Month: June 2024

Useful links

http://www.headmeds.org.uk/

Straight talk on mental health medication. HeadMeds gives young people in the United Kingdom general information about medication. HeadMeds does not give you medical advice. Please talk to your Doctor or anyone else who is supporting you about your own situation because everyone is different.

http://www.youngminds.org.uk/

YoungMinds is the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people

http://www.youngmindsvs.org.uk/

A mass movement of young people raising awareness and creating change around mental health.

We have 1500 young people working as activists and helping to create conversation online

  • We have a load of media champions representing the campaign, getting it out into the media and acting as a voice for all  children and young people
  • We are working with local and national decision makers to directly start influencing young people’s services
  • We are getting other organisations on board to commit to ensuring young people’s mental health is central to their work

http://projects.huffingtonpost.co.uk/young-minds-matter/

Young Minds Matter is a new series designed to lead the conversation with children about mental and emotional health, so youngsters feel loved, valued and understood. Launched with Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge as guest editor, we will discuss problems, causes and most importantly solutions to the stigma surrounding the UK’s mental health crisis amongst children.

Videos

Helping young people and families relearn essential skills, including mentalizing, to help improve a child’s ability to develop and sustain relationships.

As part of Mental Health Week 2014, Student Minds invite students to discuss their personal experiences of Mental Health particularly during their time at Cambridge University.

http://cutv.soc.srcf.net/student-minds-mental-health-at-cambridge-university/

Organisations

British Association of Art Therapists

http://www.baat.org

Anna Freud Centre

The Anna Freud Centre is committed to improving the emotional well-being of children and young people.  They provide treatments and services that work for young people who are suffering from mental health problems.

http://www.annafreud.org/

Mind

http://www.mind.org.uk

Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition

http://www.cypmhc.org.uk/about_us/

14 charities with a growing base of supporters who are passionate about the wellbeing of the UK’s children and young people.

Through the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition charities come together and speak as one on behalf of children and young people’s mental health. The Coalition was launched in the House of Lords in March 2010 and is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation.

Right Here Brighton and Hove

A support Guide for parents or carers who are wondering or concerned about a young person’s mental health or emotional well-being

Parents-guide-small

London Art Therapy Centre

London Art Therapy Centre

Art Therapy London

http://www.artstherapylondon.co.uk

Royal Collage of pediatrics and Child Health

http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/child-health

Centre for Mental Health

http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/index.aspx

Charlie Waller Memorial Trust

http://www.cwmt.org.uk/

The Trust was set up in 1998 in memory of Charlie Waller, a young man who committed suicide whilst suffering from depression. Shortly after his death, his family founded the Trust in order to educate young people on the importance of staying mentally well and how to do so.

Students against Depression

www.studentsagainstdepression.org

Research

Art Therapy Online (ATOL)

An international, peer-reviewed, open access and index linked journal that addresses theory, practice and research in relation to art therapy as it is known and understood around the world.

ATOL publishes contributions by practitioners who engage with different kinds of therapeutically oriented, art-based work in health and disability services and social, educational and criminal justice systems in different countries. The social, political and visual context of such practice not only shapes its nature but also influences how the discipline develops. ATOL aims to capture and critically engage with this diversity and so address the multi-cultural development of the visual arts in therapeutic work around the world.

http://eprints-gojo.gold.ac.uk/atol.html

Kids Company and The Anna Freud Centre

Kids Company’s many years of experience has shown that intensive and long-term work with children and young people reduces emotional and behavioural difficulties including self-harm, substance misuse and aggression.

http://www.kidsco.org.uk/news-events/2009/neuroscience-research-with-the-anna-freud-centre-university-college-london

University of Sussex

Professor David Fowler is the research chair in children and young people’s mental health.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/19570

SPRIG – The Sussex Psychosis Research interest Group (SPRiG) incorporates clinical and academic researchers within the University of Sussex, Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The SPRiG group is part of the Clinical and Developmental research group at the University of Sussex.

Current research includes the contribution of genetics, neuroimaging, psychological processes, health and social contexts to psychosis and well-being outcomes; the development of new psychological therapies, including third wave CBT and computer-based therapies; understanding and addressing childrens’ and adolescents’ attitudes to psychosis, to promote positive non-stigmatising schema; and earlier engagement in help seeking.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/spriglab/index

Articles

Fraiberg S, Adelson E, Shapiro V (1975). Ghosts in the nursery. A psychoanalytic approach to the problems of impaired infant-mother relationships. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,14(3), 387-421.

