Creative Self-Care for Artists:
Reflective Practice and Wellbeing in Arts & Health
This article explores the impact of an 8-month Creative Wellbeing Programme designed to support artists working in health and community settings. Drawing on survey data and participant feedback, it highlights how creative self-care, reflective practice, and peer connection can improve artist wellbeing, reduce isolation, and sustain creative practice. The findings suggest that protected, non-judgemental creative time supports optimism, relaxation, imagination, and emotional resilience. The article argues that caring for artists’ wellbeing is essential to the long-term sustainability of Arts and Health practice and calls for reflective practice and creative self-care to be embedded as professional standards within the sector.
Background
What support do artist’s need to sustain their practice whilst working in a health or community setting? This question has guided my practice as both an artist and an arts consultant working in the field of Arts and Health. In 2025 I was approached by Helium to set up a Creative Wellbeing Programme for their Artists, and our joint curiosity fuelled the design and ongoing implementation of this Programme. Alongside their other professional and training programmes, I offered online and in person creative self-care and reflective practice sessions. This article presents the a summary of the survey results for those who engaged. At the end of the year, artists reported feeling more optimistic and relaxed about their work. In addition, in an industry that reports high levels of isolation, they felt more connected to others. The first year has shown us that dedicated creative time away from the daily pressures of outcome driven programmes can deeply support artists to continue to develop and manage their professional lives. Could artist’s engagement in their creative practice provide some simple solutions to their ongoing need for a sense of wellbeing?
The Aims of the Creative Self-care Programme
The Creative Wellbeing Programme was created following initial conversations between myself and Helium regarding their commitment to the care and ongoing professional development of their artists. Helium is a National Arts and Health provider that aims to improve the wellbeing and resilience of children living with long term physical health conditions by providing creative, artist-led environments that foster social connection and personal growth.
The Programme began in May 2025, presenting the general aim of the work to all artists working with the organisation as:
“needed reflection time away from your everyday practice, assisting you to develop your work within an Arts and Health context… with an opportunity to engage with creativity as part of your professional development, to develop your capacity for awareness and presence and to find a space to connect with your peers for mutual benefit and support.”
Using the The Warwick Wellbeing Scale, a wellbeing monitoring tool that is already used within Helium to measure the success of their Programmes, an initial consultation was carried out with artists to assess their current state of wellbeing and to ask if they had any particular needs that they would like addressed. This survey was repeated at the end of the year, with the addition of open ended questions on their experiences and feedback.
Need for the Ceartive Self-care Programme
Beyond financial security, the psychological sustainability of the arts sector increasingly hinges on what researcher Nicola Naismith terms “affective support.” In her seminal work, ‘Artists Practising Well’, Naismith highlights that artists working in participatory and health-led settings often face unique emotional demands that can lead to burnout if not properly managed. This research argues that for the arts to be a genuine tool for public health, the “wellbeing of the practitioner” must be treated with the same priority as the wellbeing of the participant. This study reflects similar results found in the BIA Pilot Research (2022-2026), the National Campaign for the Arts Pre Budget 2025 Submission and Pathways to Wellbeing: National Mental Health Promotion Plan (2024).
Naissmith’s research reflected a personal journey that I continue to travel with as part of my own professional development. I clearly recognise that in order to be innovative, caring and creative, I need to engage in making. I need play, I need to touch material and I need to lose myself in a process where I’m not sure what will emerge. These feelings often contrast themselves in a world of clear objectives, outcomes and deadlines and sometimes the urge is to drop my own creative practice in the search for a more productive achievement that can be seen and measured publicly. Allocating time to our creative process as artists is a simple, yet not always easy, part of our professional lives.
My feelings initially were that it would be important to creative open and safe spaces for reflection and creativity within Helium. The initial feedback at the start of the Programme was that the participants weren’t exactly sure what creative self-care and the shape creative reflective practice might take. One participant echoed this sentiment “I didn’t always know what to expect and initially I felt it was eating into my productivity part of the week.” I was also conscious that what wellbeing means to one person may look and feel very different to another. Participants may expect very different things, and these needs may shift and change from each session and even within each session. I felt that the foundation of my work was to hold a structure, yet to remain as responsive as possible.
The Roll out of the Reflective Practice and Wellbeing Programme
Over 2025, 3 online sessions took place involving 2 hour creative reflective practice sessions. A general intention or theme was provided at each session, yet I reiterated that each artist was free to go with their own creative flow of what was emerging for them in the space. The structure was generally the same: Time given at the start for introductions so that the group could get to know one each other (the artists are scattered all over the Country), A movement into a still or quiet space through meditation or visualisation, Dedicated creative space of up to an hour. This creative time was completed through small group reflective breakout rooms where participants could reflect, as much or as little, on their making or process. The sessions would finish with an opportunity for whole group sharing and peer support.
One half day in-person event was held in November 2025, where the artists we able to come together to connect, share and learn. Again, a similar format was maintained, ensuring that maximum time was allocated to creativity and making. Here I was able to witness the power of the in person connection, with conversations and connections taking place informally or in response to the palpable nature of making art in a group. By the last online session in December, I could feel a certain closeness in the group that I hadn’t fully felt in the first online session. I questioned, as always, how much that my own feeling rather than the groups. This is where the survey feedback came important.
