Considering Harm in Arts in Health: Reflections on NOAH’s September 23 webinar Considering Harm in Arts in Health: Reflections on NOAH’s September 23 webinar
In September 2025, NOAH board members Sloka Iyengar and Sarah Hoover hosted a webinar exploring the critical aspects of harm reduction within arts in health work. Attended by [do we know what roles/fields the participants came from?], the session framed three types of harm that can occur: harm to participants, harm to facilitators, and harm to the art form. Two questions were posed: How does harm show up when the arts are recruited to support health and well-being? And what can we do about it when it happens? Panelists Vanesa Simon (artist and founder, Mariposa Arts) and Queenie Wong (art therapist, Stanford Children’s Health) shared insights about their role and responsibilities as arts facilitators and the steps they take to minimize harm in an honest conversation about a challenging topic. Caring for the Art: Respecting Tradition Sloka Iyengar, PhD (neuroscientist and practitioner of Bharatanatyam) introduced the need to acknowledge that there can be inadvertent harm to arts, cultural, and creative practices when utilized for health and well-being. An example is yoga, which can be misunderstood or disrespected when disconnected from its context. She articulated that there is a complex balance between making arts and cultural practices widely accessible while respecting their origins—“not to gatekeep the art form but to honor its context, tradition, and knowledge.” Iyengar has published two papers on this issue: the published manuscripts can be found here. Please contact me for the full-text versions of the papers. Caring for Participants: Planning for Safety For Queenie Wong, reducing harm is foundational to her practice as an art therapist. Her training prepared her to assess the needs of the patient and “match the right material and intervention with the client’s therapeutic needs.” She plans for safety, the potential for emotional triggering, and accessibility, “being intentional about material selection and supporting a safe space for exploration, psychological and emotional processing.” She assesses the client’s response during the session, “knowing when and how to adapt the session, and to reduce harm when spontaneous unconscious material surfaces.” The meaning of the art is created by the client, and harm can occur if the art is misinterpreted. For instance, “red can be understood as symbolic for love, but for them it might be anger. And if they are from East Asian countries, it is associated with luck.” Inappropriate questions may be asked: “A child paints flowers in the garden. A care provider walks into the room and to build rapport says that they are so pretty, not knowing that the session was focused on exploring grief and that the flower represents their image of a dying sibling. While the comment was well intended, it invalidates the child’s emotional experience.” As a therapist, she is trained to guide therapeutic conversation about the artwork her clients create. Grounded in her profession’s training, clinical experience, certification, licensure, and ongoing supervision, Wong is prepared to enter vulnerable emotional territory with clients, where “my priority is the safety of my patient.” Caring for Facilitators: Providing Training and Support Vanesa Simon shared that “from the beginning, I’ve been clear with myself and others that I do not facilitate art therapy. My intention has always been to use the arts to support well-being, not to replace clinical care.” Recognizing that she was working without defined role boundaries, “early on, I sought out resources and tools, and I was fortunate to connect with a wonderful art therapist who became a close collaborator and a dear friend. Arts in Health and Art Therapy do not have to be in competition. One does not negate the other. When we respect the boundaries and strengths of each, we can better serve our communities.” As an employer, Simon asserts that “I prioritize care for teaching artists. I communicate clearly with them, I listen to them about what they’re comfortable facilitating, I advocate for fair pay, and ensure they’re compensated for their time, including planning, setup, cleanup, and travel. I build training into our funding to ensure teaching artists are well prepared.” These employment practices “help them feel confident, supported, and clear about their role, which ultimately benefits the participants as well and protects institutions who partner with Vanesa/Mariposa Arts from possible liabilities.” “To truly support well-being,” she says, “we must consider harm, not just to participants, but also to the artists doing the work. Arts in Health is not just another art class. It’s a practice that requires care, standards, and careful collaboration.” The Field of Arts in Health: Defining Roles While creative arts therapists have formalized educational pathways, structures for supervision, and mechanisms for certification and licensure, the field of Arts in Health does not. “Groundwork needs to be laid at the field level,” according to Sarah Hoover (director and educator, Peabody Performing Arts & Health), such as NOAH’s 2023 Code of Ethics and 2025 Scope of Practice and Core Professional Competencies. “These foundational documents are necessary infrastructure for artistic practice and program administration. They will help facilitators understand their roles and responsibilities and provide framing for employment, education and certification.” And events such as this webinar “help build awareness and foster dialogue and collaboration for all of us working at the intersection of arts and health.” Key Takeaways:
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AuthorMy name is Sloka. I am a neuroscientist and dancer; you can find more about me here. |