Art Therapy in Institutions

February 14-15, 2026
Write your awesome label here.

Day 3, February 14, 2026

Art Therapy Inside the Institution: Building Third Spaces for Healing and Resistance

This presentation explores how art therapy can transform public institutions—particularly urban public schools—into healing-centered, culturally responsive environments. Drawing on my work developing the Peace Room, an open art therapy studio embedded within a K–8 public school, I examine how artmaking shifts institutional norms by fostering emotional regulation, authorship, and belonging for Black neurodivergent youth. 

The presentation highlights the tensions and possibilities of working within systems shaped by racism, ableism, underfunding, and punitive discipline structures. Through case examples, arts-based inquiry, and reflections from interns and educators, I illustrate how open studios function as relational, nonhierarchical spaces that interrupt institutional harm and cultivate collective care. Attention is given to ethical and practical challenges—including confidentiality, classroom integration, administrative pressures, and multicultural considerations—and how art therapists can navigate these constraints through cultural humility and anti-oppressive practice. Participants will leave with strategies for designing sustainable art therapy programs in school settings and advocating for systemic change while centering the creativity and wisdom of the communities they serve.

Art materials needed: A square piece of textile of any kind or, if not possible, coffee filter paper/paper towel (size around 45cm or 18 in each side), beans or soft paper, yarn. Optionally any other materials for decoration (e.g. feathers, ribbon, beads or pearls, etc.)

Learning objectives
At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Describe how an embedded open art therapy studio can support emotional regulation, authorship, and belonging for Black neurodivergent youth 
2. Identify key institutional barriers and explain how open-studio, relational practices can interrupt harm and build collective care.
3. Apply ethical and practical strategies for school-based art therapy
4. Develop actionable steps for designing sustainable school-based art therapy programs.
Write your awesome label here.

Dr. Rochele Royster, PhD, ATR-BC, LCAT

Dr. Rochele Royster is an Assistant Professor in the Creative Arts Therapy Department at Syracuse University and the founder of the ME/WE Creative Arts Lab & Studio, a community-based art therapy and wellness space on the West Side of Syracuse. A community psychologist, artist, and board-certified art therapist, her work centers Black feminist care practices, cultural humility, and liberation-focused art therapy.

Dr. Royster has spent over two decades integrating arts-based healing into schools, community centers, hospitals, and public institutions—most notably through open art therapy studios designed to cultivate belonging, authorship, and collective care among marginalized youth. Her current scholarship explores sense of belonging, land-based healing, Black women’s community care models, and decolonial art therapy pedagogies. Her teaching emphasizes anti-oppressive group facilitation, embodied relational practice, and community-engaged research. She is committed to expanding interdisciplinary, culturally responsive art therapy that supports justice, wellness, and joy.

Finding Own Voice through Art Therapy in School

Art therapy is an effective modality for the population of first-generation immigrants exposed to traumatic experiences. This presentation presents the inclusion of an art-based approach in local Quebec schools, which support the cultural diversity of students while underlining the transcultural value of art therapy. In a group setting, this clientele can discover that they are able to shape their existence and to embrace new ways of interacting with the world. Consequently, the Expressive Therapies Continuum is used as a foundational framework. It is fundamental to consider the properties of art materials when implanting art-based programs since media are the vehicles for creative expression and non-verbal communication. This presentation focused on multicultural alliance, social empowerment and interpersonal development. Visual examples are presented at the same time as the presenter’s clinical experience and empirical research, including media properties and their fundamental use in public schools. Throughout her work with this population, the author's professional identity has been guided by her commitment to the art-making process, and to do so, she had to delve in her own experience as an artist and a second-generation migrant in Canada.

Learning objectives
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. List and explain at least three art therapy directives based on the ETC, specifically designed to support adolescents from diverse backgrounds.
2. Participants will be able to identify and describe two art interventions that can be effectively used with immigrant adolescents in school-based settings.
3. Participants will demonstrate a basic understanding of qualitative research in schools by summarizing key concepts and applying ethical and cultural considerations.
4. Participants will critically reflect on their own cultural assumptions by understanding responses to art and identifying at least one insight about its impact on their clinical practice.
Write your awesome label here.

