Keep up to date with our latest news and events.
Latest News
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Release of new publication!
The Arts for the Blues team are delighted to announce their third publication which presents the twelve session creative psychotherapy model for depression. This article details the approach taken by the team to inform the model and presents the eight key ingredients that underpin the therapy. Omylinska-Thurston, J., Karkou, V., Parsons, A.S., Nair, K., Haslam,…
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Arts for the Blues in Greece
4th January 2020, Thessaloniki This January, Vicky led an experimental workshop and seminar based on the Arts for the Blues approach. Participants included arts psychotherapists (dance, drama, arts and music) as well as primarily verbal psychotherapists and psychologists. The day focused on the contribution of the arts to the treatment of depression and experiential work…
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BADth annual conference 2019
British Association of Dramatherapists 6-8th September 2019, Chester The Arts for the Blues team presented this autumn at the annual BADth conference. The British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth) is the professional body for Dramatherapists in the United Kingdom. Dramatherapy has as its main focus the intentional use of healing aspects of drama and theatre as the therapeutic…
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Research centre for arts and wellbeing
The Arts for the Blues research project is led by Professor Vicky Karkou, Director of the newly established Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, at Edge Hill University. The purpose of the centre is to engage with impactful interdisciplinary research on the contribution of the arts towards the wellbeing of people across the life span,…
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Creative therapies conference
25th October 2019, University of Salford Ailsa Parsons and Dr Linda Dubrow-Marshall, both members of the Arts for the Blues project, presented and delivered an experiential workshop at the first ever Creative Therapies Conference at Salford University. This full day event celebrated and explored how creativity can be used therapeutically through every age of life.…
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IMEC International Meaning Conference
London, 12-14th July 2019 This Saturday, Dr Joanna Omylinska-Thurston and Prof Vicky Karkou are presenting Arts for the Blues : A Creative Psychological Intervention for Depression, at the IMEC International Meaning Conference; a bi-annual international conference in the UK for practitioners and researchers who focus at meaning in life and at helping people to live a meaningful life despite life’s challenges http://www.meaning.org.uk…
Events
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Together Un/Tethered, an Arts for the Blues immersive performance
Sneak a peak at our Arts Council-funded project, Together Un/Tethered. Participants and artists joined a therapeutically informed Arts for the Blues group at the Liverpool Lighthouse and used their experiences to create this immersive performance. Interweaving movement, spoken word, innovative soundscape, projection and live cellist, Together Un/tethered explores themes of separation, connection, new possibilities and…
Research Announcements
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Arts for the Blues: The development of a new evidence-based creative group psychotherapy for depression
Omylinska-Thurston, J., Karkou, V., Parsons, A.S., Nair, K., Haslam, S., Dubrow-Marshall, L., Lewis, J., Thurston, S. (2020). The development of Arts for the Blues – the new creative therapy for depression. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research. (IF 0.50) Read the full article here.
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Scaling up place-based arts initiatives that support mental health and wellbeing. Research-informed strategic commitments and recommendations using Arts for the Blues as a case example
Scaling up report with foreword from Dr Nils Fietje, WHO Arts and health: Karkou V, Omylinska-Thurston J, Thurston S. Clark B, Perris E. Kaehne A and Pearson M (2023) Scaling up place-based arts initiatives that support mental health and wellbeing Research-informed strategic commitments and recommendations using the Arts for the Blues as a case example.…
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Bringing creative psychotherapies to primary NHS Mental Health Services in the UK: A feasibility study on patient and staff experiences of Arts for the Blues workshops delivered at Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)
Karkou, V., Omylinska-Thurston, J., Parsons, A., Nair, K., Starkey, J., Haslam, S., Thurston, S., & Marshall, L. D. (2022). Bringing creative psychotherapies to primary NHS Mental Health Services in the UK: A feasibility study on patient and staff experiences of arts for the blues workshops delivered at Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. Counselling…