So, the reason I’m here, besides enjoying Pongal, or fighting traffic, is to teach India’s first academic course in art therapy. The Survey of Art Therapy was evolved by Sangeeta Prasad, and George Washington University in Washington DC, in collaboration with the Fine Arts Department at Stella Maris College. It is funded by the Prasad Family Foundation to help bring concrete art therapy tools to professionals here in Chennai. I created the syllabus based on my previous work, and collaborated with GWU on it’s development.
We have 20 students from a variety of backgrounds: artists, housewives, teachers, and therapists. The participants are all interested in art therapy for use with their students or families.
The energy has been tremendous. The use of the arts, in general, for healing is really taking off in India. There is a lot of attention being paid to these ideas now. While I have 20 students in my class, I have 30 others signed up for a workshop that introduces people to what the class is about!
In the last two weeks, We have talked about many subjects, including: how art therapy can be used in different populations: how it has evolved from cave drawings to now; looking at brain development; and using different materials. I am, of course, trying my best to ground the class in good counseling process and ethics.
Then, there is the important task of looking at all the learning within the viewpoint of the Indian mindset. 
Three hours go by in a flash. The course is highly experiential, so there are a lot of teaching games, and activities to help ground the conversations, and the theories being presented. And of course, a lot of art. Because my background includes Sociometry and psychodrama, I have used some of those skills to teach about listening, observation, and counseling skills.
The students are engaged and have worked really hard. There is a lot of reading, and writing, questioning and creating involved. Most importantly, we are trying to see how art therapy, which was created from a western perspective, will work effectively within the Indian culture and context. 
Ultimately, art therapy has to work here, and there are many differences in how therapy is perceived here. This is a major conversation. The other, of course, is what students will do, and have the ability to do, after one 30 day course. Since completing one course is not the same as finishing a 2 year graduate program, this is a conversation that will take place in an ongoing way as GW and Stella Maris evolve the next steps for the program. But for ethical reasons, we do need to look at this now, as the last thing anyone wants is for people to go beyond what they really are capable of. This course is a wonderful beginning and, clearly, there is a desire for a full program. The question is when and how.
I am grateful to be a part of this pilot program, and to be connected with the journey of bringing these therapeutic tools to India. Nothing happens in isolation, and I have met many wonderful people along the way. I am a student as well.
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As I come regularly to India, I realize that I have become accustomed to the sights, smells and tastes that are all about India. Below are a few pictures about my current trip. I arrived earlier today, and have been settling into my flat, which will also double as one of the training spaces for the work I am doing with the East/West Center for Counseling. In this day, I have already seen cows meandering the street, heard honking as if honking was going to change any of the traffic, and experienced what I most miss when at home- A sense of vibrant engaged people in the streets.
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