Maria Riccardi MA, PhD(c), ATR-BC, OPQ

Maria is a registered art therapist, a career counselor, a licensed clinical psychotherapist and the former president of the Quebec Art Therapy Association. She is an adjunct professor of art therapy at Concordia University and at l’Université du Québec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, as well as a faculty member at Winnipeg Holistic Expressive Arts Therapy Institute.

She collaborates with local non-profit organizations and mental health institutions, developing community-based art studio programs for adolescents and adults who are marginalized due to mental and physical health issues, immigration issues, and poverty.

She has expertise with veterans living with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder within the context of trauma intervention as well as in the evaluation of art processes and products during treatment.  She has founded a clinic in Montreal based on the Expressive Therapies Continuum, providing educational and emotional support to children and families.
Her current research interests include media properties and their role in assessment. 

Art Today Opens Tomorrow - Art Therapy Program in Schools in Poland

During my presentation, I will discuss my original art therapy program called "Art Today Opens Tomorrow!" which I have been implementing for four years working at schools. Program is dovoted to youth aged 13-18.

This program is based on elements of art therapy and aims to: build relationships between students in the classroom, increase sensitivity to the needs of others, provide self-insight, manage stress, strengthen mental resilience, and continually work on positive communication. In this program I sometimes use digital tools like apps to build the connection between my world and world of the youth and here we meet the curiosity and openess for workshops.

I will demonstrate how this program works and invite to participate in an exercise that best reflects its benefits. I will also present the pros and cons of running an art therapy program at school. I will talk about connection and cooperation with other art therapists and pedagogues building together a community to share our thoughts and experience.  

Learning objectives
At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the core aims and structure of the “Art Today Opens Tomorrow!” 
2. Identify art-based strategies used to support peer connection, empathy, self-insight, stress management, resilience, and positive communication in classroom settings.
3. Evaluate key benefits and challenges of implementing an art therapy program in schools.
4. Apply at least one experiential activity from the program and adapt it to own school or youth-serving context.
5. Outline collaboration strategies with educators and fellow therapists to build a professional support network.
Write your awesome label here.

Katarzyna Góralczyk, MA

A certified art therapist specializing in expressive therapy (combining various art therapy disciplines: visual art therapy, music therapy, bibliotherapy, drama, photo therapy, film therapy, choreotherapy, and digital art therapy), she is a member of EFAT (European Federation of Art Therapy). She works with trauma using the TT-AT protocol, conducts short-term cognitive imagery therapy, emotion-focused skills training for parents (EFST-P), social skills training (TUS – she completed level I and II training) with elements of art therapy, works with Point of You photographs (she completed level I – L1), conducts creative therapy using metaphorical cards, and is also a teacher and educator.

She conducts individual and group art therapy sessions, creatively exploring topics such as coping with emotions, supporting the development of children on the autism spectrum, coping with anxiety, and supporting parents who have experienced parental burnout.

She also leads events, campaigns, and programs such as:
- the National Art Therapy Congress "OtwARTE,"
- the Art Therapy Project for Schools "Art Today Opens Tomorrow!"
- the e-book "(Nie)przetARTE szlaki,"
- the "Art Therapy Quarter" during which she shares her knowledge and invites other experienced art therapists to share their experiences,
- runs the blog and Facebook group "Art Therapy at Home and at School,"
- is the co-author of the book "Art Therapy Academy. From Practitioners for Practitioners."

Reimagining Creative Arts Therapies Applied Learning Through Justice-Centered Community Innovation

This presentation introduces the Concordia Arts in Health Centre (CAiHC), a student-service initiative that is innovating how universities contribute to community health and well-being. CAiHC operates as both a training site for graduate students in Creative Arts Therapies (CATs) and a public clinic that provides free CATs sessions through a campus centre and a network of community partnerships. The model is justice-centered, systemic in design, and committed to identity-affirming, equitable, and accessible service.

