Addressing the Psycho-Emotional Impact of Climate Anxiety on Children and Young People through Illustration

About the Project

Climate change is contributing to a worldwide increase in physical and mental health needs. There is subsequently a critical bottleneck in supply and demand for mental health services in the UK and further afield, especially for child and adolescent mental health [1]. There is growing evidence that art therapies can have direct impact on mental and physical wellbeing [2] however practicing professional art therapists are currently oversubscribed with referrals from the NHS.

We are interested in projects that aim to address these shortcomings through well founded and well-structured interventions/approaches focussing on illustration. Through this we will create a stronger evidence base allowing for more acceptance of them within the psycho-medical community. These projects might take the form of a targeting of a particular at-need community group, or more general interventions.

We are also interested in supervising projects that investigate the upskilling of frontline community workers to include this kind of work within their own projects.

As a PhD student in the Institute of Arts and Humanities at Worcester you will be part of the Arts and Health Research Group, a transdisciplinary community of artists, educators and health professionals exploring the overlaps of art, culture and wellbeing. The Arts and Health group organizes symposia, research events and exhibitions which you can participate in and contribute to.

There will also be opportunities to exhibit your work in the Window Galleries at the Art House, with Pitt Studio, a contemporary art organization based at the Art House and at other venues in the city. The Institute of Arts and Humanities also works closely with Meadow Arts, a local visual arts organization that creates projects in unusual and unexpected locations and with whom we organize an annual artist talks programme.

Director of Studies

• Dr John Cussans, Arts and Health Research Group, School of Arts, University of Worcester

Supervisors

• Desdemona McCannon, Arts and Health Research Group School of Arts, University of Worcester
• Tobias Hickey, Arts and Health Research Group, School of Arts, University of Worcester

Arts and Health Research Group

Application Process

To begin the application process please go to https://www.worc.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/applying-for-a-phd/.