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.

CONTENTS

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