The CAiHC demonstrates how Creative Arts Therapies can be mobilized to expand access to care while strengthening student learning. In three years, the centre has offered inclusive services across schools, residences, and community organizations, while cultivating sustainable relationships built on reciprocity. This presentation frames CAiHC as a living case study of a service-first approach that not only addresses systemic gaps in health and education but also highlights how training programs can meet communities differently. It will outline both the specific features of CAiHC and the broader systemic and justice-informed considerations that can shape how training and educational institutions might structure similar initiatives to advance collective well-being.

Learning objectives
At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Identify key elements of justice-centered and systemic approaches in mental health training and service delivery.
2. Explain the role of student-service models in supporting both client access and professional learning.
3. Recognize systemic and justice-informed considerations that can inform the development of community-engaged training initiatives.
Write your awesome label here.

Heather McLaughlin, MA, ATR-BC, RMFT-S

Heather McLaughlin, is an art therapist with over 20 years’ experience working with diverse communities, focused on relational processes including intergenerational work and the effects of complex psychosocial systems. She is also a registered couple and family therapist, licensed psychotherapist, and clinical supervisor.

An assistant professor and program coordinator for Concordia University’s Art Therapy program, she is the founder and Director of the Concordia Arts in Health Centre, a service-first, campus-based creative arts therapies clinic offering free, equitable, and accessible therapy. She has also served as faculty in a nonprofit couple and family therapy post-master’s training program and community clinic, and has a long history working in community arts education.

Her work centres on creative and systemic approaches to community care and climate action, with an emphasis on supporting and connecting community initiatives, mobilizing resources, and engaging in research that strengthens these efforts.

TICAT©:  Trauma-Informed Integrated Creative Arts Therapies Intervention Model 

This presentation introduces TICAT© (Trauma-Informed Integrated Creative Arts Therapies), a field-tested intervention model designed to strengthen emotional healing and resilience in humanitarian contexts, with examples from refugee-camp and community-based implementations.  
Drawing on trauma-informed, multi-modal creative arts practices, TICAT© supports both displaced populations and the aid workers who may experience compassion fatigue and burnout, by offering structured pathways for regulation, expression, and reconnection. Participants will be guided through the model’s six-step architecture, which mirrors the creative process and integrates somatic grounding, identity exploration, containment through “safe place” work, symbolic creation, collaborative “common ground” building, and embodied action/ritual for integration.   
The presentation also highlights a participatory and sustainable implementation strategy, bringing analysis, co-planning with local partners, training-of-trainers, and supervised field piloting, to ensure cultural responsiveness and practical feasibility in complex settings. 
Finally, TICAT© is situated within broader international capacity-building initiatives (including the CCA Erasmus+ network) that refine trauma-processing methods through embodiment and the creative arts, supporting empowerment, social inclusion, and community cohesion. 

Learning objectives
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the purpose and core principles of TICAT© (Trauma-Informed Integrated Creative Arts Therapies).
2. Outline the TICAT© six-step intervention and explain the clinical intention of each phase (e.g., grounding, safe place/containment, symbolic creation, common ground, integration/ritual).
3. Apply trauma-informed and culturally responsive considerations when adapting creative arts processes for refugee communities and other high-stress environments.
4. Identify practical strategies for sustainable implementation. 
5. Recognize how TICAT© can support both service users and frontline helpers.
Write your awesome label here.

Dr. Camilla Mele, PhD, MSc, MA, PM

Dr Camilla Mele is an art therapist, architect, and urban designer whose work bridges trauma-informed practice, social innovation, and participatory approaches to wellbeing in public and community settings. She is an Adjunct Professor and serves on the faculty of the CAT Master at the University of Padua, as well as at the Catholic University of Milan, where she contributes to training initiatives at the intersection of health, culture, and design.

Camilla is a specialist in EU-funded projects and program development, with expertise in environmental and community participation, sustainability, and collaborative models of care. She designs and coordinates arts-based, trauma-informed programs that support individual and collective resilience, with a focus on ethical engagement and long-term impact. She is Scientific Committee member and Coordinator for TRACE, where she helps shape evidence-informed, interdisciplinary directions for practice and research.

