Blog post written by Mandeep Singh (Head of AHECRN Representatives) With our heads full to the brim with information about all aspects of arts and health after attending An Introduction to Arts and Health: Research Policy and Practice, we felt it necessary to head on over to one of UCL's on-campus pubs for a more relaxed session of learning and debriefing. A group of delegates from the day engaged in provocative conversations over casual drinks. It's always fascinating to see how individualised people's approaches to arts and health are. Such a small and niche community produces an astounding diversity of approaches to healing and research, each approach grounded in a unique personal attachment to the field. LINK events are a place to explore the community’s raw motivations for pursuing this field.
I was especially taken aback by a conversation with a firefighter who was pursuing an MA in Arts Therapy. He had previously shared the artistic methods he used for himself with his colleagues, in order to provide them with tools to healthily process the emotional impact of the work they do. He is now working alongside his senior managers to concretize and formally implement his approaches. There are such unique and personal stories abound in this field, and it's a great privilege to hear them in their unfiltered, unpublished form. There are few things more fascinating than sharing conversation with a community of people who share your passion, so if there are no upcoming LINK events in your area, we can strongly recommend taking the simple steps needed to set one up! Thanks to Mandeep for writing this blog post. If you are interested in organising a LINK event please do not hesitate to get in contact with Mandeep (mandeep.m.singh@kcl.ac.uk) for help and advice. If you are interesting in blogging about an arts and health event please get in touch with Robyn (blog editor).