Artway: gallery art therapy group for young people with mental health difficulties

ABSTRACT

Background

Research suggests that art therapy in museums and galleries can be beneficial to mental wellbeing, but there has been little research in this field relating to young people. There is a need to understand how an art gallery context might contribute to such effects.

Aims:

We aimed to understand mechanisms of therapeutic change (Springham and Huet 2018), where it could be evidenced, when participants with mental health challenges made, looked at and discussed art together in an art gallery.

Methods

Three eight-week art therapy groups were delivered for young people at a gallery alongside a professional artist. Fifteen participants completed standardised pre- and post-outcome measures to contextualise the theorising. Video recordings of sessions were analysed by two art psychotherapists in consultation with Author 2. We used grounded theory methodology to develop a theory about what processes were happening during the sessions.

Results

There was a statistically significant change on self-reported wellbeing from beginning to end of the intervention for participants as a group, but not on the self-esteem measure. The developed theory describes the way the gallery context and working with an artist appeared to enhance and change the varying focus of an art therapy group.

Conclusion:

The developed theory goes some way to understanding the mechanisms of change in an art therapy group for young people in a gallery.

Implications for practice/policy/future research

Contemporary art venues and working alongside professional artists can offer a stimulating environment for therapeutic change in art therapy groups. Further research is needed to develop the theory.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY

Two art psychotherapists ran art therapy groups for young people at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. There was a professional artist working alongside them in the sessions. The young people, the artist and the art psychotherapists made art in a private studio space and also moved around the gallery to look at the art displayed in the public gallery area.

We aimed to understand better what works in an art therapy group for young people in the gallery setting.

Video recordings were made of sessions so that the art psychotherapists could look back at the footage and try to work out theories about what was happening in the groups and how that might be helpful for the young people.

The young people also filled in forms about how they felt at the beginning and at the end of the project. That way we could understand more about how things had got better (or not) for the young people.

The art psychotherapists’ theory is the idea that the different viewpoints that happen in such a group can be helpful, among a range of things that all seemed generally to help to make the experience positive for the young people. These included humour, moving around and doing different activities, the art gallery context, making/talking/thinking about art and the different role of the art psychotherapists.

The art psychotherapists think it would be good for others to try similar projects as long as they are careful to make sure it is safe.

KEYWORDS:

• Art galleries; mental health; professional artist; group art therapy; young people; grounded theory; connections

Acknowledgements

Dr Val Huet, Visiting Professor, School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire.

Staff Team from BALTIC, who accessed funding and helped with organisation at BALTIC.

CNTW R&D, who were the sponsors of the work.

Demi Patterson from CNTW admin. team, who helped in formatting the diagrams.

Dr Neil Springham is named as reviewer of the research on the IRAS form.

Disclosure/Declaration of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by funding from the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, the Sir James Knott Trust and The Barbour Foundation. This funding was secured by BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, in collaboration with the Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

Notes on contributors

Whittaker Scott

Whittaker Scott has worked as an art psychotherapist with children and young people within the NHS since 1996. He was an advisor to the editorial board of IJAT on issues relating to art therapy with children and adolescents. He was previously editor of IJAT: Inscape and previously a member of BAAT Council.

Sue Holttum

Sue Holttum is a Reader in Applied Psychology (four days a week). She facilitates research workshops and supervises applied doctoral research in clinical psychology and mental wellbing. Sue also works part time at the British Association of Art Therapists, supporting art therapy research.

Michael Fischer

Michael Fischer has worked as an art psychotherapist with children and young people within the NHS since 2003.