In addition to her academic and project work, Camilla is Corporate Partnership Manager and a credentialed art therapist with The Red Pencil International, supporting creative arts therapy initiatives globally. She is also President of Il Telaio in Milan and co-founder of the Center for Art Therapy, advancing accessible, culturally responsive arts therapy services through professional collaboration and community partnerships.

The Applications of Narrative Drawing Intervention® in Different Countries

Dr. Monica Wong’s Narrative Drawing Intervention® (NDI) is not simply a combination of narrative therapy and art therapy. Rather, it is a newly developed clinical psychotherapy model that integratively blends these two well‑established therapeutic approaches. Drawing on more than a decade of clinical practice and research, Dr. Monica Wong founded NDI and developed a rigorous teaching framework. The method is designed to be accessible, practical, and easy to use, making it a valuable psychological tool.

NDI was studied by a group of professional helpers in Hong Kong, including psychologists, social workers, and counselors, who personally learned the approach and applied it in clinical cases. The research findings showed that 94% of the participants reported that this clinical psychotherapy model helped them achieve satisfactory therapeutic progress in their clinical practice.

Since 2008, beginning with the Wenchuan earthquake disaster area, Dr. Wong and her team have provided services across different countries, including China, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Australia and USA. Apart from working with people in need in various disaster sites, Dr. Wong provided training in government agencies, communities, primary and secondary schools, universities, hospitals, and other settings. She has also delivered presentations at various international forums.

In this presentation, Dr. Wong and her colleagues will introduce Narrative Drawing Intervention®  (NDI), explaining what it is and the rationale behind its development. Dr. Wong will also share her experience of applying NDI with diverse client groups across different countries. The presentation will conclude with a live demonstration.

Learning objectives
At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Define Narrative Drawing Intervention® (NDI) as an integrative psychotherapy model and explain how it differs from simply combining narrative therapy and art therapy.
2. Describe the rationale and core principles behind NDI’s development.
3. Summarize evidence and implementation insights from NDI training and practice.
4. Identify appropriate client groups and contexts where NDI can be applied, informed by Dr. Wong’s cross-cultural and disaster-response experience.
5. Observe and outline the key steps of NDI through a live demonstration, noting how the method is facilitated in session.
Write your awesome label here.

Monica Wong, PsyD, Reg. Clin. Psych. (HKADCP), AFHKPS, Full Member APA, RP (Ahpra), AThR (ANZACATA)

Dr. Monica Wong is an author, clinical psychologist, registered art therapist, founder of Narrative Drawing Intervention® , the first Trauma Specialist and Trainer in Asia certified by The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children (USA), Certified Expressive Art Therapy Consultant (USA), Registered Psychologist of Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, Associate Fellow of Hong Kong Psychological Society, Professional Member of ANZACATA, Professional Member of Hong Kong Association of Doctors in Clinical Psychology, Academic Director of Narrative Drawing Intervention® Institute, President of the Psycho-Art Therapy Association, Professor of Psychology and Doctoral Supervisor of Shinawatra University, Guest Lecturer of CUHK, founder of the “By Your Side” psychological support program and “Harmony-Peace Angels Global Project”, Chairperson of six International Conferences on Art Therapy from 2013 to 2025. Graduated from Philosophy in CUHK, Dr. Wong has performed attentive research in psychology and psychotherapies in recent years and obtained her master’s degree in counselling from Monash University in Australia and her master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology, AIU (USA). In the past decades, Dr. Wong has been developing and fine-tuning her own clinical model: Narrative Drawing Intervention® and presented it in numerous international conferences, universities and hospitals in the United States of America, Australia, Mexico, Singapore, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Mongolia, the mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. More than ten thousand helping professionals have been trained in the past decades.

