immigration background adolescents?” “what sort of significance do these experiences have to myself as a master’s student in art psychotherapy?
The conclusion drawn from the suggested subject categories is as follows.
First, "one step toward an unknown land” refers to the process through which to design the overall fieldwork for the youth with immigration background and to prepare for the meetings. In the process, the researcher experiences expectations, fear, anxiety, and frustration, and examines herself. Through the examination, the researcher discovers the issue of herself having experienced migration and its consequent upbringing, the difficulty of controlling transconference in relation to the clients, the doubts on her ability drawn from not having done fieldwork for the time being. The experience of such crises provides the researcher with an opportunity of self-reflection as to what it means to become an art therapist, why she wants to become an art therapist, and what it means to become a client.
Second, "a rocking wave and dilemma” means the emotions and difficulty that the researcher encountered in the fieldwork. The researcher addresses the different kinds of problems all at once and therefore experiences lethargy, overload, and mental exhausition. However, the researcher obtains a moment of transition to have a new understanding of the process of art therapy and the youth with immigration background, by way of coordinating her own expectations and addressing the problems in fieldwork.
Third, “a sunshine penetrating hazy clouds” shows the experience of transition where the researcher realizes the actual role of the art therapist and the value of art therapy. In the process, she expands her understanding of the clients and lessens her doubts on the clients and herself. Furthermore, she experiences the healing effect of art through the researcher's preliminary and reactive work and reflects upon what art means to herself and why she wants to become an art therapist. Thus, the researcher discovers the value of art and art therapy, thereby experiencing the transition from the "self as person" to the "self as profession.
Fourth, "a flower bud discovered in vines" refers metaphorically to the meaning of the fieldwork to herself as a master's student in art psychotherapy. Through this journey, the researcher embraces herself and truly understands the clients. This process provides power and courage to the researcher to be able to live as her true self and as an art therapist. By way of the autoethnographic writing, the researcher heals herself, and through the unification of her personal and professional sides, discovers the development and self-affirmation of herself.
The contributions that this study makes to the field of art psychotherapy and the clinical area of fieldwork are the following.
This autoethnographic account narrates the training experience of a master's student in art psychotherapy from the perspective of the sociocultural self. This study thus offers a concrete and approachable example of the fieldwork for trainees. Furthermore, it provides useful information on art psychotherapy for the youth with immigration background from a multicultural perspective. This study also closely examines herself alienated and broken apart by culture, thereby healing and putting herself together. This autoethnographic investigation accomplished by self-understanding and reception serves as a bridge between the personal and the professional and between theory and practice. Thus, this study offers an account of the possibility of effectivity of autoethnograpy in the field of art psychotherapy.