Becoming Visible: An Art Therapy Support Group for Isolated Low-Income Lesbians

Abstract

The special strength of art therapy is that it encourages us to envision, on our own terms, our definitions of self and reality. Since it provides an opportunity to make oneself seen, art therapy has a special resonance for lesbians because of their historical invisibility and isolation. This paper discusses the imagery and process of an art therapy support group for low-income isolated lesbians, through five related “lenses”: (1) women's relational dynamics and the centrality of relationships in lesbians' lives; (2) trauma; (3) socioeconomic class; (4) lesbian identity, visibility, culture, and gender; and (5) transference. An intertwined constellation of themes—safety, danger, gender, aggression, sexuality, power, intimacy, isolation, autonomy, and family—is traced through the progress of the group's interactions and visual productions.

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