Presentation Information
[SY-11]Reclaiming the Role of Art in Mental Health: From Global Policy to Lived Healing
Julia Martin8, Hans Rohlof1,2, Itsuo Asai3, Alberto Velasco4, Muhammad Irfan5,6,7 (1.Leiden University(Netherlands), 2.Utrecht University(Netherlands), 3.Heart Clinic Medical Corporation(Japan), 4.Sainte-Anne Hospital Center, GHU Paris Psychiatrie & Neurosciences (France), 5.Transparant Mental Health Institute(Pakistan), 6.Peshawar Medical College(Pakistan), 7.President-Elect, World Association of Cultural Psychiatry(Pakistan), 8.Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP)(Argentine))
Keywords:
Mental Health,Art Therapy,Resilience,Psychological,Cultural Characteristics
This symposium explores how art can reclaim its essential role in mental health by bridging rigorous evidence and the lived experience of healing.
Prof. Julia Martin (via pre-recorded video) opens by introducing the WHO framework, underscoring the urgency of repositioning the arts in global health policy while also highlighting methodological challenges that continue to impede rigorous research on arts-based interventions.
Dr. Hans Rohlof presents a participatory photovoice study involving 29 migrant youths—defined under ICRC guidelines to include refugees and asylum seekers—during COVID-19. Participants documented their perceptions and coping through photography and narrative, revealing significant mental health deterioration, particularly among those with insecure residency and lacking family ties. Yet resilience emerged as a key protective factor. The project culminated in a traveling exhibition across multiple European venues and four actionable calls: advance participation in decision-making, protect resilience resources, tailor mental health services, and raise intercultural awareness.
Dr. Itsuo Asai shares findings from an AI-assisted analysis of patient-created artworks, quantifying shifts in hue, brightness, and kinetic composition that correlate with psychological change—insights often missed by standard questionnaires. He underscores the nonlinear, emergent nature of aesthetic processes that challenge conventional clinical metrics.
Dr. Alberto Velasco introduces Experience-Based Medicine (ExBM) as a critical complement to EBM, validating ritual, symbolism, and narrative as legitimate clinical knowledge, especially in diverse cultural contexts.
Prof. Muhammad Irfan highlights how integrating art and cultural narratives empowers individuals to navigate mental health challenges, offering innovative, context-sensitive pathways for resilience and well-being.
Together, these perspectives advocate for a paradigm that does more than merge measurable outcomes with personal meaning-making; it compels us to reconsider not only how care is delivered, but how suffering itself is understood, reshaping mental health into a practice deeply attuned to both science and humanity.
Prof. Julia Martin (via pre-recorded video) opens by introducing the WHO framework, underscoring the urgency of repositioning the arts in global health policy while also highlighting methodological challenges that continue to impede rigorous research on arts-based interventions.
Dr. Hans Rohlof presents a participatory photovoice study involving 29 migrant youths—defined under ICRC guidelines to include refugees and asylum seekers—during COVID-19. Participants documented their perceptions and coping through photography and narrative, revealing significant mental health deterioration, particularly among those with insecure residency and lacking family ties. Yet resilience emerged as a key protective factor. The project culminated in a traveling exhibition across multiple European venues and four actionable calls: advance participation in decision-making, protect resilience resources, tailor mental health services, and raise intercultural awareness.
Dr. Itsuo Asai shares findings from an AI-assisted analysis of patient-created artworks, quantifying shifts in hue, brightness, and kinetic composition that correlate with psychological change—insights often missed by standard questionnaires. He underscores the nonlinear, emergent nature of aesthetic processes that challenge conventional clinical metrics.
Dr. Alberto Velasco introduces Experience-Based Medicine (ExBM) as a critical complement to EBM, validating ritual, symbolism, and narrative as legitimate clinical knowledge, especially in diverse cultural contexts.
Prof. Muhammad Irfan highlights how integrating art and cultural narratives empowers individuals to navigate mental health challenges, offering innovative, context-sensitive pathways for resilience and well-being.
Together, these perspectives advocate for a paradigm that does more than merge measurable outcomes with personal meaning-making; it compels us to reconsider not only how care is delivered, but how suffering itself is understood, reshaping mental health into a practice deeply attuned to both science and humanity.