Art, music, drama and dance movement therapy are clinical interventions that use creative methods to offer service users opportunities to express and understand their feelings in ways that verbal communication may not be able to.
ELFT Arts Therapies has been leading on a brand new series to showcase the extensive role it has played in contributing to services and expanding trainee placements. The Trust is now one of the largest providers of arts therapy placements in the UK.
The series was commissioned by NHS England with art therapist Dr Val Huet in collaboration with professional bodies; the British Association for Music Therapy (BAMT), the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) and the British Association of Dramatherapy (BADth). This was premiered at the first ever Arts Therapies Trainee Conference in June.
How art, drama & music therapy trainees contribute to NHS placements in adult mental health
This video outlined the benefits of art, music and dramatherapy placements to NHS services, service users, therapists and multidisciplinary teams across adult mental health settings. The aim has been to encourage and support greater accessibility to NHS practice placements.
Service users Sarah and Tony spoke about how group art therapy had helped them to open up about their feelings, enabling communication and a sense of connection.
Eesha Suhail, who is an art therapy trainee at the Trust, explained how she has been conducting one-on-one sessions with a selectively mute service user. She believes that art therapy has been a powerful tool to enable them to express themselves.
NHS Practice Placements - How can art, drama and music therapy trainees contribute?
Another video in the series, focussing on the role trainees could play throughout NHS Practice Placements, encouraged NHS organisations to provide greater accessibility for prospective trainees, so they could develop their skills and contribute to service users’ experiences.
Lorna Downing, the Professional Lead for adult arts therapies at ELFT, encouraged potential placement providers to think about how a trainee art, drama or music therapist on placement might enhance their service where they have not previously employed an arts therapist.
The power of art, drama and music therapy NHS placements for CAMHS
This final recording with ELFT involvement outlined the benefits of art therapy on children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), particularly in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
ELFT’s Tasha D’Aguiar, who is a Lead Art Therapist in CAMHS, explained that many referrals are young people who struggle to express themselves verbally and that working creatively with an arts therapist provides them with a voice that they may not have had previously.
If you would like to learn more about the role of art, music, drama or dance movement therapy at ELFT, and the way we support staff and service users, please contact lorna.downing@nhs.net (Adult) or kruna.park1@nhs.net and katelina.fusco@nhs.net (CAMHS).
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