To the International Art Therapy & Neuroscience Collective (IATNC), where you can find information at the intersection of Art Therapy and Neuroscience in one place!
WELCOME!
Our
Vision
​If you want to go fast, go alone,
if you want to go far, go together
A Shared Mission...
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​The mission of this collective is to strengthen the growing scientific basis for art therapy neuroscience based practice, and make neuroscientific evidence accessible and applicable for art therapy researchers, therapists, students and educators.
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By initiating this collective we want to address some of the gaps in research practices, expand our research agenda and initiatives toward a global perspective, and contribute to connection, communication, and collaboration within the disciplines of art therapy and neuroscience.​​
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What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy is an action and experience-based form of therapy in which a professionally trained art therapist therapeutically uses the art form to initiate change tailored to the client that contributes to mental health.
Methodical interventions with materials, tools, techniques, and instructions distinguish art therapy from other more verbal forms of therapy and provide clients with physical, sensory, emotional, and cognitive experiences that help engage in a process of change, regulation, development, stabilization, or acceptance.
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Art Therapy + Neuroscience
Art therapy, informed by neuroscience, is grounded in the understanding of how the brain and nervous system process and respond to art-making and aesthetic experiences. Creative expression is integrated with evidence-based neuroscience principles about emotional, cognitive, and psychological well-being. This approach applies neuroscience principles to inform all aspects of art therapy theory, practice, and research.
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By leveraging its neurobiological underpinnings, art therapy fosters healing, emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and personal growth, while advancing scientific insights into understanding the therapeutic impact. Research within this domain has explored the differentiation and impacts of artmaking and art materials on neural activity as compared to other activities. Further, experimental research has gathered important data inferring the therapeutic benefits of specific creative art making processes on internal physiological systems.
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For art therapy research objectives, incorporating a neuroscientific approach along with interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations has significant potential to broaden the evidence base of the discipline and of the therapeutic mechanisms art therapy processes facilitate for healing.
