Arts therapies

• What are arts therapies?
• Who should be offered them?
• Are arts therapies effective?

What are arts therapies?

An art therapy is a psychotherapy that uses art, music, drama or movement to help people explore and express their feelings rather than using words – painting or drawing how they feel, for example. People who join an arts therapy group don’t need to talk about their feelings and experiences unless they want to. Neither do they have to have artistic skill.

Arts therapies can help people gain self-awareness, communicate better with other people, boost self-confidence and concentration, and reduce feelings of isolation and exclusion.

Arts therapies provided in the UK are:
• Art therapy
• Dance movement therapy
• Dramatherapy
• Music therapy

Arts therapists in the UK are specially trained in psychotherapy and the use of their chosen ‘art’ during a Masters degree, and are registered and regulated by the Health Professions Council.

Arts therapies are normally delivered by one therapist to small groups of people, or sometimes to individuals. They are available in hospitals for people who are very unwell, and in the community, where sessions are held on a regular, often weekly, basis.

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Who should be offered them?

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence says mental health professionals should consider offering arts therapies to all people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

NICE says arts therapists should be registered with the Health Professions Council, and should have experience of working with people with schizophrenia.

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Are arts therapies effective?

Research has been carried out with the help of people with schizophrenia to test the effectiveness of arts therapies. The review of research results for the NICE Guideline on Schizophrenia showed that arts therapies help reduce the ‘negative’ symptoms of schizophrenia. These ‘negative’ symptoms include lack of energy, loss of motivation, loss of interest in activities, people and personal appearance, memory problems and concentration difficulties (see Schizophrenia page).