We welcome the research results of the collaboration between IFIC Art Therapy Research Institute and Dr. Feng Xue from Guangxi Medical University, titled "Art healing practice in China and the associations with psychological well-being", which has been peer-reviewed and recently published in the internationally authoritative journal "Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment" (SCIE), JCI Q2)。
The study investigated the current status of Chinese art therapy projects and their potential benefits for mental health through an online questionnaire survey. Research has found that art therapy projects exist in various forms in 25 provinces/cities/autonomous regions in China, such as oil painting stick painting, mindfulness meditation wrap painting, etc. Currently, they mainly attract people with higher education levels. Individuals participating in art therapy programs showed significantly better emotional states of depression and stress, indicating that art therapy may have a positive impact on mental health.
The study also found that participants generally share their works through social media and receive social support and positive emotions from it. Although art therapy is still in its early stages of development in China, its potential benefits are worth noting. Future research should adopt more rigorous methods, such as randomized controlled trials and longitudinal studies, to evaluate the effectiveness of specific art therapy programs, and further explore the differences between "art therapy" and "art therapy", developing standardized practices and culturally relevant assessment tools.
——Prospects of Art Therapy Research——
Research author Dr. Feng Xue: "Through this study, we can clearly see that art therapy is presenting a rich and diverse form in China, and maintaining a sustained and positive development trend. In the future, we will continue to deepen our research in the field of art therapy and explore how to more effectively integrate psychological techniques into practice. This not only requires a lot of experimentation and innovation, but also requires deep interdisciplinary communication and collaboration. Meanwhile, we will also conduct more empirical research to comprehensively verify the positive effects of art therapy on multiple dimensions of mental health. At present, our research group is carrying out several art therapy projects, such as oil painting stick therapy intervention; And projects that integrate narrative and painting therapy are steadily advancing. We sincerely welcome and eagerly look forward to conducting deeper and broader research cooperation with more art healing institutions in the future, and jointly promoting the art healing industry to new heights
Research author Dean Shi Duo: This study reveals the current development status and psychological health value of art therapy practices in China from an interdisciplinary perspective, providing important references for the localization of psychological health service systems. It is worth noting that although current practices have shown clinical potential in reducing depression and stress levels, the beneficiaries are still concentrated in the highly educated population, reflecting the accessibility challenges brought about by cultural cognitive differences. In the future, we will intervene in more scenarios through "online popularization courses+offline emotional exhibitions": building a "creation display resonance" campus healing loop in the education field, developing digital healing prescriptions in the medical system, creating immersive healing experiences in cultural and tourism spaces, and extending aesthetic education from art museums to communities, hospitals, and enterprises. We also look forward to working together with all sectors of society to break through the traditional cognitive framework of art therapy and become an accessible tool for everyone's spiritual self-healing, truly realizing the national health picture of "aesthetic education moistening the heart".
Cartography and Editing: Qin Yangnan
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