Creative Arts Therapies Up Mental Health for Cancer Patients
(HealthDay News) – For cancer patients, creative arts therapies (CATs) are associated with improvements in psychological symptoms and quality of life, according to a systematic review published online May 13 in JAMA Internal Medicine. To estimate the effect of CAT on psychological symptoms and quality of life in cancer patients during treatment and follow-up, Timothy W. [...]
How art changed my life
How Art Changed My Life is a new series which explores how art can enrich the lives of everyday people. It took something pretty drastic for Sarah Andrews to change the path she was on to realise her dream career as a graphic designer. After a near death experience left her stranded in Mexico with [...]
Meditation combined with art therapy can change your brain and lower anxiety
Cancer and stress go hand-in-hand, and high stress levels can lead to poorer health outcomes in cancer patients. The Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine combined creative art therapy with a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program for women with breast cancer and showed changes in brain activity associated with lower stress and anxiety after the [...]
Teens involved in arts activities report more depressive symptoms than teens not involved in the arts
Teens who participate in after-school arts activities such as music, drama and painting are more likely to report feeling depressed or sad than students who are not involved in these programs, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. This is the first study to find that young people’s casual involvement in the [...]
Dance intervention improves self-rated health of girls with internalizing problems
A dance intervention program improved the self-rated health of Swedish girls with internalizing problems, such as stress and psychosomatic symptoms, according to a report of a study published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Exercise is considered a strategy to prevent and treat depression in school-aged youth and has [...]
Craftsman works with hands for peace of mind
Pottery has helped David Woergoetter come to terms with and manage his mental illness. Christopher Chan THERE aren’t many places David Woergoetter feels at ease. But watching him as he moulds clay around a wheel at the Gladstone Potters Club, it’s clear this is one. Pottery has been a big part of David’s life [...]
Music Therapy Advances in Neuro-Disability: Innovations in Research & Practice
Music Therapy Advances in Neuro-Disability: Innovations in Research Practice – International Conference Friday 7 Saturday 8 June 2013 London, United Kingdom This two-day conference offers delegates an opportunity to share knowledge and information on the therapeutic applications of music for those with neuro-disability through acquired or neurodegenerative conditions. Presentations will focus on evidence-based research and [...]
Teens get tuned in to their emotions
Using music to engage with and educate young people about their emotions, and how to tolerate and regulate their strong emotional states, is the focus of a new intervention developed by University of Queensland clinical psychologist Dr Genevieve Dingle. As a former manager of a hospital drug and alcohol program that included group therapy five [...]
Taking the drama out of mental health
The Dramatic Minds Festival was recently held in Albury Wodonga. Four high schools from the region took part and each presented a ten-minute play based on a mental health issue. The students form Oaklands Central School, Corowa High, James Fallon High and Albury High covered issues including bullying, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, grief, loss and [...]
Art at Argentine asylum sheds light in dark corners
BUENOS AIRES (AFP) – Hundreds of patients at Argentina’s biggest mental hospital are turning fine arts training into real ability as painters, actors and musicians, and getting a fuller sense of self along the way. “Art really can be a tool for change in society. And you can see its effects, because art can heal [...]
