Joanna Tan BA, MA, AThR, is a pioneer in the field of art therapy in Singapore. She is an artist and a registered art therapist in private practice.

Working with adults and children she provides individual sessions for those wishing to address specific issues. She also facilitates art therapy groups, training workshops and retreats for various communities and organizations in the public and private sectors. As a senior art therapist, she conducts training and clinical supervision.

She has presented in various conferences in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore and is passionate about facilitating the creative process in people in order to achieve a greater sense of personal well-being. She believes that through the process of making artwork, we can experience a greater sense of ourselves and gain a higher level of self awareness and integration.

Joanna attained her Masters in Art Therapy in 2004 from Edith Cowen University in Western Australia after many years of community work with young adults as well as the intellectually disabled and their families. In Australia, she worked therapeutically with teens who had problems with substance abuse; children who have experienced trauma and abuse and adults who suffered from mental illness as well as various emotional and psychological problems.

She returned to Singapore in 2006 when she started Heartspace, her private practice and was appointed Clinical Supervisor for the Masters of Art Therapy programme at Lasalle School of the Arts. In 2006, she also started an art therapy open studio at the parish of St. Mary of the Angels to serve the pastoral needs of the community. 

Joanna currently sits on the board of ANZATA (Australian New Zealand Art Therapy Assoc) which is an established registering body for professional art therapists in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. She currently the Vice President of ATAS (Art Therapy Association of Singapore) and an approved play therapy supervisor with PTHK (Play Therapy Hong Kong). 

In addition to Art Therapy, Joanna has received training in Group work, Play therapy, Sand-tray, Creative Arts Therapies, Clinical Supervision and Psycho-Spirituality. 

Since she began painting again as an adult in 2001, Joanna has won 3 Art Awards in Western Australia. Her work has been exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions in WA and in Singapore.

By Joanna Tan

My journey in art therapy began 8 years ago, but at times I am still amazed at how ‘creating an image’ affects my clients and I especially like to pay attention to their first experiences. When I reflect on why I continue to paint and encourage others to paint, I am reminded of my own first encounter with making ‘art’.

Ten years ago, I finally gave in to what had become a desperate urge to paint. The last time I painted was when I did ‘Art’ as an A-level subject. I had thought I left that behind me for more ‘practical’ and ‘responsible’ concerns so I was surprised that more than 14 years on, the impulse to paint became so great that I could no longer ignore this nagging, inner prompting.

One evening, without much thinking, I set up a ‘still life’ by placing a bowl and utensils on a red satin cloth. I set up the composition as how I would usually set up a place setting for the dinner table at home. While the look seemed casual, it was very important to me that the red background reflected energy, movement and flow. I also wanted to highlight the simplicity of the empty bowl and the shadows that the spotlight created.

Taking a deep breath, I put my paintbrush to the canvas and began. As I painted the different elements of the composition one by one over the weeks, I noticed the movements of my inner emotional responses. As I painted the red background, I was connected to feelings of joy and gratitude. As I painted the bowl, I was led from the painful feelings of loss to a profound sense of acceptance and surrender.

The act of painting seemed to have transformed into an act of meditation. What emerged in the silence was an encounter with the meaning and purpose that grew out of the events of my life at that time. This unexpected encounter made me wonder about the power of ‘image making’ - to ask, to experience and to discover that which is beyond the conscious grasp. When I finished the painting, I experienced a profound realisation that I had found a treasure that was mine yet not mine to keep.

Continuing to heed the inner promptings that had led me to begin painting again, I found myself leaving the comfort and security of the corporate world and flying to Australia to study in a subject field that was then little known in Singapore. At that moment, discovering art therapy was like ‘coming home’ to me, so much so that it did not even matter if I would be able to get a job once I attained my Masters.

Till today, the empty rice bowl holds symbolic meaning for me. Then, I experienced it as the ‘letting go’ of illusionary beliefs and attachments that once defined me. Now, it is a constant reminder for me of the posture I need to have as I live my life as a therapist. It is in emptying myself of judgements and pre-conceptions that I can safely create a space and contain all that my clients ‘pours out’ in the session.

This article was featured in the Singapore Art Gallery Guide, September 2010 issue.

Interview with Joanna Tan about Art Therapy with 93.8 Live