Access to effective mental healthcare remains today a major challenge for many across the globe. Although mental health disorders are considered among the largest burdens of disease, for example, less than 2% of government health spending worldwide is allocated to mental health.

And, while there have been many efforts to develop novel interventions - both pharmaceutical and psychotherapeutic in nature - what recent analyses have made clear is the need for a portfolio of approaches to enhancing access to care of the forms most likely to prove both accessible and effective for the individuals and populations in greatest need. This includes not only talk-therapy based approaches but embodied and creative therapies such as Art Therapy - a method for therapeutic self-expression through the creative practice of ‘making’ - potentially more inclusive of individuals for whom talking therapies, for example, may prove less accessible or effective.

Recent years have seen a number of art therapists themselves turn to the adoption of digital tools to both further elevate the accessibility of art therapy itself, as to enhance clients’ opportunities for creative emotional expression through novel digital media and technologies, including even generative AI technologies. Other art therapy professionals yet remain unconvinced, speaking in particular, to the therapist-client relationship as a fundamental component of their care which must not be replaced.

There then remains much we do not know about the potential interplay between the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) and art therapy, despite their potential to influence and elevate both the therapeutic potential of digital interaction design, and the role of technology to enhance creative emotional expression. It is at this intersection of fields and practices, that Kayley Moylan explores in her PhD thesis, the potential of HCI to enhance wellbeing through the structured practice of creative emotional expression, the design of digital therapy supports for the enthusiastic engagement of clients and therapists, and the practice of digital technology design to uphold the tenets and practices of professional art therapy.

Kayley has embraced in this work, an unequivocally participatory approach, recently concluding a first major study engaging a a network of leading art therapy professionals across Ireland in the exploration, design and evaluation of art therapy technologies.

To learn more about this work, contact Kayley Moylan, and otherwise watch this space!