Skip to main content

NHS Art Pyschotherapy

The project originated from initial engagement between the Binks Hub and NHS Lothian Charity’s Tonic Arts initiative, which promotes the integration of arts into healthcare settings.

Following exploratory sessions with Tonic Arts, the Binks Hub was introduced to the NHS Lothian Art Psychotherapy Service, a large, multidisciplinary service spanning in-patient and community care for children and adults. The service expressed a strong interest in cultivating a research culture among its practitioners and sought support to develop research-mindedness and practitioner-led inquiry.

Project Objectives

The overarching aim was to embed research thinking within clinical practice and empower art psychotherapists to:

  • Recognise and utilise their existing skills as research capabilities.
  • Formulate meaningful research questions grounded in practice.
  • Explore creative methods for inquiry and knowledge generation.
  • Share insights through writing and potential publication.

This aligns with the Binks Hub’s mission to co-create research with communities and practitioners, ensuring that knowledge emerges from lived experience rather than being imposed externally.

Activities and Methodology

The project unfolded through a series of interactive, arts-based workshops and sessions:

  1. Workshop (National Museum of Scotland)

    • Full-day session introducing concepts of research-mindedness.
    • Creative exercises to surface questions and themes from practice.
    • Collaborative art-making.

  2. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) session

    • Half-day workshop focusing on themes specific to children and young people.
    • Activities using metaphors to explore therapeutic contributions and challenges.
    • Discussion on the marginalisation of art psychotherapy within mental health hierarchies and enacting strategies to strengthen its evidence base.

  3. Leadership Group Session

    • Session aimed at reflecting on leadership culture and optimizing time for strategic thinking beyond administrative tasks.

  4. Writing Workshop (Edinburgh Futures Institute)

    • Practical session for practitioners to begin drafting reflective or research-based pieces.
    • Emphasis on writing as a tool for sense-making and knowledge sharing.

Across all sessions, arts-based methods were central in providing space for creativity, reflection and opening up dialogue. This approach fostered engagement and generated positive feedback from participants.

Want to share your research via the Binks Hub?

If you've got an idea for a research project – or are already working on a research project – which you'd like to talk to the Binks Hub about, please just send us an email. We'd love to hear from you.
Get in touch

Created by the SSPS Communications and Engagement team

Accessibility statement
Privacy and cookies

© 2022 All rights reserved. The Binks Hub | The University of Edinburgh

“The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336, VAT Registration Number GB 592 9507 00, and is acknowledged by the UK authorities as a “Recognised body” which has been granted degree awarding powers.”