The role of the museum in the framework of the art therapy project of three municipal community health centers

Abstract

This article presents the art therapy project developed with different groups of women, between 2017 and 2018, in three municipal community health centres in Madrid, with special emphasis on the contributions that the collaboration with the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum and the Sorolla Museum could provide to the achievement of the objectives.

The main objectives were to promote psychological and emotional well-being, reduce the discomforts of everyday life and support the creation of group bonds. The specific objectives were to favour the development of bonds in the triangular art-therapeutic relationship; to generate a space for personal freedom and emotional expression through group creation and reflection; to integrate body, mind and emotion in the creative processes; to reduce psychological symptoms associated with anxiety, depression and stress; to reduce feelings derived from unwanted loneliness; and to favour the sense of belonging and adhesion to the group.

Based on the reality and experience of the participants, a creative process was generated based on participation-action, in which they were the protagonists of their own transformation. The analysis of the data collected through a mixed intervention-research design shows the potential of the art therapy project in partnership with museums and its impact on the well-being of all the women, helping them to become aware of their strengths and nurturing their capacity for regeneration and change, even in complicated life situations.