Editorial

As we bring together the Winter 2025 issue of Creative Arts in Education and Therapy—Eastern and Western Perspectives (CAET), we are struck by a shared undercurrent running through this collection of scholarship: an attentive engagement with an exploration of vulnerability and resilience, inner inquiry, and social responsibility. Across diverse geographies, methodologies, and artistic forms, the contributions in this issue reflect a field that is not only expanding but also deepening its ethical, embodied, and reflective foundations.

At a time when creative arts education, therapy, and arts in health are increasingly called upon to respond to complex individual and collective challenges, this issue foregrounds the importance of process, reflexivity, and contextual sensitivity. The authors gathered here do not offer simple solutions; rather, they invite us to stay with uncertainty, to listen carefully to lived experience, and to explore how artistic inquiry can illuminate both personal and societal transformation.

Several articles in this issue engage directly with boundaries, thresholds, and the negotiation of professional roles. Leon Suarez et al. examine the limits, transgressions, and vulnerabilities of dance teaching, offering a nuanced reflection on pedagogical relationships, power dynamics, and ethical responsibility. Their work reminds us that teaching in and through the body is never neutral; it is relational, affective, and embedded within broader cultural and institutional contexts.

Similarly, the autoethnographic and psychodynamic perspectives offered by Sextou et al. foreground the wellbeing of the artist-researcher. By turning the analytic lens inward, this contribution courageously addresses how emotions, countertransference, and personal histories intersect with research and artistic practice. Such reflections are vital for a field that often asks practitioners to hold space for others, while still navigating their own vulnerabilities.

The theme of development and care is explored in Kang et al.’s article “Supporting Children with Developmental Needs: Developmental Art Therapy Framework in Early Intervention.” Centered on supporting children with developmental needs, this work bridges theory and practice, emphasizing attuned observation, relational safety, and the developmental specificity required when working with young children and families. It contributes meaningfully to the growing body of literature that situates art therapy within early childhood and interdisciplinary care systems.

Other contributions in this issue invite readers into inner landscapes and contemplative processes. Demaine’s exploration of meditation through visual and mindful inquiry presents a layered, experiential approach to artful inner exploration. Xin Liu’s article, “An Embodied Exploration of Authentic Movement from an Eastern Perspective Nourished by the Great Harmony to Embodying the Great Dao,” offers a philosophically grounded reflection rooted in Eastern thought, inviting dialogue among embodied practice, cosmology, and contemporary arts-based inquiry. Together, these works exemplify CAET’s ongoing commitment to East–West dialogue, not as a simplistic comparison, but as a living, evolving exchange of epistemologies and embodied wisdoms.

At the societal level, Nidhi Kiran Bhandari and Nanditha Gogate’ arts-based inquiry into urban alienation highlights the potential of creative processes to respond to disconnection, marginalization, and the fragmentation of contemporary urban life. Their work reinforces the role of arts-based research as both critical inquiry and participatory response, capable of engaging communities while generating new forms of knowledge.

From a disciplinary perspective, Hideki’s scoping review of Japanese dance/movement therapy intervention studies provides an important contribution to international scholarship. By mapping existing research and contextualizing it within local cultural and clinical frameworks, this article strengthens global understanding while resisting homogenization of practice across cultures.

This issue also includes reflective insights from the webinar “Perspectives of Arts in Health as a Discipline—Dialogue with World Leaders: History, Frontier, and Future,” coauthored by Vivien Speiser and Tony Zhou. These reflections capture a moment of collective inquiry into arts in health as an emerging and evolving discipline, shaped by historical roots, contemporary frontiers, and future ethical responsibilities. The dialogue underscores the necessity of cross-sector collaboration, disciplinary clarity, and global conversation in shaping the field’s next phase.

Alongside the scholarly contributions in this Winter issue, CAET also enters an important institutional milestone. We are pleased to mark the appointment of Professor Vivien Speiser as the editor-in-chief of CAET. This step reflects the journal’s ongoing development needs and acknowledges Professor Speiser’s sustained contributions, professional vision, and leadership in strengthening CAET’s academic quality, international engagement, and visibility across Eastern and Western perspectives. Establishing a clear editorial leadership structure is essential as CAET continues to grow as an international, peer-reviewed journal committed to academic integrity, ethical scholarship, and a collaborative scholarly community. The gradual transition and clarification of leadership roles will be integrated into CAET’s strategic planning, ensuring continuity and sustainability for current and future contributors.

This Winter 2025 issue also coincides with an important milestone in CAET’s academic development. In 2025, CAET achieved a Q2 ranking in the Scimago Journal Rank, reflecting its growing scholarly impact and international visibility. The Q2 classification indicates that CAET is now positioned among the upper-middle tier of peer-reviewed journals indexed in Scopus, based on citation impact, journal influence, and network visibility. For an interdisciplinary journal committed to cross-cultural and arts-based inquiry, this recognition affirms the relevance of CAET’s focus on creative arts education, therapy, and arts in health while reinforcing the responsibility to sustain editorial rigor, methodological diversity, and ethical scholarship. This milestone, grounded in the collective efforts of authors, reviewers, and editors, aligns with CAET’s ongoing structural development, including the appointment of Professor Vivien Speiser as Editor-in-Chief, and signals a new phase of consolidation and maturity for the journal.

Taken together, the articles in this issue exemplify CAET’s core mission: to provide a platform where creative arts education, therapy, and arts in health can meet in rigorous, reflective, and culturally responsive dialogue. They remind us that the strength of this field lies not only in innovation but also in careful listening, critical self-reflection, and respect for difference.

We extend our sincere gratitude to all authors, reviewers, and editorial collaborators whose dedication makes this journal possible. We invite readers to engage with this Winter 2025 issue not only as consumers of knowledge but also as participants in an ongoing conversation—one that values vulnerability as a source of insight and creativity as a pathway toward individual and collective well-being.

Dr. Tony Yu Zhou

Executive Founding Editor