From Thursday 18th June 2020
In collaboration with the International Arts Therapies Doctoral Alliance led by New York University, a series of presentations, panel discussions and workshops will be recorded and showcased online, exploring the contribution of the arts and arts psychotherapies to health and wellbeing during the 2020 pandemic .
Guest speakers and panelists will present current initiatives and research on the physiological and psychological benefits of the arts. In particular discussions will focus on the contributions that the arts therapies can make to tackle isolation, loneliness, offer opportunities for resilience and support for the wellbeing of the general public, health and social care staff and patients. Ways in which the arts therapies can act as psychological interventions for the prevention and treatment of depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder will also be explored, highlighting the value of this field at times of crisis.
Videos will also be posted via twitter with the hashtag #artstherapiescovid19 we would like to encourage everyone to use this tag to provide your thoughts and any creative responses to the resources and together create a forum where we can meet and share.
Keynote presentation by Christopher Bailey, Arts & Health Lead at the World Health Organisation ‘Composed at Present, Composing the Future: Arts and Healing in the COVID world‘. This is followed by a Panel Discussion exploring the role of arts and arts therapies in the context of the pandemic, with the four featured arts therapists below (Dr Nisha Sajnani, Prof Felicity Baker, Prof Vicky Karkou and Dr Azizah Abdullah).
Christopher Bailey
Christopher is the Arts and Health Lead at WHO, and a performer. He recently moderated an online discussion for the UN on Art in the Time of Coronavirus which brought together influential art world voices to explore the role and value of art when facing systemic-level, global threats like COVID-19. This event was held on Earth Day to highlight Coronavirus’ connection to our ecological emergency.
This discussion marked the first in a series of UN75 Moderated Dialogues by The Future is Unwritten, a New York-based initiative launched by CULTURUNNERS and World Council of Peoples for the United Nations (WCPUN), to engage the arts and culture sector in United Nations global policy discussions and implementation efforts.
If you would like to see the recording of this discussion please click here
Below is a link of a recent speech at the Wellcome Collection about the impact and evidence base for arts in health
Short 1min 30 taster
Full length presentation and panel discussion 1hr4min
A series of presentations from prominent international arts therapists talking about how their discipline and research activities can contribute to health and wellbeing during the times of the pandemic.
Dr Nisha Sajnani, USA
Drama Therapy
Dr. Nisha Sajnani is the Director of the Program in Drama Therapy and the Founder of the Theatre & Health Lab at New York University Steinhart. Nisha is the Principal Editor of Drama Therapy Review, an international journal on theatre, health, and wellbeing, and a founding member of the World Alliance of Drama Therapy, the Critical Pedagogy in the Arts Therapies think tank, and the NYU Creative Arts Therapies Consortiumwhere she leads the International Arts Therapies Doctoral Alliance.
Nisha’s primary research areas include the role of improvisation and performance in ethical leadership, health promotion, and in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. She has published widely in the areas of culturally responsive pedagogy in the arts therapies, embodied and performance research, depression, and sustainable mental health care in humanitarian contexts. In addition to this, she has produced several films and online exhibits pertaining to drama therapy and displacement. Read an interview with Dr. Nisha Sajnani about her research here.
Dr. Sajnani is a past president of the North American Drama Therapy Association (2009-2011) and been recognized by the NADTA for distinguished contributions to the field of drama therapy in education, publication, practice, and service and her efforts to promote research and diversity in the field. She was awarded the Corann Okorodudu Global Women’s Advocacy Award from the American Psychological Association (Div. 35), and the first Diversity award from the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. Professor Sajnani has served as part of the official Canadian delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 2006.
For more information and links to her publications click here https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/nisha-sajnani
Prof Felicity Baker, Australia
Music Therapy
Professor Felicity Baker is Head of Music Therapy, and Director of the International Research Partnerships for the Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit at Melbourne University. She is former Australia Research Council Future Fellow (2011-2015) in the area of music therapy and during this fellowship built models of songwriting as practiced through the lenses of different orientations.
