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It contrasts a Eurocentric “medical model” with a holistic, strengths-based perspective grounded in African and Native-American heritage, emphasizing interconnectedness, community, harmony, and spiritual needs. The narrative highlights trust, church influence, and practical experiences of advocacy and cultural competency in art therapy with adolescents and minority communities.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/life-story-of-an-art-therapist-of-color-appreciative-reflections/592091/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/life-story-of-an-art-therapist-of-color-appreciative-reflections/592091.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Grenda","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-26","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What shaped the author’s approach to art therapy most strongly?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The author credits cultural values and beliefs rooted in childhood, education, workplace experience, and a long researched family genealogy. Christian values and stories of overcoming obstacles also play a central role.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the author contrast the “medical model” with her therapeutic viewpoint?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The author describes the medical model as Eurocentric and problem-focused, giving limited attention to patients’ strengths and spiritual needs. Her view is holistic and strengths-based, emphasizing interconnectedness, community, harmony, and love.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why does the author emphasize religion within the African-American community?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The author explains that for many African-Americans, the church and elders’ roles are important and therapy may be mistrusted or misunderstood. She argues clinicians should recognize religion’s role as an agent of change and a support for healing.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},592091,1792919905,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":19,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":52,"preview_page_count":4},7971474921005,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Life Story of an Art Therapist of Color  \nCharlotte G. Boston, Baltimore, MD  \nThe impact of cultural values and beliefs upon my work stems mainly from my childhood as well as from my education and the workplace. I grew up in a two-parent household where I was taught that I could overcome any obstacle. Both parents were college graduates who also taught me Christian values, as we discussed many of the Bible stories that depicted circumstances where people overcame their challenges. Also important was my family genealogy, which has been researched back eight generations, and includes many stories from my ancestors about overcoming great obstacles. Girded with all that history, I was prepared to accept that people of different cultural backgrounds might not treat me as an equal or believe as I believe. With both parents in service professions, I read about people from different countries and later in life was able to travel to some of those places and have experiences and build friendships with people of various cultural backgrounds.  \nMy viewpoint is holistically based on my African-and Native-American tribal heritage as it models principles of interconnectedness, community, harmony, and love, and focuses on strengths. This contrasts with the medical model of many hospital organizations that promote problemfocused treatment. Although various problems and overwhelming circumstances may be an obvious cause for hospitalization, little attention is given to using patients’strengths and addressing their spiritual needs to facilitate healing. For many African-Americans, the church and the roles they hold therein continue to be important. This notion of the importance of religion is often omitted in our training as clinicians, but we should understand its importance within the African-American community. Many look at therapy as a secular experience. Our elders often express objections to therapy and mistrust it or misunderstand how therapy can be an agent of change for them. AfricanAmericans believe the psyche and the spirit are one (Hiscox & Calisch, 1998, p. 42) .  \nThe “medical model” reflects a Eurocentric or Western philosophy of medicine and healing. But I lived in a community where it was expected that you honor your eldersand participate in family events, gatherings, and community activities. If there was a problem, it was customary to seek the counsel of church ministers first. Unless it was an emergency, we did not run to the doctor or to the mental health professional as a first choice. I talked to my mother, now a retired educator, about how she felt when I was a child. I  \nEditor’s note: Charlotte Boston, MA, ATR-BC, is Director of Expressive Therapy, Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health in Rockville, Maryland. Correspondence concerning this article may be addressed to her via e-mail at [cboston@ahm.com](cboston@ahm.com).  \nasked her about her feelings when she was overwhelmed with life’s circumstances. She said, “I was too busy to be depressed. I was earning my master’s degree, working full time, and caring for a baby and a husband. Too much had to be done, and I did what needed to be done as I prayed my way through.” If children were disrespectful or disobedient then, all it took was a look from an elder to straighten them out. Many conversations were nonverbally communicated. This is still the case in some instances in my current work with adolescents. The difference is now I’m the adult giving them the “look,” and it still works with most of them.  \nBeing an art therapist of color, thankfully, has had more ups than downs. It’s sometimes disappointing to notice that even in the year 2005, there are still too many instances of continuing discrimination, even in the midst of a growing U.S. population that is nonwhite. It is encouraging that efforts to dispel discrimination continue, but it often seems that the effect is minimal. Today, discrimination is often more subtle than during the era of civil rights efforts. It makes m","cbCail2rtQN5YlG6","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCail2rtQN5YlG6","pdf",93788,"English","# The Role of Cultural Values in Therapy\n## Christian Beliefs and Family Heritage\n## Holistic Strengths-Based View vs. Medical Model\n# Therapeutic Practice and Community Expectations\n## Church Leadership and Trust\n## Adult Guidance with Adolescents\n# Discrimination and Cultural Sensitivity\n# Appreciative Reflections on Art Therapy","[{\"question\":\"What shaped the author’s approach to art therapy most strongly?\",\"answer\":\"The author credits cultural values and beliefs rooted in childhood, education, workplace experience, and a long researched family genealogy. Christian values and stories of overcoming obstacles also play a central role.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the author contrast the “medical model” with her therapeutic viewpoint?\",\"answer\":\"The author describes the medical model as Eurocentric and problem-focused, giving limited attention to patients’ strengths and spiritual needs. Her view is holistic and strengths-based, emphasizing interconnectedness, community, harmony, and love.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the author emphasize religion within the African-American community?\",\"answer\":\"The author explains that for many African-Americans, the church and elders’ roles are important and therapy may be mistrusted or misunderstood. She argues clinicians should recognize religion’s role as an agent of change and a support for healing.\"}]","Life Story of an Art Therapist of Color - Appreciative Reflections | PDF",1792073841]