Toward an understanding of how art making can facilitate mental health recovery

This pilot study undertook a qualitative exploration using in-depth phenomenological interviews of three experienced art facilitators to explore their views about how art making contributes to mental health recovery. The facilitators came from three mental health recovery programs in Melbourne, Australia, and were engaged in art-making programs ranging from studio art models to art therapy. An interpretative phenomenological approach was used to analyse interview transcripts. The key themes identified were clustered into three groupings. The first focused on explanatory models of how the skills, qualities and approaches of the facilitator assisted recovery. The second grouping focused on transformative characteristics of art making. The third grouping identified wider social benefits of art making. The findings provide a preliminary in-depth exploration into art facilitators' experiential knowledge and practice wisdom related to the wide-ranging health promoting benefits of art making in mental health recovery programs. It also highlights important skills and competencies required by those facilitating art making programs in mental health recovery contexts. Such data may help to inform policy and design of mental health recovery programs and professional training, and provide a basis for further research in both consumer and practitioner experiences of the role of art making in mental health recovery.