Felicity has attracted more than $14 million in competitive research funding and is currently coordinating a large international randomised controlled trial involving research teams in Australia, UK, Norway, Poland and Germany. Her clinical and research expertise are predominantly in neurorehabilitation and dementia with a special interest in communication rehabilitation and facilitating emotional adjustment to a changed identity via various music therapy methods.
She is currently Associate Editor, Journal of Music Therapy. Felicity was National President of The Australian Music Therapy Association (2010-2014), and former editor of The Australian Journal of Music Therapy. Felicity has received a number of awards and has published widely with over 150 publications and is best known for her authored and edited texts: Music Therapy in Neurorehabilitation: A Clinician’s Manual. Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2006 with Jeanette Tamplin), Song Writing Methods, Techniques and Clinical Applications for Music Therapy Clinicians, Educators and Student (2005, with Tony Wigram), and Voicework in Music Therapy: Research and Practice (2011, with Sylka Uhlig)
Prof Vicky Karkou, UK
Dance Movement Psychotherapy
Vicky is the Director for the Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing at Edge Hill University in the UK, a qualified dance movement psychotherapist, registered humanistic psychotherapist and qualified creative supervisor.
She is currently the joint programme leader for the MSc Psychotherapy and Counselling: Contemporary Creative Approaches. Here is a link to this course https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/courses/psychotherapy-and-counselling-contemporary-creative-approaches/#gref
Vicky’s research work covers the areas of the arts, therapy and arts therapies and ranges from artistic inquiry to systematic reviews and meta-analyses. With a team of colleagues from Leeds University, she has completed two Cochrane Reviews on the effectiveness of Dance Movement Therapy for Depression and for Dementia; methodologically these publications include systematic reviews and a meta-analysis. With colleagues from Edinburgh University she has edited her third (edited) book titled: The Oxford Handbook on Dance for Wellbeing; this publication, amongst other things, favours and celebrates arts-based research and videos as publications. Her more recent book is edited with a colleague from the University of Highlands and Islands titled Arts Therapies in the treatment of Depression.
She is currently involved in the ERA study, the largest arts therapies randomised controlled trial in the UK funded by the NIHR. She has also received funding from the clinical commissioning group of Liverpool for the development of an evidence based creative psychological intervention for depression www.artsforthebelues.com and from the European Union for studies on depression and cancer care.
She travels extensively for research and teaching purposes offering key notes, experiential workshops and consultancy work around the world. In 2014 she was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of Medicine from Riga Stradins University, Latvia for her services in supporting the development of arts psychotherapies in this country.
Vicky is widely published in peer-reviewed journals and is co-editor for the international journal Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy published by Taylor and Francis. For a full list of Vicky’s publications visit the Edge Hill research repository https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/en/persons/vicky-karkou .
To read about Vicky and the experiences that have shaped her outlook, here she features in the New Psychotherapist UKCP publication in Autumn 2019 pages 52-53.
Dr Azizah Abdullah, Malaysia
Expressive Arts Psychotherapy
Dr Azizah is Senior Lecturer in Expressive Arts, Counselling and Psychology at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). She is also a registered counsellor with Malaysian Board of Counsellors and a member of the National Council Counselling Educator (NCCE), Malaysia. Her PhD, obtained in 2015 from the University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom, focused on contemporary person-centred creative practices. In addition, she has trained in various creative arts and play therapy approaches from leading key scholars in UK, Europe, USA and Hong Kong. She also has a degree in Guidance and Counselling, and a Master Degree in Counselling and Psychology. Whilst her work is informed by a Humanistic person-centred approach, she also utilises other theoretical foundations based on the client’s needs and preferences. She is now primarily interested on working in therapeutic practices and processes in the counselling and psychology sector, informed by over twenty years’ experience.