Survey Findings
The below summary represents the results of the survey findings:
Connection to others
The Warwick Wellbeing Survey monitors mental wellbeing in a population and evaluates programmes to improve mental wellbeing. Of the questions asked, the most significant positive improvements came, firstly, in the connection the artists felt to others (increase of 26% of those reporting that they agree or strong agree). The focus on peer relationships through sharing and mutual support in the sessions clearly assisted the participants to feel less isolated and more connected to each other. One participant noted “Lucy created a very safe space for us to continue supporting each other and keep fostering these vital peer connections that both inspire and assist our work”. There was also a sense of recognition in working alongside others who are engaged in this type of work. One artist states “It is good to acknowledge that this work has its own particular challenges and that we need to mind ourselves in order to do the best we can.” Peer support and learning helps both in practical and emotional labour often associated with this work.
Optimism and relaxation
Looking at the overall impact of the programme, there was an increase in the artists reporting more positive emotions. Of those who responded, there was an improvement amongst participants in feeling optimistic (19.5% increase) and those feeling more relaxed (18.5% increase), again being reflected in the feedback received. One piece of feedback noted “I loved that we were given time to be creative as I think it is easy to forget how important” it is for artists to be given a chance to do this as it was seen as “re fueling and re charging” for their practice. Another participant noted “it showed me how powerful and necessary it is to practice self-care in a creative way.” The benefits of this was also seen after the sessions, with one artist reporting “And the feeling afterward is of peace and presence.”
Imagination and Curiosity
The survey also showed that participants were better ‘able to deal to deal with problems’ (5.7% increase), ‘better at using my imagination’ (6.4% increase) and being ‘curious’ (5.1% increase). This comes through in some of the statements received in the open feedback, with comments like “acknowledging that it’s ok to have a bad day and that it never lasts long.” Alongside the simple statement “These sessions made me breathe”.
What came through strongly in the sessions and in the feedback is the importance of artists carving out to engage in their own creative process. Several comments were made about this ranging from “I loved having time and space for creative self-care during a busy time in life.”, to “I would not have taken this time off on my own… because it showed me how powerful and necessary it is to practice self-care in a creative way.” Another participant states “I love having the time to create, whatever seems right in the moment, with no agenda… This provides, for me anyway, a moment to release some, perhaps, subconscious noise.” It seems that dedicated and structured time to create proved a simple yet affective tool for enhancing feelings to wellbeing.
Witnessing Facilitation
It was also noted that, in being facilitators themselves, there was an appreciation of watching other facilitation styles. Again, peer learning took place from witnessing what emerged as the sessions continued throughout the year. One artist stated that they “appreciate Lucy’s warm holding of the group and intuitive following what feels right for the group… It has always felt like a warm safe grounded space.” Whilst another states “As someone who often facilitates, it was refreshing to participate from the other side and gain new perspectives and insights that will feed back into my own practice.” It was also noted “Lucy was able to meet us where we were, read the situation, and adapt the activity to our needs, opening us up to possibilities for art and wellbeing.”
In addition, an unexpected result of artists engaging in facilitated creative sessions was being able to see creativity from the participant’s perspective. Several comments were made during sessions that it gave artists an appreciation of what their workshop participants might be going through. Artists felt that that might be able to relate to or sympathise more when participants were experiencing difficulties in their own workshops.
Permission to Create
Even as artists, it seems there is a part of us that needs permission to make and play simply for the joy and love of it. This feels important especially for those involved in bringing creative processes into communities or health setting, as our practice becomes outcome and agenda driven. Yet, it often seems that we can lose something in this process. Having safe and dedicated places away from these pressures can add so much to our own sense of wellbeing, creativity and purpose. As a creative wellbeing facilitator, crafting these spaces, light on intention and theme yet strong in holding and listening, seems to allow artists to be free to be their creative selves again. When given this permission, uncomfortable feelings become bearable, solutions emerge without attention and acceptance seems to prevail. As one participant states “just showing up and being open to the journey helps to move through that discomfort into a place of settled-ness.”
Act of Making
Perhaps time away from schedules and pressures of daily life reminds us of the simplicity and power of the work that we do as artists working in health and community settings. Through easy techniques such as meditation and visualisation, we have the opportunity to slow down, be still and reflect. As one artist states “The power of the image/making that results is undeniable, when I view it, its shares volumes.” The more I practice this work, it seems to come back to the simple, the essential and the fundamental act of making and being witnessed in that act.
Conclusion
As shown above, these results suggest that the Creative Wellbeing programme with Helium has been especially effective in supporting participants’ internal wellbeing, sense of ease, and capacity to engage creatively. Particular reference was made to the value of protected, non-judgemental time for creative reflection, the importance of creating safe spaces in assisting artist feel increased calm, grounding, and emotional regulation and a greater self-awareness and gentleness towards themselves.
In response to the success of this Programme, this year we have launched an ‘Reflective Practice Studio’ within Helium, piloting creative self-care methods within a small group of participants and measuring how a more intensive monthly practice may further support artists. We look forward to creating best practice materials that can be used within Helium and also within the wider Arts and Health Sector.
As artists we are encouraged by the clear policy direction given in Ireland’s Pathways to Wellbeing (2024–2030) framework of embedding arts into health and the recognition of creative practice as a core pillar of national mental health promotion. Yet we must also ask questions of ourselves about how we care for all those involved in Arts and Health in this process. Part of our response to this may be to move to a more professionalised culture of reflective practice and peer supervision from individuals and organisations involved in this Sector. Engaging in our own creative process is part of this movement. As one participant states “I loved attending these, they made me feel special”. What I continually see is that each artist is special, and has within their own practice all of the tools and capacity necessary to navigate this rewarding and often challenging path. And when we create spaces for us all to come together to share and learn, when we can care for ourselves alongside those we work with, the richness of the work truly comes alive.
If you would like to discuss how creative self-care and reflective practice can support the artists on your programme, contact me directly or book a call