Opening up new spaces with Art Therapy in Museums – Research on Art Therapeutic Approaches to Enhance Wellbeing
Project of receptive art therapy practice with an invitation to view art together
A project in cooperation with the Department of Psychotherapy Sciences/FB Clinical Art Therapy of the Sigmund Freud Private University Berlin and Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
This pilot project (January 2024 – March 2025) examines the role of art therapy in improving wellbeing within museum settings. Conducted by art therapists – postgraduate alumni from Sigmund Freud PrivatUniversität Berlin (SFU) – in collaboration with the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (SMB), the study explores art therapeutic approaches in non-clinical environments. The intervention consists of a monthly workshop series held at the Altes Museum, located on Berlin’s reconstructed Museum Island.
The programme aims to strengthen collaborations between the arts and health sectors and pilot art therapeutic interventions in museums. The group is led by two art therapists working in tandem, exploring the intersection of art education and art therapy within museum settings. By integrating receptive art therapeutic tools in a non-clinical environment, the workshops foster deep introspection and promote trauma-informed practices, aligning with WHO recommendations to harness the healing power of the arts across the lifespan. Through Slow Looking art encounters, we create supportive environments that encourage eye-opening experiences, combining creative practices with calm, playful dialogue.
What the Workshops are about …
An invitation to an art encounter in which we calmly and playfully enter into a dialogue with a work of art. In the intensive encounter with the artwork, we want to learn something about our inner images, associations and our own aesthetic point of view. The prerequisite for participation in a workshop is curiosity and goodwill towards oneself. It is a group health promotion programme that can help to increase personal well-being and discover art as a source of strength for everyday life.
What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy is a form of therapy that can use art as a bridge between the personal inner and outer space of experience. The art therapy-based workshop series takes place in the museum and includes a short guided relaxation exercise, a dialogue-based viewing of the work, an artistic creation and a moderated discussion in the group.
If necessary, workshop participants can discuss unexpected or stressful emotions and thoughts in a psychotherapeutic setting. Information about and access to professional clinical and psychotherapeutic services are available.
The SFU will also attend this year’s conference of the European Federation of Art Therapy (EFAT) and present the project there:
https://www.arttherapyfederation.eu/
Conference July 2025, Poster Presenter
N. Bloss & M. Büter, SFU Berlin
Art Therapy in Museums – Research on Art Therapeutic Approaches to Enhance Wellbeing
Trauma informed approaches, research.
Keywords: Salutogenesis | Prevention program | Cultural participation
Photos@Victoria Tomaschko:
Cooperation with:
*Photo credits:
Portrait head of Cleopatra VII Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Collection of Classical Antiquities