Activity Groups as Mental Health Interventions for Creative Arts Professionals

ABSTRACT

Individuals whose career is within creative arts have higher rates of mental health diagnoses as compared to other professionals. We discuss the development of a novel program, the results of a quasi-experimental pilot survey of participants, and implications for practice and future research. Care for Creatives (CFC) operated from 2018 to 2020 to address community mental health of creative arts professionals. CFC collected pilot survey data from participants and included weekly drop-in social mixers featuring various healing service stations. The event paired with a structured open group featuring activities in yoga, somatic activities, and movement (MOV), expressive arts modalities (EA), and meditative relaxation practices (MED) with facilitated reflective sharing. Pre and post session data were collected from a convenience sample (n = 224). Results were statistically significant for positive change in all domains measured: subjective wellbeing (SWB), gratitude (GT), hope (HP), and social connection (SC). Results indicate that CFC successfully improved mental health indicators.

KEYWORDS:

• Creativity
• gratitude
• hope
• community mental health
• creativity in counseling

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support of Southern Rep Theatre and Aimeé Hayes; The New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic and Bethany Bultman; Care for Creatives staff and community; Loyola University New Orleans and Kevin Foose.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Greater New Orleans Foundation IMPACT program.