Arts-led Approaches to Trauma and Healing

About the Project

The Covid pandemic led to a worldwide increase in physical and mental health needs, particularly amongst the young, the elderly and minority groups. 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 (including art therapy, music therapy, dance and movement therapy, and dramatherapy) can have direct impact on mental and physical wellbeing [2] however practicing professional art therapists are currently oversubscribed with referrals from the NHS.

Dance and movement therapies, as well as wellbeing-focused dance and movement interventions, position dance as a way to make sense of an emotional state rather than a performance art form (Payne, 2003). There is a wide, published research base supporting this approach, including dedicated journals, however a systematic review of published work found generally poor-quality evidence within published work that is used to support the therapeutic benefits (Strassel et al., 2011).

We are interested in projects that aim to address these shortcomings through well founded and well-structured interventions/approaches. Through this we will create a stronger evidence base allowing for more acceptance of them within the psychomedical 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. Through this kind of project potentially many more at-need groups could access the benefits than the currently practising professionals can reach.

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.

Director of Studies

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

Supervisors

• Dr Paul Golz, Arts and Health Research Group, School of Arts, University of Worcester
• Dr Daniel Somerville, 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/.