The transformative potential of the arts in mental health recovery – an Irish research project

Background: This article is based on the Arts+Minds research project which investigated the experience of arts participation for mental health service users in Cork, Ireland, and the potential of integrating the arts into mental health care. Methods: Based on the principle of user-controlled definitions of recovery, the voice of service users was central in this research. The authors used participatory observation methods and conducted qualitative interviews with project participants (service users, artists and mental health staff) to explore the impact of arts participation on service users and service structure and culture. Results: The research demonstrated the transformative potential of the arts to create environments conducive to recovery through empowerment, connection-making, confidence-building, hope, story-telling and story-making. Conclusions: Moving beyond the general agreement on the positive contribution of the arts in mental health care, this article highlights some of the challenges of introducing creative forms of engagement and expression in traditional biomedical settings. It is argued that a meaningful partnership between the arts sector and mental health services is not just a technical measure but requires a radical shift in the way we understand, respond to and engage with human distress.