Creative Arts Therapies Department. First row, left to right: Yehudit Silverman, Jessica Bleuer, Heather Mclaughlin, and Josee Leclerc. Second row, left to right: Mary Rawlins, Bonnie Harnden, Rebecca Duclos, Sandi Curtis, Stephen Snow, Graham Carr, and Joanabbey Sack. Photo by Dougy Hérard.
Concordia’s Department of Creative Arts Therapies (CATS) has offically launched their new initiative, the Arts in Health Research Collective (AHRC). The new collective focuses on research collaborations between the creative arts therapists and community partners in the field of arts and health.
The research projects of each collective member were presented at the ARHC official launch in November. Attendees were able to engage in an important dialogue with the researchers.
“We wanted to highlight the important and unique contributions the arts can make towards health and healing,” says Yehudit Silverman, department chair.
“We also wanted to increase public and community awareness of our role as leaders in research in the area of Arts in Health.”
AHRC: Big plans for 2017
Members of the collective are involved in seventeen different research projects. Members take a creative arts therapies approach to a diverse number of projects, including working with trauma and personal growth through the use of myths and fairy tales; raising awareness about suicide; advocacy for child and adult survivors of abuse; addressing rape culture on campus; working with families and persons with dementia; alleviating the stigma around mental illness; working with those affected by autism; healing family trauma, bereavement, and many more.
The ARHC has big plans for the upcoming year. In addition to increasing the number of collective members, the ARHC plans to reach out to community groups and professionals working in the area.
Collective members will also continue to work on their ongoing projects. Silverman is working on her Interfaith Arts Dialogue documentary film project, while two other ARHC members, Stephen Snow and Bonnie Harnden, will work on developing films based on their previous research plays.
“Each researcher is forming new interdisciplinary partnerships and expanding the scope of their research,” says Silverman. “We hope to encourage exchange and offer opportunities for new innovative partnerships.”
