Arty is the result of the cooperation of 7 European partners committed to developing an innovative art-therapy approach for youth with developing or existing mental health conditions
Arty project partnership is glad to launch the new project website: www.artyproject.eu
Through the web platform we will share all the steps and outputs of the 24 months pan-European Erasmus+ project, funded by the Romanian national agency, aiming at enhancing the offer of innovative art-therapy approaches for vulnerable youth.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased levels of fear and concern in the population. In terms of public mental health, the primary psychological impact has been the high rates of stress and anxiety. The emergency is strongly affecting people’s usual activities, routines, and livelihoods: medium-term consequences of the pandemic include an already noticeable increase in levels of loneliness, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, as well as self-harm and suicide.
The project “ARTY – Digital Art Therapy for Young People with Existing or Emerging Psychological Disorders” aims to contribute to meeting this new challenge. ARTY brings together practitioners from mental health, non-formal education, arts, and culture, to implement and build on the proven modality of digital art therapy for youth with stress- and anxiety disorders.
Arty intends to respond to this public mental health challenge by:
- extend the competencies of youth workers, psychologists, social workers and practitioners in Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Romania, who work with vulnerable youth with developing or existing mental health conditions, in order to be able to offer continuous support to their beneficiaries, even during lockdowns and quarantine situations, by utilizing digital art therapy;
- enhance access to CSOs, youth workers, psychologists, social workers and practitioners to a guide which links creativity and the role of art approaches when working towards the mental wellbeing of young people. The manual will also include practical strategies to help youth with psychological disorders to address hidden pressures and stressors through art-making
- enhance access to CSOs and relevant stakeholders to an awareness-raising toolkit on the impact of COVID-19 on youth with developing or existing mental health conditions.
The kick-off online meeting of the ARTY project took place on the 7th of June. During the meeting, partners presented the work plan, got to know each other, learned more about the respective national contexts and agreed on the upcoming tasks. The partnership is now moving on to meet and interview the relevant national expert on art-therapy as one of the first steps of the creation of the guide.
Project leaflet is available in English, Italian, Romanian, Greek (GR and CY) and Spanish: https://artyproject.eu/downloads/