Mari, a Trauma Counsellor at FSGV, is currently working toward getting her PhD in Expressive Arts. Last year, while working on presentations and sessions for her PhD, she was also completing training on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) at UBC. “I saw overlap in the approaches,” says Mari. “In my D&I training, I saw the literature calling for more experiential approaches that would account for the often challenging emotional and psychological components in DEI education. I realized Expressive Arts was perfect for this.”
Mari developed an idea: a workshop series about bringing experience into DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) education. Mari describes FSGV as a very supportive environment. Her manager and supervisor knew about her schooling, so she brought her proposal to them. As for who the workshops would be for? Working with other trauma counsellors at FSGV, she knows they’re a passionate, compassionate, and curious group of people, making them a great fit for exploring themes of justice and equity together beyond conversation. “I see the desire within the team to keep learning about cultural sensitivity. I don’t think it should be done just through thinking. That’s the idea in expressive arts, valuing the ways we learn in community, in relationship, and ways that are not strictly cognitive, but are experiential.” The whole trauma counselling team at FSGV approaches their work in a way that’s about more than talking and thinking; they were the perfect people for Mari’s workshops.
The Workshops
In Summer 2024, Mari launched the series. A group of counsellors got together and explored identity, foundational themes from DEI, and then reflected on the experiences they had shared. Mari wanted to challenge participants to deepen their understanding of “who we are, who we are in the world, and who we are in relationship to others.”
The group discussed intersectionality, positionality, and power and privilege. “We covered some basic terms in discussion and then explored it creatively. In a way, it was creative and intuitive brainstorming, linked to our personal experiences and perceptions.” Mari explains that Expressive Arts values the different ways we can learn. For group activities that are creative and arts-based, “it’s a mix of something more individual with something collective” that fits with building compassion, empathy, and understanding for each other. To Mari, this is essential in collective care and growth.
A part of one of the explorations on DEI terminology the group covered.
The Impact
In the final session, Mari and her participants connected their experiences, reflecting on their personal experiences and seeing how those were different from person to person.
Reflecting upon leading the groups, Mari shares, “It was very interesting to see that I really am just a facilitator. People really got together and whatever happened was not necessarily what I had planned.” She couldn’t have predicted the precise ways people would connect or how the activities would go because it was rooted in their unique personal sharing and spontaneity. “People tapped into finding connection and working together very well and the creative way to connect.”
Connecting in this way could have been very vulnerable, or even difficult, notes Mari. “There’s a strong emotional component to those themes that can be too much at times – especially if only approached cognitively.” Instead, she saw how bringing art into the center for discussion, letting it be part of how people expressed and made sense of the terms and sharing, built in a naturally therapeutic component.
At FSGV, we’re proud to support our staff as they engage in themes of justice and equity in innovative, personal ways. Dimensions of difference inform all of our experiences, and giving people the opportunity to explore and share this together is powerful. The way Mari sees it, “promoting more equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace is important for workplaces to sustain themselves. Our world is multicultural and it’s a good investment to allow these alternative and experiential learnings to happen.”