Tenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

This study explores the social and healing effects of participatory art for migrants who fled homelands in extreme situations and consequently experience trauma. Undertaken in partnership with the charity Freedom from Torture, the study explores the contribution of visual arts in improving mental health and social connection, informed by research indicating their interrelationship is an intrinsic part of the healing process. Theoretical frameworks of therapeutic landscapes and psychotherapeutic theories of recovery are developed in connection with a qualitative evaluation of participatory art workshops with clients. The paper focuses on processes with the potential to effect change in self-narratives and conditions that enable shifts in perspectives beneficial to healing. The study examines what places and spaces contribute to recovery, and what landscapes with positive associations exist for those who have fled their original homeland.