Click to access PIIS0002713809614424.pdf

Dominik Havsteen-Franklin, Overcoming Challenges Together. Art Psychotherapy with Central and North West London (CNWL) NHS Mental Health Services, ATOL: Art Therapy Online, 5 (1), 2014

Overcoming Organisational Challenges Together

Creative Health and Wellbeing

Social and Cultural Context: Creative Health and Wellbeing

Art Therapy takes places against a backdrop and a rapidly evolving context where there is a research backed global recognition of the benefits of arts, health and wellbeing. ‘Creative Health’ is a relatively new term used to describe a whole host of amazing work in relation to supporting the essential role that creativity, art and culture can play in the health and wellbeing of everyone, whatever their background and wherever they live.

Important research carried out by Daisy Fancourt and Andrew Steptoe in 2019 into Art and Longevity established key findings that supports an exponential growth in arts, health and wellbeing strategic and policy priorities around national and global health improvement.

  • Art Reduces Stress – Artistic engagement is more than relaxation; it facilities emotional expression; decreases stress hormones, enhances mental health
  • Art Builds social connections– the Arts play a crucial role in fostering community, enhanc- ing individual and communal wellbeing.
  • Art fights loneliness – active participation in the arts can combat feelings of isolation and loneliness – it strengthen social networks
  • Art Boosts emotional skills – regular engagement with various artforms enhances emo- tional intelligence, improving social survival skills, and interpersonal relationships – in- creases empathy
  • Art inspires Movement – Art isn’t just for the mind; it encourages physical activity, re- ducing sendetary lifestyles
  • Finding purpose in Art – consistent artistic engagements contributes to a strong sense of life purpose and healthier lifestyle choices and vitality. Strengthens Immune function.

The Arts Council England, for example is working with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, NHS Improvement, and Public Health England (now the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities), as well as national charities such as Age UK, Mind, and Scope, in order to emphasise the benefits that access to culture and creativity can bring to public health, and to the wellbeing of communities across the country. The Let’s Create Strategy for 2020-2030 shares a vision to ensure that everyone in the country has access to high quality creative and cultural activities which in turn will lead to happier and healthier lives. “Creative and cultural activity must be viewed by society as a fundamental part of living well”. Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on the Arts, Health and Wellbeing set up in 2014 aims to improve awareness of the benefits that the arts can bring to health and wellbeing and lead the creation of the National Centre for Creative Health.

https://www.culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk/appg-inquiry/

National Centre for Creative Health – NCCH believes everyone has creative potential and that creativity can lead to healthier lives and communities. Active engagement with the arts and culture, whether through one’s own creative practice or through enjoyment of the creative practice of others, is beneficial for the health and wellbeing of us all. Their priorities are: health inequalities; advancing good practice and research; informing policy; and promoting collaboration.

“Being creative and taking part in cultural activities can help keep us well, aid our recov- ery from illness and contribute to longer lives, better lived. Creative health approaches can help meet major challenges such as health inequalities, ageing, long-term conditions, loneliness and mental health. And they can help save money in health and social care. Creative health can provide tools for engaging with communities that often do not get a voice and support a better understanding of the issues they face” (https://ncch.org.uk/)

https://www.creativehealthtoolkit.org.uk/

World Health Organisation – states that the arts are uniquely suited to help us under- stand and communicate concepts and emotions by drawing on all our senses and capacity for empathy. In recent decades, we have come to understand the intrinsic health benefits to artistic and leisure activities. Art can help us to emotionally navigate the journey of battling an illness or injury, to process difficult emotions in times of emergency and chal- lenging events. The creation and enjoyment of the arts helps promote holistic wellness and can be a motivating factor in recovery. Including the arts in health care delivery has been shown to support positive clinical outcomes for patients while also supporting other stakeholders, including health care providers, the patient’s loved ones and the wider community. Benefits are seen across several markers, including health promotion, the management of health conditions and illness, and disease prevention.

https://www.who.int/initiatives/arts-and-health