The use of art within a groupwork setting

As part of the commitment to social approaches in the promotion of mental health and well being, the use of the arts has been increasingly adopted as a means of enhancing the sense of self worth, achievement and creativity amongst participants and as such is regarded as a valid alternative to talking and physical therapies. However, within the mental health field, existing research has tended to focus on psychotherapeutically orientated models of art therapy rather than on the use of art as a therapeutic activity in its own right. Such research has also concentrated on the treatment of pre-existing mental health problems rather than on the issue of prevention. It is therefore the purpose of this article to help to redress this neglect by examining the work of an activity orientated art project and its role in promoting the mental health of ‘at risk’ groups, both in terms of its impact on individual participants as well as on wider group processes