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The creative process and art therapy as a pathway to well-being in the face of childhood trauma has the overarching aim of evaluating the effectiveness of an art therapy-based intervention to improve cognitive, socio-emotional, and mental well-being for children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences and trauma, with the goal of prevention and intervention.
This project stems, on one hand, from the strong evidence provided by the R&D project "Aletheia: Arts, Art Therapy, Trauma, and Emotional Memory" (HAR2015-69115-R, 2016-2019), which was pioneering in our country. It opened an interdisciplinary pathway between education, art, and psychology, yielding such positive results regarding the use of art in trauma treatment in general that it justified the need for continuity and strengthening of this line of research. This aligns with the recommendations made in the 2018 audit conducted by the Ministry. One of the most suitable approaches focuses on higher improvement rates within the child population, particularly when immediate attention is provided (López Fdz. Cao, 2020, 2018, 2019; López Fdz. Cao, Camilli, and Fernández, 2020).
The project has enabled the establishment of effective collaborations with EPOs during its execution, leading to a successful relationship with international organisations such as Save the Children, our main collaborator in this new and important project. The Complutense University has signed a collaboration agreement with them.
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This research has conducted interventions over three academic years: 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24. During this period, a total of 25 interventions have been carried out, amounting to 665 hours of intervention, serving a total of 217 children across the country.
These interventions have been conducted throughout the country. Collaborations have been established with 8 centres, 5 of which are part of the agreement signed with the NGO Save the Children, which has initiated art therapy interventions in Seville, Bilbao, Toledo, and Madrid (Leganés and Vallecas). Additionally, a collaboration was established with the clinical field at the José Germain University Hospital and with the educational sector, in partnership with a secondary school and the CEIP Aravaca primary school.
The EARTDI Research Group (Applications of Art in Social Integration) is a leading group in the field of art and psychosocial inclusion. It is part of the Department of Teaching Languages, Arts, and Physical Education at the Faculty of Education at Complutense University of Madrid, and is led by Professor Marián López Fernández Cao. Since 2010, it has been invited by various organisations, other national and international research groups, publishers, municipalities, and diverse institutions to organise programmes related to art and psychosocial inclusion as well as art and coeducation.
Discover the profile of each member