On the Difficulty of Writing Anything about Anybody: navigating alternative forms of writing in a therapeutic art studio community

Abstract

I am going to briefly describe some of the tangle of issues I encounter when I consider writing about people I have worked with. These issues need unpicking as they are about ethics, power and hierarchy. They are about relationships, and as such are also emotional. These complex considerations are part of any writing by therapists about clients, as evidenced in this current issue of ATOL on case studies. I have found versions of these dynamics exist in a particular way in the therapeutic community type setting where I work.  In this brief reflection I will introduce the dynamics of my setting, and then present three of my attempts to navigate writing about my setting. These involved finding ways of writing with rather than about the members of this community.  The writing took the form of interviews and editing artist statements (Omand 2022b), co-authoring (Omand 2022a), and reflective writing on my own art practice (Omand 2022c).