ABSTRACT

This second volume expands and develops the discussion on arts therapies begun in volume one on the field’s relationship with children and young people’s mental health, demonstrating further contemporary research within international contexts.

The book responds to a resounding call to address children and young people’s mental health. It explores a unique mix of diverse arts modalities including art, music, dance, expressive arts, and drama, creating opportunities for discourse and discussion of how the different arts therapies cohere and relate to each other. Chapters are truly global in approach, ranging from schools in India to children’s hospices in the United Kingdom, refugee transit camps in Greece, and residential care programmes for LGBTQ+ youth in the United States. Discussions from Greece and Taiwan, and innovative research from Israel, Norway, and Scotland are also featured with reference to diverse social, political, and cultural contexts. Ultimately, chapters prioritise the links between research, theory, and practice, providing accessible and implication-led dialogue on contemporary issues.

This book provides new insights into the expanding field of the arts therapies and will be of great interest to arts therapists as well as academics and students in the fields of arts therapies, social work, psychotherapy, health psychology, and education.

chapter 1|21 pages

Very early art therapy intervention

Why work with infants and their caregivers?

chapter 3|15 pages

Music therapy and dramatherapy in children's hospices

‘Playing in time’

chapter 8|17 pages

A safe portal of exploration for children and young people

The comic panel

chapter 9|13 pages

‘The sun keeps on shining’

An experience of dramatherapy with ASD pre-adolescents

chapter 11|19 pages

The Leelah Play