Creating Ethical and Transcultural Art Therapy Programs in Humanitarian Institutions

Art therapists increasingly work within institutional settings that support forcibly displaced persons, including humanitarian organisations, reception centres, and community-based services. While these contexts provide vital access to care, they also present complex challenges related to structure, accountability, cultural difference, and trust-building. This presentation draws on practice-based research exploring manualised, resilience-building art therapy interventions developed in collaboration with The Red Pencil and institutional partners in Spain and Greece.
The presentation examines how manualisation can support ethical, safe, and effective art therapy practice within institutional frameworks, while still allowing for creative flexibility and transcultural responsiveness. It outlines the development and implementation of a structured nine-session art therapy programme designed to foster emotional regulation, agency, social connection, and resilience among forcibly displaced adults. Particular attention is given to working creatively across cultural and linguistic differences, adapting materials and metaphors, and negotiating institutional constraints without compromising therapeutic integrity.
The presentation also highlights the relational labour involved in establishing and sustaining institutional partnerships, emphasising trust, communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration as essential components of effective practice. Its central aim is to offer insight into a transferable model for art therapists working within institutions that support displaced populations, while contributing to broader discussions on ethics, scalability, and transculturality in global art therapy practice.

Learning objectives
At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Explain how manualised art therapy programs can support ethical, safe, and effective practice within institutional settings.
2. Describe the structure and clinical aims of a nine-session resilience-building art therapy program (e.g., emotional regulation, agency, social connection, resilience).
3. identify key adaptation points for transcultural and multilingual contexts.
4. Apply partnership strategies for institutional work by identifying core relational practices that sustain effective implementation without compromising therapeutic integrity.
Write your awesome label here.

Liliana Montoya De la Cruz, MA

Liliana Montoya De la Cruz MA, is the Arts and Health Subject Area Lead, Senior Lecturer, and Programme Lead for the MA in Art Psychotherapy at Brunel University of London. She serves as a council member of both the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) and the Spanish Federation of Professional Art Therapy Associations (FEAPA), is an active member of the European Federation of Art Therapy (EFAT), and is part of the Editorial Committee of Papeles de Arteterapia at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.
Liliana has extensive clinical experience working within family systems, supporting children, families, and women affected by trafficking and domestic violence. She is also a practitioner, trainer, and researcher in the humanitarian sector, where she develops and evaluates resilience-building art therapy interventions for forcibly displaced people. She has authored and co-authored a range of publications focusing on art therapy practice and training.
With a background in Fine Arts and Ceramics, Liliana continues to practise as a visual artist in private, public, and community settings.

Day 4, February 15, 2026

(Solution-Focused) Art Therapy LOM® in Public Institutions

In Switzerland, art therapy in the form of the LOM® method is represented in numerous organizations, highlighting its broad acceptance and professional recognition. The method, formally known as Solution-Focused Art Therapy LOM®, was developed in 1980 by art therapist Bettina Egger and psychotherapist Jörg Merz. It arose from the need for a structured approach that facilitates emotional problem-solving through painting, without requiring symbolic interpretation of the images produced. LOM® has demonstrated particular efficacy in the treatment of trauma, unresolved conflicts, stress, anxiety and relational difficulties. Its effectiveness is further supported by links to contemporary neuroscience, which shows how new neural pathways can be established through creative processes. By engaging in techniques such as painting “neutral” images (metaphors) or working with the non-dominant hand, clients can reduce hyperarousal, achieve emotional distance, and reorganize internal states. This process generates a new neurological imprint, thereby altering emotional reactivity in a measurable way.

The approach is distinguished by its systematic structure. LOM® is classified as a brief therapy modality, characterized by clear therapeutic boundaries and an emphasis on observable progress. The use of structured questioning, metaphorical framing, and a judgment-free setting contributes to the method’s replicability and reliability in clinical practice. Since its foundation, LOM® has spread beyond Switzerland to other countries in Europe, where it has been integrated into both clinical and academic contexts. LOM®’s combination of theoretical rigor and practical applicability makes it a versatile tool for therapeutic work with individuals and groups. Its ability to foster rapid and sustainable emotional change, with lasting results that reduce stress even in the long term, positions it as a valuable contribution to the field of contemporary psychotherapy and art therapy.

Learning objectives
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the methodology of (Solution-Focused) Art Therapy LOM® 
2. Apply Metaphors for Somatic Experiences 
3. Explain the implementation of (Solution-Focused) Art Therapy LOM® in Organizations
Write your awesome label here.

Cora Egger, MA

Cora Egger (born in Switzerland) is an art therapist based in Barcelona. Trained in Solution Focused Arttherapy (LOM®) and Person-Centered Art Therapy, she works in private practice and teaches at the FARBE Institute, where she also develops further training programs.