Dr Azizah is involved in various research projects in Malaysia, in particular she led a national collaborative project ‘Forwarding Creative Arts Therapy from an Islamic Perspective to Enhance Quality of Life and Well-being’ part of the Knowledge Transfer Program (KTP), funded by the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia (MOHE). She also led the Social Innovation Research’s grant funded by Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) ‘Developing a training manual of play therapy for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties’ (PT – SEBD). Currently Dr Azizah leads a national collaboration project between UUM, National Population & Family Development Board, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Malaysia and State Islamic Religious Council, which focuses on developing models of art therapy as a coping mechanism for survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence. In the context of the Covid 19 crisis, Dr Azizah also coordinated a series of online psychological support projects and web-based creative innovation including the use of expressive arts and play therapy as a medium to share inner feelings and attitudes in respond to the Covid-19 crisis. She has trained mental health practitioners from Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia to apply expressive arts and play therapy methods, supporting professional services, community development, professional growth, and psycho-education outputs.
Dr Azizah is actively involved with a number of international associations and key scholars in counselling, psychology, psychotherapy, arts/expressive arts therapy, play therapy, hypnotherapy and other related mental health and care professions. She is the President of the Association for Creative Arts and Play Therapy Malaysia (ACAPTM) working closely with other professionals and academics in South-East Asia region including from Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Myanmar. She is a professional member of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA), a member of World Association of Person-centred Experiential Counselling and Psychotherapy (WAPCECP), Executive Co-chair, Asean Creative Arts Therapy (ACATA), member of the European Alliance for Innovation (EAI) and founding member for International Institutional Review Board (IRB-Hong Kong). She is a past member of Play Therapy United Kingdom (PTUK), and past member of Society for Psychotherapy Research- European Chapter (SPR-eC). She also a life-member for Malaysian Counselling Association-International (PERKAMA-International). Dr Azizah’s aims are to expand expressive arts and play therapy professional practices in the South-East Asia region.
Currently Dr Azizah is working to publish her first book on Person-Centred Creative Practice based on her PhD work, under UUM Press. She is in the final editing stages of a book chapter on Islamic Creative Arts Therapy, the outcome from KTP`s national project. Her article titled ‘A Survey of Person-Centred Creative Practice” is under preparation for the journal of Person-Centred Counselling & Psychotherapy (PCEP). Other upcoming articles for Scopus Journal are based on outcomes from Covid-19 projects, including ‘Online expressive arts at the time of crisis : Creative Coping Strategies’, ‘Web-based Child-Centred Play Therapy: A gateway into children`s inner world’ and ‘Professional Practices, Ethics and Protocols for Creative Tele-Psychological Support’.
Workshops and reflections of internationally recognised practitioners in dance movement psychotherapy, art psychotherapy, music therapy and drama therapy.
Monique Hill, South Africa/Thailand
Drama Therapy
Monique was one of the first cohort of drama therapists trained at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa in 2014/2015. She has also qualified as a Certified Cyber Therapist, trained by the Online Therapy Institute in the UK. She is currently based in Phuket, Thailand, and runs a private practice: Drama Therapy Online. She is a pioneer of text-based online drama therapy, offering sessions via email and instant messaging. She also runs webinars to train drama therapists in online techniques and ethical issues, which have reached therapists in 11 countries and 5 continents. She can be contacted at [email protected]
Leah Gipson, USA
Art Therapy
Leah Gipson is an Assistant Professor in the Art Therapy and Counseling Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). She is a licensed clinical professional counselor, a registered and board-certified art therapist, with a Master of Arts in Art Therapy and a Master of Theological Studies. Her current research interests include womanism/black feminism, and the use of cultural curation to explore the politics of individual and social change. Gipson is a board member for A Long Walk Home, Inc., an organization that uses the arts to empower young people and end violence against women and girls, and an organizer of the Critical Pedagogy in the Arts Therapies Think Tank. Her projects have included: DIVISIVE, a radio show that explores the intersections and interactivity between politics and cultural work, The Rectory, a participatory arts incubator space in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago; and Care Sessions, an arts and well-being program that partners with Chicago community organizers through the Office of Engagement at SAIC Homan Square.
