Creativity, Wellbeing and Mental Health Practice

Gillam, Tony

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74884-9

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…McArdle and Byrt's (2001) acknowledged that expressive writing and reading can be enjoyable and beneficial and provided examples where "light-hearted self-expression" (p. 518) was the aim. While this is far from Pennebaker and Segal's (1999) idea of expressive writing (involving confronting and cognitively processing trauma), "light-hearted self-expression" fits well with my own model of creative mental health care (see Figure 2), wherein the novelty, effectiveness and ethicality that make up creativity are held in balance with discipline and playfulness (Gillam, 2018).…”

Section: Writing For Wellbeingmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…To quote McNiff (2004, p. 5) once more, in conclusion: "The way in which art heals within daily life is not far removed from the therapeutic transformations of creativity that we first explored with chronically ill people in the back wards of psychiatric hospitals […] Many of us explore the healing power of art on our own, while others do it with the guidance and in the safety of therapeutic relationships […] Wherever the soul is in need, art presents itself as a resourceful healer". Source: Adapted from Gillam (2018)…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I have found it helpful, in being clear about my role, to identify with McNiff's view that: "As a 'keeper' or 'caretaker' of the studio, my primary function is to kindle the soul of the place, to maintain its vitality and its ability to engage people in highly individual ways […]" (p. 20). This is not how mental health nurses would typically describe their function though I would argue that, if nurses are to be truly concerned with the wellbeing of the society (and not just the health of mental health service users) then they do need to be skilled at facilitating flourishing (Gillam, 2018).…”

Section: Music Workhopsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This practice has informed, and been informed by, my writings. My most recent book, Creativity, Wellbeing and Mental Health Practice (Gillam, 2018), distils my findings in this area. While my focus has been on the wellbeing of the providers and users of mental health services, implicit in all of this is an assumption that the mental health and wellbeing of the wider community can be enhanced through creative activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Enhancing public mental health and wellbeing through creative arts participation

Gillam

2018

JPMH

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Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to explore how participation in creative arts activity can enhance public mental health and wellbeing. It is informed by both the author's clinical practice with service users and carers and by research. Design/methodology/approach-The approach taken is to draw selectively on research in the field of creativity, creative arts and wellbeing, focusing in particular on the use of music and creative writing, and to incorporate learning from clinical experience to explore what is understood about the health and wellbeing benefits of creative arts activity. Findings-There is evidence that creative arts activity is beneficial to mental health and wellbeing. Arts activities that involve active participation appear to offer the greatest benefits. Creative arts participation can help people with diagnosed mental health difficulties to recover from mental illness. Moreover, creative arts activities can also promote wellbeing in the general population. Research limitations/implications-The paper does not provide a comprehensive review of the literature in this field. Practical implications-The paper suggests that if nurses and other mental health professionals are to play a full role in facilitating flourishing then they will need to learn more about using creative arts in practice and will need to become involved and encourage others to do so. Social implications-The paper suggests it is important that creative arts activities should be participatory, so they become a vehicle not only for self-expression but also for participation in groups and communities, increasing connectedness and social inclusion. Originality/value-This paper fulfils a need for a wider understanding of the health and wellbeing benefits of creative arts activity.

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Section: Writing For Wellbeingmentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Music Workhopsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Enhancing public mental health and wellbeing through creative arts participation

Gillam

2018

JPMH

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…the pressure of the environment), of this framework helped to bring creativity research into domains such as business, education and manufacturing, which were previously viewed as irrelevant to creativity research (Cropley, 2011). This has also helped to position creativity as an increasingly important concept in the burgeoning field of wellbeing research (Basadur & Basadur, 2011;Krippner, 2011;Csikszentmihalyi, 2014;Gillam, 2018;Barker, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%