Cora regularly offers workshops and lectures internationally, focusing on trauma and artherapy methods. Her work bridges personal process, professional application, and innovative approaches to integrating traumatic experiences through painting. 
Write your awesome label here.

Rahel Brügger, MA, MPF

Rahel Brügger (born in Switzerland) is a licensed art therapist in Switzerland specializing in Solution-Focused Art Therapy LOM® and Psychotherapist MPF in Denmark.

She has gained diverse professional experience in the fields of art therapy and has published the art therapy workbook for trauma-healing and PTSD-Recovery with Solution-Focused Art Therapy in 2024.

Designing Reflective and Restorative Spaces for Burn Caregivers in a Public Hospital

This presentation focuses on the application of short-term, trauma-informed art therapy to support caregivers in a public hospital burn unit in South India. The approach is embedded within mandated early intervention protocols and integrated into an interdisciplinary healthcare system as part of psychosocial care for complex burn trauma. Art therapy is offered as an adjunct to caregiver education modules on wound care, surgical rehabilitation, nutrition, physiotherapy, and the impact of trauma. This study aims to address a gap in the literature by examining caregivers’ experiences in bi-monthly art therapy groups. Interventions were tailored to caregivers’ needs and availability during their hospital stay. 
Adopting a phenomenological lens, three key insights emerged, highlighting the efficacy of art therapy in: identifying instances of domestic violence and self-inflicted injury; illustrating patient-caregiver dynamics that informed the structure of extended care strategies; and supporting relaxation, emotional regulation, and stress relief. The findings suggest that creative spaces and processes offered moments of regulation, meaning-making, hope, and reassurance. The study further evidences the role of art therapy groups as containers for distress, means of articulating fear of death, and spaces that foster peer learning and validate caregiving efforts.

Learning objectives
At the end of this presentation, the participants will be able to:
1. Describe at least three creative strategies for delivering art therapy in short-term or time-limited sessions 
2. Differentiate between repetition-based and response-based interventions, and explain their effective application 
3. Identify key considerations for adapting art therapy to diverse community needs 
Write your awesome label here.

Sruthi Sriram, MA, AThR, RYT

Sruthi is a registered art therapist based in South India with over a decade of professional experience. She is a full-time consultant at The International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC), supporting survivors of domestic violence and burns through tailored art therapy interventions. 

She also serves as part-time faculty at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, where she provides thesis and clinical supervision. Her early work focused on short-term, trauma-informed art therapy programs for survivors of natural disasters and conflict across the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. 

Currently, her practice is rooted in contextualizing art therapy within the Indian mental health landscape, with an emphasis on psychodynamic care, structured clinical work, and community welfare. Sruthi is a co-founder and board member of The Art Therapy Association of India (TATAI), and a registered yoga teacher. Her interests lie at the intersections of self-inquiry, language, cultural practices and the arts - areas she has also explored through interdisciplinary performance projects in India, the UK and Réunion Island. 

The Use of Art Therapy in an Intensive Treatment Program for Adults Living with Severe Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

OCD, is a disorder ranging from mild to severe, causing unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) and repetitive behaviours (compulsions). It compromises quality of living for approximately 1% of the Canadian population.
In Canada, The Thompson Centre, established in 2017, is the sole intensive/residential treatment program for people striving to manage their severe OCD. The program, while   based on a foundation of Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy (ERP) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), the leading approaches used to help people with OCD, includes weekly group art therapy, amongst other alternative approaches.
Inspired by client responses to having Art Therapy as part of their regular weekly schedule while in the program, Linda has completed a survey study exploring the clients’ perception of value of the inclusion of Art Therapy.
Linda will share her experience of facilitating Art Therapy within this program. She will also discuss her research, the highly positive feedback, and thoughts about further research directions.

Learning objectives:
At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the impact of OCD on quality of life and summarize the role of intensive/residential treatment in Canada.
2. Explain how weekly group art therapy can complement ERP and CBT in a residential OCD program, drawing on clinical observations from facilitation within the Thompson Centre.
3. Identify practical implications and future research directions for integrating and evaluating art therapy in OCD treatment settings.
Write your awesome label here.

