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A Pig's Progress An arts-based research project exploring animation as a way to process setting up an art therapy service in an NHS Community Mental Health Team
(2024) Unknown
This piece of arts-based research (ABR) uses animation to communicate the trials, tribulations and rewards of establishing an art therapy service as a trainee in an NHS Community Mental Health Team (CMHT). Although there are few resources on the topic, I propose that animation is useful to the art therapy profession and experiment with the art form by creating an animated response artwork. In the accompanying text, the research is grounded in existing literature exploring the therapeutic potential of animation, the difficulties that may arise when setting up a service and thoughts around response art by art therapists. As ABR, this project seeks to bridge the space between medicine and art. Animating does require time and some technical ability, but the findings suggest that it helped me to process my work, look after myself and make an accessible form of research. Additionally, there were many parallels to be found between the processes of animating and building an art therapy service. Subsequently, I recommend that other art therapists try animation themselves and share more about their experiences of setting up services. Animation is an empowering process that gives directorial power to its creator, so I also suggest that animating could be used by future clients to promote a sense of agency.