Expressive Art & Innovation Therapies for Children & Adolescents

Newly updated information from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows an increase in the number of hospital visits by Canadians age 5 to 24 for mental health disorders over the past decade, especially adolescent girls with self-injury, substance use issues as well as depression and anxiety. At the same time, the number of young Canadians diagnosed with mental healthy disorders remained stable. In addition, the number of young Canadians who were dispensed a mood or anxiety medication or anti-psychotic medication has increased.

Now that we live in a busy, sophisticated, extroverted thinking world most of our interventions for depression and anxiety are medications or talking therapies. This minimizes the fact we are individuals who not only think but we feel, experience bodily sensations and have intuition. Consequently, we neglect the importance of arts, sports, drama and the humanities, and the magical symbolic world of childhood. This presentation will focus on the innovative role of arts for engaging and education children and adolescents from around the world.

This session is presented by the Community Education Service of the Child & Adolescent, Mental Health & Psychiatry Program (CAAMHPP) of AHS in partnership with the Department of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Calgary.

This FREE program will be presented via videoconference in the MEETING ROOM of the library. No registration is required; however, space will be limited to 12 participants. First come, first served.