MYTHIC-HEALING FOR THE SOUL WOUND: AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHY WITH SHAMANICALLY-GUIDED ART THERAPY

Abstract

This study aims to explore and understand shamanically-guided art therapy using arts-based autoethnographic methods of inquiry. Additional purposes are to describe the theoretical foundation for shamanically guided art therapy, weave together theory from Western psychology and shamanism within a two-eyed seeing framework, outline a shamanic ontology and research paradigm, advocate for the field of counselling to intervene at a higher ontological level and demonstrate how shamanically guided art therapy may be implemented in a therapeutic setting. To accomplish these aims, I created a shamanic art therapy process and applied this method for data collection and analysis as the artist-researcher-participant. I found that the shamanically-guided art therapy process is a powerful, evidence-based, culturally responsive, creative method that provides deep and immediate access to the participants' subconscious as well as the broader collective unconscious. Through this method, surprising patterns of mark-making reveal wise insights and initiate change processes that intervene at the mythic level of engagement with reality. Potential implications for this research include individual, family, and community healing, focusing on intergenerational trauma of Canada’s First Nation, Metis, and Inuit populations.