Conference Report - 'NURTURE A.R.T. Self' - Adolescent Mental Health and Art Therapy International Conference 2016 (Hong Kong)

Abstract

Creative Arts Educ Ther (2017) 3(1):87–93DOI: 10.15212/CAET/2017/17/10 Conference Report – “NURTURE A.R.T. Self” – Adolescent Mental Health and Art Therapy International Conference 2016 (Hong Kong) 会议报告: “培育艺术自我” – 未成年人心理健康和艺术治疗2016香港国际会议 Grace WY Chan, Tristan NC Chan, Hoi Lam Tang and Sarah MM Tong Hong Kong Association of Art Therapists Abstract Art therapy is becoming a popular topic in the metropolitan city of Hong Kong. The attention it attracts often correlates to the heightened awareness of mental health issues - particularly the rise of adolescent suicide cases and the overwhelmingly high number of young people reportedly affected by both anxiety and depression. As school officials and health care administrators look to different measures to deal with these issues - such as better life education and planning to support the development of teenagers - the general public now wonders if art therapy could be an alternative means of treating and supporting adolescent mental health. In the hope of educating the public about art therapy and promoting its healing power, HKAAT* and CFSC co-hosted the “NURTURE A.R.T. Self” Art Therapy Conference in Hong Kong last year, exploring the scope of practices that art therapy brings to addressing such issues of adolescent mental health. The conference attracted nearly 200 participants and featured over 20 lectures and workshops that were presented by both local and overseas practitioners and scholars. Its aims were to foster an intellectual exchange of research methods and therapy practice insights and to provide an in-depth review of the application of art therapy in a variety of groups – specifically in the treatment of such psychological issues such as self-mutilation, domestic violence and depression. 摘要 艺术治疗正逐渐在大都市香港成为一个广为人知的话题。大家对艺术治疗的觉知伴随着他们对心理健康的重视，特别是在这青少年自杀率上升以及铺天盖地的年轻人被诊为焦虑和抑郁的时期。学校领导和卫生保健管理人员寻找不同方法应对这些事件，比如更好的生活教育和计划来支持青少年的发展。而广大群众如今则设想：艺术治疗也许能成为治疗和保护青少年心理健康的另一个途径。为了教育广大群众艺术治疗以及它的疗效，去年，HKAAT和CFSC在香港合办了“培育艺术自我”的艺术治疗会议。其目的在于探索艺术治疗在保护青少年心理健康中起到的帮助。会议吸引了近二百参与者，提供了二十多个由海内外学者和医生主讲的课程与工作坊。会议的目标在于促进研究方法和治疗实践洞悉间的知识交流，并提供一个怎样用艺术治疗与不同人群工作的细致回顾。会议中主要提到的接受艺术治疗的人群包括有自残行为、面临家暴和抑郁的有心理问题的人群。