Linda E. Chapman, RP, RCAT, Clinical Member OSRP

Linda is a Registered Psychotherapist in the Province of Ontario, a registered clinical member of the Canadian Art Therapy Association, and a member of the Ontario Society of Registered Psychotherapists (OSRP). 

She is the Art Therapist for the Frederick W. Thompson Anxiety Disorders Centre Intensive OCD Treatment Program and the Mental Health Inpatient Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. In addition, she maintains a private practice.

Behind the Mask: A Weekly Art Therapy Group on a Male Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit

This presentation explores the development and impact of a weekly art therapy group on a male Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) within a busy London NHS hospital. Over 2.5 years, the group has evolved into a collaborative, inclusive, and psychologically safe space where patients can express themselves creatively. Co-facilitated by an Arts Psychotherapist and the ward’s Activities Coordinator, the group has become a key component of ward culture, offering an important counterbalance to an environment often shaped by risk management, containment, and medical intervention.
Open to both patients and staff, the group promotes an alternative mode of communication rooted in creativity, co-production, and mutual respect. Its collaborative ethos has visibly transformed the ward environment: artworks and poems created in the group are displayed throughout the unit and along the corridor leading to the ward entrance, while co-designed murals serve as lasting symbols of belonging, dignity, and shared ownership. No distinction is made between patient and staff contributions, reinforcing a non-hierarchical culture.
The session will highlight how collaborative art therapy can support self-regulation, relational repair, emotional safety, and a more compassionate inpatient culture. It demonstrates how creativity can shift institutional narratives, recognising patients not as passive recipients of care but as resourceful, expressive, and resilient individuals.

Learning objectives
At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Describe how a weekly, co-facilitated art therapy group can be developed and sustained within a male PICU setting.
2. Identify core elements that support psychological safety and inclusion in high-risk inpatient environments.
3. Explain how collaborative artmaking can promote self-regulation, relational repair, and emotional safety for patients and staff in intensive care contexts.
4. Evaluate how visible creative outputs can influence ward culture and strengthen belonging and dignity.
Write your awesome label here.

Fiona Grainger, MA

Fiona Grainger is an integrative arts psychotherapist working across a community adult mental health team and a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) within a London NHS Trust. Accredited by the UKCP, HCPC and BAAT, she is a committed advocate for the central role of the arts in therapeutic practice.

Fiona works creatively with a wide range of media, including visual art, sand tray, clay, puppetry, music and poetry, trusting in the arts as a powerful bridge to insight, expression and healing.
Her therapeutic stance is humanistic, person-centred, and trauma informed. She draws from multiple theoretical frameworks such as Attachment Theory, Internal Family Systems, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis and Object Relations. Fiona believes deeply in therapy as a co-created process; she holds that change becomes possible when clients feel genuinely engaged, respected, and empowered within the therapeutic relationship.

Fiona’s clinical experience spans work with people with learning disabilities, neurodiversity, and dementia, though her practice in recent years has focused on acute adult mental health. She supports individuals experiencing psychosis, personality disorders, depression, PTSD and anxiety, offering both one-to-one art psychotherapy and group work in the community, as well as a weekly art therapy group in the PICU. Outside of her clinical work, Fiona enjoys yoga and drumming.

The Art of Survival: Psychosis as a Creative Response to Oppressive Systems (A Forensic Perspective)

At the intersection of carceral and psychiatric principles, forensic mental health services sit in extremity at the end of the long spectrum between non-restrictive and oppressive provisions. We work with those who experience severe psychological distress, often committing societally abhorrent crimes from places of intense fear, overwhelm and psychological collapse.The physical locks, perimeter fences and security protocols symbolically mirror the oppression the vast majority of our service users have faced systematically in the form of structural marginalisation. Despite the widespread adoption of trauma-informed care principles, these environments frequently perpetuate forms of physical oppression and emotional sublimation that contradict the very ethos of trauma-informed practice.
I believe that embodied, arts-based methodologies offer a unique avenue to engage with the complexity of the application of psychotherapy in forensic settings, acknowledging those that offend to receive the containment of the institution. By incorporating somatic inquiry this research aims to reveal forms of resistance, agency, and healing (in both service user and therapist) that conventional verbal or quantitative methods may overlook. Phenomenological approaches aligned with abolitionist paradigms allow for nuanced exploration of lived experience, capturing the psychological realities of forensic systems that exist in a language outside of words.

