Implementing creative psychotherapy in primary mental health services

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Feasibility study of implementation of an evidence-based creative group psychotherapy for depression (Arts for the Blues) into primary care mental health services.

• IRAS ID

  324474

• Contact name

  Joanna Omylinska-Thurston

• Contact email

  joanna.omylinskathurston@gmmh.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation

• ISRCTN Number

  ISRCTN17909701

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a creative psychotherapy (Arts for the Blues) into NHS Talking Therapies GMMH with Six degrees Salford and 1point Bolton as additional sites.

  Arts for the Blues is a manualised group psychotherapy which utilises best practices from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), counselling for depression, psychodynamic psychotherapy and arts psychotherapies. The model is offered over twelve 90-minute sessions and is comprised of eight key ingredients which are delivered through diverse forms of creative engagement such as visual arts, music, dance and movement, drama and creative writing. The eight key ingredients are as follows:
  • Encouraging active engagement
  • Learning skills
  • Developing relationships
  • Expressing emotions
  • Processing at a deeper level
  • Gaining understanding
  • Experimenting with different ways of being
  • Integrating useful material
  The Intervention will be facilitated by psychotherapists trained in the Arts for the Blues model. It is expected that creative methods will support engagement, enable non-verbal opportunities for recovery and contribute towards the attractiveness, acceptability and value of the Intervention. Ongoing research suggests Arts for the Blues is a useful group intervention, however further evaluation of the model is needed in adult services

  The evidence for Arts for the Blues for adults for depression has been established in the context of the charity MIND but the study had a small sample size. In this study we aim to translate the findings from MIND to the NHS context in order to build our evidence base and also to see whether this intervention could be implemented in the NHS setting in the future.

• REC name

  South East Scotland REC 02

• REC reference

  24/SS/0011

• Date of REC Opinion

  12 Mar 2024

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion