Keep up to date with our latest news and events.
Latest News
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New publication – Bringing creative psychotherapies to primary NHS mental health services in the UK
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. Download our most recent article which discusses a feasibility study undertaken with patients and staff in an IAPT (Improving Access…
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A new strategy for scaling up place-based arts initiatives that support mental health and wellbeing
Last year Arts for the Blues received AHRC grant to develop a strategy for scaling up arts-based interventions across North West using Arts for the Blues as an example. To develop the strategy we held two stakeholders events for 43 stakeholders from healthcare, cultural, community and local authorities settings. We also evaluated four training days…
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New open access publication
Our most recent article discusses a feasibility study undertaken with patients and staff in an IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) service. This article is open access and you can find it here: Karkou, V., Omylinska-Thurston, J., Parsons, A.S., Lewis, J., Dubrow-Marshall, L., Thurston, S. (2022). Bringing creative psychotherapies to primary NHS Mental Health Services in…
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Arts for the blues project wins funding to tackle depression through arts
A pioneering project led by Edge Hill University and developed in collaboration with the University of Salford, which uses the arts to tackle depression, has been awarded new funding to scale up across the North West of England. Arts for the Blues is a collaborative research project between artists, therapists, universities, NHS trusts and cultural…
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Arts for the Blues training
As part of the scaling up project funded by UKRI AHRC, we are offering Arts for the Blues training at Edge Hill University and University of Salford. This training is nearly full but do watch out for more training in the future. To keep in touch and to find out about future trainings, email artswell@edgehill.ac.uk
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Arts for the Blues film
A film about the Arts for the Blues project was included as part of the Healing Arts Symposium hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York. It was the only example from the UK and it was screened on 14th November 2021. The event was in partnership…
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Events
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Arts for the Blues training day
16 January 2021 This weekend we had such an inspiring day with a wonderful group of therapists, counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists, who together explored the creative possibilities for online delivery of the Arts for the Blues model. We are so thankful to connect with everyone. Here are some of the creative outputs from the day! …
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Arts for the Blues adapted for postnatal depression
Tuesday 3rd November 19:00-21:00 UK time We invite you to join ENGAGE….conversations conceived across performance studies and the maternal. A series of online forums which consider, through different artistic and academic perspectives, how maternal performance helps us to understand the lived condition of motherhood. Each forum responds to a themed-provocation (question) and features a panel of guest…
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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…
Research Announcements
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The Importance of Psychological Flow in Creative, Embodied and Enactive Psychological Approach (Arts for the Blues)
Parsons, A. S., Dubrow-Marshall, L., Turner, R., Thurston, S., Starkey, J., Omylinska-Thurston, J., & Karkou, V. (2022). The Importance of Psychological Flow in a Creative, Embodied and Enactive Psychological Therapy Approach (Arts for the Blues). Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy. Read the full article here.