Social prescribing, arts in health & arts therapy - what is it / what is the difference?
Social prescribing feels like a relatively new term, but the principle isn’t new - it’s a holistic way of approaching health in individual persons and communities, and means that if you go to your GP they can recommend non-medical interventions that can be beneficial. In the context of Australian healthcare, social prescribing is an approach mostly directed at people experiencing loneliness and social isolation. However, in UK social prescribing is understood to address and help with many issues that lead to poor health. Social prescribing builds a network of participants and activities that benefit people’s health in non-medical and drugless way while focusing on health goals using activities like art classes, movement and other hobby-related groups.
Arts in health is a broad spectrum of activities, but it means what it sounds like. Various artists engage clients, patients, participants in activities that are beneficial for health (art IS beneficial for health – read or listen to Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen & Ivy Ross if you need further proof!). These creative exercises serve a purpose in building connections to self and others, for relaxation, being present and to generally improve wellbeing. Everyone can make art and so these programs can be facilitated in residential aged care, in kindys, in mental health facilities, hospitals, public spaces and private studios - a fantastic range of options. What is different here is that not everyone that facilitates these activities has relevant training, knowledge and experience to call themselves a therapist. Therefore not every creative running arts workshops is an arts therapist. Additionally, arts in health often aims at aesthetically pleasing outcome of the process, which is not the case in arts therapy.
Arts therapy or creative/expressive psychotherapy, comparatively, is a more in-depth approach that can challenge a person’s belief (inner talk, inner critic), help solve reoccurring problems, change habits, examine relationships, serve in gaining insight beyond simply making art for pleasure and relaxation; all depending on person’s needs and goals. If the participant is not feeling ready to examine deeper problems, the art making can be very gentle and include the mindfulness exercises and grounding activities, also serving as a diversional therapy.
The process of art making is more or equally important to the outcome and it’s absolutely fine to make ugly art or messy art that isn’t going to land on the fridge or wall. Arts therapy is facilitated by a trained person that has been educated and is an ethical practitioner, which is reassured by a professional membership and requirements of continuous learning, frequent supervision and confidential contract with the client.
In writing all of this, I want to acknowledge that I am writing from my perspective and my standpoint as a trained arts psychotherapist and also a person who facilitated arts in health workshops.
