The "Beyond Crisis" seminar: Exploring Intersectionality: Art Psychotherapy, Digital Media, and LGBTQ+ Narratives in Marginalised Environments

Join the forthcoming "Beyond Crisis" seminar: Exploring Intersectionality: Art Psychotherapy, Digital Media, and LGBTQ+ Narratives in Marginalised Environments. Building on the recent seminar that explored the domains of traditional music therapy models as well as digital wellbeing practices (see more here), the upcoming  4th Seminar takes us on a journey to explore the entanglements of social environments, places, and events where therapeutic practices can make a  significant impact. The primary focus will be on the margins of society and the construction of spaces that often delineate distinct social languages and interactions for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Event Question : "How can LGBTQIA+ perspectives, shape our responses to societal crises, and how can we navigate intersections within marginalised spaces?" 

To illuminate this topic, organisers have invited esteemed presenters, each coming from different academic and practical disciplines, including art psychotherapy and digital media.

Sanjini Kedia’s Perspective
Sanjini’s presentation is informed by her on-going PhD research findings – ‘moving trans men in the patriarchy: a feminist practice-led interdisciplinary inquiry’. The PhD project challenges, integrates, and investigates how the interdisciplinarity of dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) supports trans men’s lived experiences of their bodies, mental health, and emotional expression in India and the U.K. The presentation will dive into themes that emerged from the DMP groups with trans men, and the unique life stressors that they embody every day. The presentation will also explore the urgent need to create queer affirmative therapeutic practices to challenge the traditional (sometimes harmful) way of doing therapy; and will experientially question what it means to be a therapist and an ally.

Dr Jessica Collier's Perspective
Dr Jessica Collier, an art psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and academic, will explore the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals through an interdisciplinary dialogue that traverses art psychotherapy and feminist criminology perspectives. Drawing from her many years of experience working with women in prison, she will examine the sociological, psychological and emotional dimensions of existence within marginalised spaces, with a focus on the gendered pains of prison. Jessica will discuss the intricate realm of forensic art psychotherapy, providing a unique vantage point to explore the interplay between identity, incarceration and the LGBTQ+ experience. Her perspective offers insights into the systemic prejudices faced by criminalized women and LGBTQ+ individuals, and the potential art psychotherapy offers for internal transformation as they navigate a world that frequently marginalises and punishes their existence.

Dr Ivan Girina and Zander Vermaas's Perspective
From an alternative perspective, Dr Ivan Girina, a distinguished Senior Lecturer in Game Studies, will share his expertise in digital culture and media landscapes to explore LGBTQ+ identities in digital gaming. His presentation will underscore the pivotal role of digital media in shaping cultural narratives and highlight the distinctive challenges encountered by LGBTQ+ individuals within socially marginalised spaces. More specifically, Dr Girina will make a case for the importance of digital games aesthetics as a prime site for the formation of digital queer identities, looking at questions of representation, the identification between players and digital characters, the cultural formation of the ‘gamer’ and the emergence of cyborgian techno-body assemblages in gaming, ultimately disputing notions of agency afforded/claimed by the queer gaming subject. Following, Zander Vermaas is an emergent Game Designer who will present a framework for the design of autobiographical queer games developed in the context of the MA in Digital Games at Brunel University London. Not only does the framework mobilise a reflection on the lived identity of the queer subject, by creating a log of everyday activity which is then abstracted as game mechanics and inform design pillars of the artistic work, but it also brings forth and highlights socio-economic tensions between the artist’s use of autobiographical creative tools to explore their identity, and the exploitation emotional labour through the commodification of lived experience within the creative industries.

By juxtaposing these distinctive yet harmonious perspectives, we aim to facilitate a dialogue centred around LGBTQ+ experiences within the confines of marginalised spaces. This seminar promises an in-depth exploration of the psychological, emotional, and cultural dimensions of the LGBTQ+   experience, offering a profound exploration of the challenges confronted by LGBTQ+ individuals in a world that frequently perpetuates marginalisation. Through this exploration, we aim to foster a heightened awareness of these challenges and inspire constructive discussions on how to cultivate more inclusive environments. 

When? 
20 February 2024, 6PM – 8:30 PM

Where?
In-person (350 Euston Road, London NW1 3AX) and online