1st Edition
Arts-Based Approaches to Promote Mental Health and Well-Being Supporting Children and Families in Conditions of Adversity
This book provides insights on how creative and expressive approaches can promote psychosocial well-being among children, youth, and their caregivers living in conditions of adversity around the world.
Arts-based psychosocial approaches give children a means to tap into their strengths as well as adaptively communicate and process experiences in ways that promote their own and overall family well-being. Offering an overview of the impact of adverse childhood experiences on lifelong health and functioning and how arts-based approaches can be protective, this book discusses relevant theory and research, as well as case studies and findings from mixed methods program evaluations. Examples from the Healing and Education Through the Arts (HEART) initiative from Save the Children are discussed in depth, and demonstrate the benefits of creative self-expression among children and families in the most challenging environments around the world.
Creative arts therapists, public health professionals, education specialists, policymakers, and humanitarian groups seeking to provide cost-effective support to communities in need will find, in this book, insights on the impact of large-scale arts-based interventions in a range of public health and education settings.
1. Healing and Education Through the Arts at Save the Children
Sara Hommel, May Aoun, Aida Bekic, and Dario Lipovac
2. Growing Through Adversity: Risks and Protective Factors for Children and Their Caregivers
Girija Kaimal, Rebekka Dieterich-Hartwell, Bani Malhotra, Victoria Schwachter, and Asli Arslanbek
3. Creative Resources: How the Expressive Arts Help Children and Adults Develop and Cope with Adversities
Girija Kaimal, Rebekka Dieterich-Hartwell, Bani Malhotra, Victoria Schwachter, Asli Arslanbek, and Kristyn S. Stickley
4. Healing and Education Through the Arts in Practice
Sara Hommel, May Aoun, Aida, Bekic, and Dario Lipovac
5. HEART in Early Childhood
Amy Parker, Carolyn Alesbury, Phoebe Marabi, Ana Lagidze, and Laila Sabbagh
6. HEART in Childhood
Asli Arslanbek, Carolyn Alesbury, Dario Lipovac, Miroslava Marjanovic, and Jean Nkhonjera
7. “We Are Alike Now”: HEART for All Children
Carolyn Alesbury, Aida Bekic, and Ana Lagidze
8. HEART for Parents and Caregivers
May Aoun, Rebekka Dieterich-Hartwell, and Laila Sabbagh
9. The role of HEART in Supporting Staff Well-being
Dario Lipovac, Bani Malhotra, and Victoria Schwachter
10: Scaling of Healing and Education Through the Arts in Collaboration with Local Partners
Sara Hommel, Ana Lagidze, and Miroslava Marjanovic
11: Lessons Learned and Looking to the Future
Sara Hommel, May Aoun, Aida Bekic, and Dario Lipovac
Biography
Sara Hommel leads the global Mental Health and Psychosocial Support portfolio, including the Healing and Education through the Arts program, for Save the Children’s International Department of Education and Child Protection.
Girija Kaimal is Professor and Chair of the Creative Arts Therapies department at Drexel University. Her research examines the physiological and psychological health outcomes of visual and narrative self-expression.
"This book describes an unusually well-designed program, inspired and informed by what arts therapists have learned about effective ways of helping children and caregivers under stress through creative activities. It is a beautiful model of how to develop and implement a therapeutic arts-based intervention, safely offered by thoughtfully supported non-clinicians."
Judith A. Rubin, president of Expressive Media Inc. and author of Child Art Therapy
"This insightful book beautifully illustrates how arts-based approaches tap into our inherent creative instincts to support children and families that face adversity. By exploring the evolutionary roots of artistic expression, Hommel and Kaimal reveal how arts practices can foster a sense of agency, resilience, and community belonging. Arts-Based Approaches to Mental Health and Well-Being goes beyond individual therapy, emphasizing the essential role of families, caregivers, and communities in nurturing children's development and addressing adversities collectively. Through a comprehensive exploration of arts-based psychosocial approaches, the authors provide a compelling case for the transformative power of creative expression."
Susan Magsamen, executive director of International Arts + Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
"This book shares the experience of an arts-based psychosocial support program that is both rigorous in terms of the design, training, and evaluation, yet flexible in the diverse environments where it is implemented in different parts of the world. Most notable is the ability to adapt to different contexts by regularly evaluating what is working well, and what requires adjustment. The feedback loop has enabled the program to grow in terms of its reach, quality, and sustainability. The experience documented in this book offers important insights for arts-based approaches that support children including those with disabilities, their parents, other caregivers, and community members."
Gary Shaye, lead advisor and program ambassador for Save the Children
