ملاحظات اخلاقی در آموزش جهانی و ارتقاء هنر درمانی برای درمانگران غیرهنری

Working with and through art in the context of mental health has become popular and quite well known amongst social workers, community workers, nurses, artists and teachers. Many seek art therapy skills, and a greater understanding of the use of art in healing. In parts of the world where there is no professional art therapy training and no established art therapy profession, some may go on to call themselves art therapists. Despite this, art therapy is a recognized profession, with a master's level or post graduate level training and a written code of ethics. This article looks at the ethical considerations we as art therapists face in training non-art therapists. To explore this subject in greater depth we draw upon training we have delivered for social workers in Hong Kong.

It is common for helping service professionals to recognize the benefits of including art making in their practice and many today recognize that trained art therapists have a specialized knowledge in this area. But this can pose some complex questions for the profession of art therapy. Art therapists across the globe have developed different training models to respond to requests for this understanding. While deciding on the training content is important, we also need to look at the ethics involved in training as it relates to our responsibility to the training participants and to our profession. We specifically invoke ethics because they provide a model of good practice. According to Blackburn (2001), ethics build our environment, inform our relationships, and determine our behavior because they “shape our very identities. Our consciousness of ourselves is largely or even essentially a consciousness of how we stand for other people. We need stories of our own value in the eyes of each other, the eyes of the world” (p. 1). Levick (1995) heightens this notion for our profession when she writes on how ethics give form and credibility to art therapy among other professions. Ethical standards in art therapy are best shaped by art therapists who have a breadth of practice and understanding of the profession, as each situation can present different ethical challenges and perspectives. Ethics is a branch of philosophy. When thinking about the subject of ethics, we are entering into a contemplation on morality. Morality refers to our standards of conduct, to universal principles of behavior, the way in which we live, interact, and shape our world. Edwards (1993) differentiates between codes of ethics and professional principles. Because professional principles, code of ethics, values and morals most often overlap it may be useful to take a closer look at these terms. According to Edwards, “When we speak of personal or professional values we are referring to what is good and desirable, whereas ethics concern what is right and correct” (p. 16). This distinction is significant, as it seems that principles lay out a set of values, whereas a code of ethics set out “moral principles adopted by an individual or professional group to provide rules for correct conduct and tend, therefore to be more prescriptive” (p. 16). Each circumstance in which we find ourselves contains moments of personal choice, and each time we choose, we take an ethical stance. We wish to look at personal choices we face as art therapists and what guides these. Thought and study alone do not produce a professional or personal code of ethics. It is only when we get confused while we move in the grey areas of our work that we are forced to find solutions, challenge our models, and establish standards. The ethics about which we are speaking are rooted in our work. Art therapists are increasingly being asked to provide trainings to non-art therapists for several reasons. Professionals may look to enhance and add to their skills or professionals would like to expose themselves to knowledge or expertise, which does not exist in their country. A more acute reason occurs in situations of political conflict or natural disaster where there is a need for new skills, to help in situations that often extend beyond the range of the norm of the culture. In these situations we need to carefully consider what constitutes appropriate response. In all cases, we believe that the most appropriate response is that which will be sustainable and out live the duration of the training. Rather than attempt to engage in clinical work that we are unable to see through to the end, or teach exercises which can be then carried out by rote, we should strive to teach an overall understanding and sensitivity to the art, and principles of best conduct within this context that will support teachers, and therapists with knowledge and skills to incorporate into their work. This idea leads us exactly to the dilemma under discussion. This article has been greatly informed by our experience offering this kinds of training. Specifically, we draw from the joint work developed in contexts of political violence by Kalmanowitz and Lloyd, 1997, Kalmanowitz and Lloyd, 2002a and Kalmanowitz and Lloyd, 2002b through the Art Therapy Initiative (ATI), by trainings offered by Potash in the US, and is based on the current work of Kalmanowitz and Potash in Hong Kong. Where appropriate we will refer to the feedback and comments we received from training participants. We also recognize that these concerns are not unique to art therapy, but rather have application to other psychotherapies and creative arts therapies. We are focusing on art therapy due to these specific trainings and expertise, but invite practitioners of other creative arts therapy fields to adapt these models to their uses.

Training mental health professionals responsibly is ultimately about increasing their skill base, while keeping the clients with whom they work safe. Training in the use of art specifically is also about remaining close to the art process, as this is what we have to offer. If we keep these two principles in mind, we believe training non-art therapists in the sensitive use of art making will remain authentic and clear. We have considered the ethical dilemmas and concerns of training non-art therapists in art making skills. We may not have been able to answer all the questions that come up for art therapists, but this is the very nature of working within a moral code. Ethical decisions need to be made in each situation and clearly we cannot cover all eventualities. If we make our training decisions by following our principles of good practice, together with a responsibility towards the client and the profession we will be well positioned to share our knowledge while maintaining the integrity of our art therapy.