Daniel Wong

Daniel is an art therapist and researches the intersection between the arts, health and well-being. With over 18 years of experience working with diverse populations in Australia, Thailand and Singapore, he brings knowledge to his practice.

Daniel actively contributes to art therapy in various roles. He is a committee member of the Art Therapy Foundation Thailand and a founding member of the Art Therapists' Association Thailand. Internationally recognised for his expertise, he serves in external advisory roles in art therapy. Notably, he is a member of the External Advisory Committee (EAC) for the Master of Art Therapy program at Western Sydney University (November 2022 to October 2024). Daniel is also the Co-Editor of JoCAT: Journal of Creative Arts Therapies, an open-access peer-reviewed publication of the Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association in association with the School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University. 

Daniel's therapeutic approach is rooted in psychoanalytic theory. He applies this theory to various aspects of his work, including object-making, material engagements, embodied creative practices, and relational dynamics. His expertise extends to areas such as grief, traumatic stress, and post-traumatic growth. As an artist, Daniel primarily works with fabric, yarns, and discarded or ephemeral objects. He finds aesthetic, sensory, and ideational appeal in transforming these materials through assemblages, collages, and bricolages.

In 2021, Daniel co-edited his first book, Found Objects in Art Therapy: Materials and Process, with Ronald Lay, which Jessica Kingsley published in the UK.

Daniel's research methodologies encompass the following approaches:

1. Case study method: This methodology involves in-depth analysis and examination of specific cases or individuals, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of complex phenomena within real-life contexts.
2. Autoethnography: A qualitative research approach that combines personal reflection, storytelling, and cultural analysis. Researchers explore their own experiences and perspectives within a cultural context, gaining valuable insights into lived experiences.
3. Arts-based research (ABR): A multifaceted approach encompassing a practice, process, and product. It embraces the arts as a means of inquiry and understanding, recognising them as a unique and valuable mode of knowledge creation. ABR engages the researcher as an artist, utilising artistic practices to explore and generate insights. It also includes arts-informed research (AIR), where researchers examine and analyse artistic expressions created by others. These methodologies align with Creative Arts Therapies (CAT) principles, encouraging introspective exploration of self and others. This fosters a deeper and more meaningful understanding for clients and clinicians (Gray, 2011).

Publications

• Co-edited Found Objects in Art Therapy: Materials and Process, with Ronald Lay, published by Jessica Kingsley. ISBN / ISSN: 9781785926914 (2021)
• Contributed to a joint paper Shared Narratives: Museum, Memory Boxes, and Art Therapy, with Kelly Reddy for the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Art Therapy (ANZJIAT) (2019)

Recent conferences and workshops

• Presented Textile, Fibre, and Other Wrapped and Woven Objects in Art Therapy, a workshop at the International Programme of Art Therapy, Thailand (IPATT) (2023)
• Presented Handling Loss with Found Objects, a workshop at the International Programme of Art Therapy, Thailand (IPATT) (2019)
• Presented Response Art in Supervision, a workshop at the International Programme of Art Therapy, Thailand (IPATT) (2019)
• Forum on Shared Narratives: Museum, Memory Boxes, and Art Therapy at the National Museum of Singapore (2019)
• Presented a paper on Found Art: The Beauty and Promise in the Mundane at the ANZATA/ACATA Conference, Melbourne, Australia (2017)
• Presented Supporting Teens with Social Media Addiction: One Image at a Time, a workshop at the 3rd Conference on Counselling for Malaysian Caregivers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2017)
• Consulted and presented at Therapeutic Art Applications in Oncology Care, a train-the trainers workshop series at the National Cancer Institute of Thailand, with MD Patcharin Sughondharom, Thailand (2015)
• Presented Art Therapy in Action, a workshop for teachers in special needs at Furama Riverfront Hotel, Singapore (2015)
• Consulted and conducted a series on Art Experiential Group Training for Nurses in Oncology Care at the Thanyaburi Cancer Center with co-trainer MD Patcharin Sughondharom, Thailand (2012)
• Co-presented Nurturing Resilience: Therapeutic Art Workshop for Professionals Supporting Vulnerable Children, a workshop with co-trainer MD Patcharin Sughondharom, at the World Vision Foundation of Thailand, Phuket (2012)
• Presented The Therapeutic Potential of Artmaking, a workshop at Silpakorn University (2011)

Projects

• Shared narratives: Museum, memory boxes, and art therapy, a collaboration between LASALLE College of the Arts, St Luke's Eldercare and the National Museum Singapore (2019). The project was awarded funding through The Irish Funds Singapore, further supported through the Cultural Matching Fund. This led to a showcase at the National Museum of Singapore in 2022
• Arts for elders project: Their world, their art, a community arts project commissioned by NAC in collaboration with O’Joy Care Services, Fei Yue Neighbourhood Link (Bukit Batok) and Peace Connect Seniors Activity Centre (2012)
• Artful World: Safe Art Space Project in Southern Thailand, for children and youth living in the troubled communities of Saturn, Songkhla and Nakon Si Thammarath, in collaboration with Silpakorn University (2011)
• Expressive Art 4 Flood Relief Project which used puppets as a therapeutic medium with children and their families at the Bangkok Planetarium and Science Center in collaboration with MD Patcharin Sughondharom and HuaChiew Chalermprakit University Social Science students (2010)

I am happy to offer supervision in arts therapies ecology, wellness, and practice as research.