Stefanie Belnavis, USA/Caribbean
Dance Movement Therapy
Stefanie wears many hats as a Jamaican-born Dance Movement Therapist/Consultant, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Clinician, Disability Advocate and Independent Photographer. Stefanie is also the Founder of A Bucket For the Well LLC, a creative arts psychotherapeutic private practice that centers attachment and early relationships through embodied movement-based practices, trauma-focused generational healing and creative wellness for BIPOC young children, their families and adults with a deep commitment to social justice and racial equality. Stefanie specializes in multicultural mental health advocacy for children, families, community educators, and community partners within the US and Caribbean Diaspora, with a focus on the culturally affirming parent-infant mental health and intergenerational trauma within communities of color, particularly immigrant families. An immigrant herself, Stefanie’s work is charged by seeking to create intersectional and decolonizing dialogue around diverse, inclusive and equitable mental health and creative forms of healing, namely dance movement psychotherapy, within underserved/marginalized communities that marry culturally empathetic social emotional practices, creative arts therapy interventions, and intergenerational studies within these communities.
Over the past 5 years, Stefanie has worked as a Creative Arts Therapist and Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Clinician and Consultant in Boston Massachusetts wherein she provides clinical and experiential movement-based services to young children, their parents/caregivers and their extended community supports. Stefanie has served as a mental health consultant to local preschools, childcare centers and public schools in the Boston area, providing teacher and staff consultation, parent and teacher trainings, school-based play and dance movement therapy, classroom and student observations, feedback sessions, and crisis intervention services when needed. Stefanie is currently an Adjunct Instructor in the Dance Movement Therapy Department at Lesley University in Cambridge MA.
Stefanie’s is also fueled by her passion as a creative in which she is an avid avocation for sustainable creative health for all. Stefanie is the Founder of The Diahann Project (TDP) and The Diahann Project Births (TDPB). Both photography collaboratives are centered around elevating the intersectional stories of BIPOC communities of color. TDP focuses on BIPOC visual storytelling through portrait photography while TDPB is similarly aligned with a larger focus on representing disparities within the prenatal journeys of BIPOC families inclusive of successful and adverse child birthing stories.STEFANIE D. BELNAVIS, LMHC, R- DMT (Board Eligible)A BUCKET FOR THE WELL | FounderDance Movement Therapist, RegisteredLicensed Mental Health ClinicianParent-Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health ClinicianDisability Advocate
Email: [email protected]Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abucketforthewell/IG: @abucketforthewellTHE DIAHANN PROJECT | FounderEmail: [email protected]Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDiahannProject/IG: @thediahannproject AND @thediahannprojectbirths
Claudia Zanini, Brazil
Music Therapy
Claudia is a music therapist with a Ph.D. in Health Sciences, Master in Music, Specialization in Music Therapy in Mental Health and in Special Education. She works as Professor and Researcher of Music Therapy at UFG – Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil. Bachelor in Piano. Visitor Researcher at the Music Therapy Program at Temple University, Philadelphia (Fall/2018). General Coordinator of NEPEV-UFG – Nucleus for Teaching, Research, and Extension in Aging. Former President of the Department of Gerontology of SBGG-GO – Goiás Section of the Brazilian Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (2014-18). Former Chair of the Research and Ethics Commission / World Federation of Music Therapy (2014-17). Member of the WFMT Research and Ethics Commission (2017-20). Member of the Ethics Council of UBAM – Brazilian Union of Music Therapy Associations. Reviewer of Music and Music Therapy Journals.
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2 responses to “Arts and Therapy in the Time of the Pandemic”
Hi Jennifer,
this looks amazing but I am working all day – will it be recorded? If so I would really like to access this.
all good wishes
Sarah we’ve emailed you some info regarding the event we hope you find it useful