Learning objectives
By the end of the presentation, the participants will be able to:
1. Critically examine the ethical and clinical tensions of delivering trauma-informed psychotherapy within oppressive environments
2. Explore the role of embodied and arts-based methodologies in rediscovering agency
3. Explore the application of abolitionist and social justice focused frameworks to art psychotherapy
Write your awesome label here.

Naomi Rule, MA, HCPC, BAAT, IAFP

Naomi Rule is an Integrative Arts Psychotherapist currently working in Forensic Services within East London NHS Trust. Before completing her MA, she worked as a theatre practitioner and humanitarian circus performer in traumatised communities worldwide. These experiences shaped her enduring interest in the healing potential of play, imagination, and creativity in mental health. 

Naomi's work is rooted in social activism, with a strong commitment to using the arts to challenge systemic inequality and explore the impact of complex trauma on marginalised and oppressed populations. Her psychotherapeutic practice brings together creative expression, relational depth, and a critical lens on power and justice.

Working within forensic settings has allowed her to integrate these values into complex clinical environments. In recognition of her contribution to the field, Naomi was honoured with the 2024 Gill McGauley Award by the International Association for Forensic Psychotherapy.

Restorative Justice: How Visual Arts Can Help

This presentation is in two sections. The first provides a basic overview of restorative justice, the second examines the barriers to participation in restorative justice and how the arts can help overcome these. 
Overall, the presentation includes: restorative justice definitions, the different processes and how they work, how it can be used in the criminal justice system as well as in the community, the benefits for participants, the spread of restorative justice and its worldwide use. 
Lastly, the presentation includes some restorative justice case studies, including an in depth one which utilises the arts as part of a restorative justice process.

Learning outcomes
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1.    Provide a definition of restorative justice.
2.    Explain the varieties of restorative processes and their worldwide use.
3.    Reflect on the value of, as well as some of the barriers to, restorative justice participation and how the arts can support overcoming these.
Write your awesome label here.

Marian Frances Liebmann, MA, PhD, PGCE, CQSW, HCPC, BAAT

Marian Liebmann has worked in art therapy with offenders, with women’s groups and community groups, and for 19 years in the Inner City Team (adult mental health) in Bristol, UK, where she developed work on anger issues. She teaches and lectures on art therapy at several universities in the UK and Ireland. She has run art therapy workshops in several European countries, as well as the US and Africa. She also works in restorative justice, mediation and conflict resolution. She has written or edited 14 books, including Art therapy for Groups, Art Therapy in Practice, Art Therapy with Offenders, Arts Approaches to Conflict, Restorative Justice: How It Works, Art Therapy and Anger and Arts Therapies and Sexual Offending. In 2010 she gained her PhD by publications, and in 2013 she was awarded OBE for services to art therapy and mediation.
Write your awesome label here.

Clair Aldington, PhD

Clair holds a PhD in Design and Restorative Justice and a MA in Contemporary Art and Music. She is a freelance researcher and practitioner and has over twenty years’ experience of working in the field of restorative practices. Clair has authored several academic articles and book chapters regarding her practice and research. She is the co-founder of the award winning Space2face restorative practices and arts charity in Shetland, Scotland, and is also a co-facilitator of an international restorative circle group, the Encounter of the Encounters, in cases of political violence. Her work has pioneered the use of art and design approaches within restorative practices. Specifically, how creative approaches can aid dialogue and the articulation of trauma, particularly in cases of serious crime, thereby improving the accessibility of restorative processes. Clair’s research argues for the use of an alternative visual and movement based language within restorative practice. She suggests that this, in turn, can promote participants’ oral language use and enhance the solidarities formed between them. Thus, aiding in the telling of stories central to dialogues in restorative encounters. 
Created with