Research shows the benefits of Creative Arts Therapy

ANZACATA recently published a review on up to date findings demonstrating the therapeutic value of the creative arts therapies on mental health. Find the full review here.

At The Creative Toolbox, we are particularly interested in families so here is a summary of the main findings for children and young people:

• Art therapy leads to a significant improvement for social, emotional and behavioral difficulties.
• Art therapy leads to better emotional regulation and behaviour.
• In a classroom setting, teachers and students reported that art therapy helped with engagement and learning.
• In a classroom setting, art therapy was helpful across relationships. Teacher and student, student and student.
• Drama therapy was the most effective treatment across the modalities for trauma recovery.
• Creative arts therapy encourages a sense of fun, connection and safety.
• Creative arts therapy helped the impact of PTSD, anxiety, depression for children exposed to a school shooting.

This review will go a long way in building confidence in the efficacy of creative arts therapy, and this progress will continue as more research is conducted. Here at Creative Toolbox, we believe in the therapeutic impacts of the creative arts at a prevention level as well. If we learn early on which modalities work for us, we can build lifelong habits to incorporate them into our lives. As a parent of three children, I've seen each of them benefit from different modalities. Our aim is to educate families about these creative arts modalities and provide opportunities through our courses to learn and practice them. We also incorporate mindfulness and meditative practices, as we believe this combination of skills can significantly enhance our life toolbox.

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