This page provides information about online tickets. If you would prefer to attend in person, please see our in-person tickets.

What role does art therapy play in sustaining care?

Sustaining care means supporting the conditions in which people, communities and organisations can thrive. Drawing on creative and relational processes, this conference will examine how art therapy contributes to this goal across three interconnected strands:

1. Supporting psychological safety and reducing burnout among healthcare professionals
2. Building wellbeing and cohesion in communities, including work with marginalised and underserved groups
3. Supporting individual people to recover from trauma across the lifespan.

This conference brings together landmark new evidence, including the findings of a major randomised controlled trial, alongside community-based practice and clinical work with individuals, to demonstrate art therapy’s contribution to sustained, compassionate care.

Programme

Opening address by Sonia Kumar, Labour MP for Dudley and a registered physiotherapist.

Keynote presentations

‘Why the arts are the forgotten fifth pillar of health: evidence for individual, community and societal health and wellbeing benefits’ | Daisy Fancourt 

What does the science tell us about how arts and cultural engagement shapes our health? Drawing on her work leading the WHO Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health, Professor Daisy Fancourt will present the evidence for how arts engagement builds resilience and supports recovery at individual, community and systems levels.

‘Sustaining those who care: art therapy and healthcare workforce wellbeing’ | Megan Tjasink, presenting alongside a medical doctor who participated in group art therapy

Megan Tjasink will present findings from a multi-site randomised controlled trial evaluating group art therapy for healthcare professionals. Co-presenting with a doctor who took part in the trial, the keynote will explore what art therapy can offer healthcare workers at risk of burnout.

‘Making art therapy accessible: working with marginalised communities’ | Thahmina Begum, presenting alongside a service user from SEND Salaam CIC

Drawing on two decades of community practice across Yorkshire and beyond, Thahmina Begum and a participant from a local community group will share how art therapy can support marginalised communities to process difficult experiences, reclaim their stories and access high-quality, relevant and safe mental health suppport.

Artist’s talk: ‘The Love Booth: art, social history and community cohesion’ | Karen Vost 

Registered art therapist and Arts Council England funded artist Karen Vost shares The Love Booth, a community arts project using the analogue photobooth to document everyday love, build community cohesion and preserve collective social history. Drawing on her dual identity as artist and art therapist, Karen explores how accessible, participatory artmaking can create belonging and bring diverse communities together.

Parallel sessions

Online ticket-holders will have limited access to the parallel sessions. To access the full conference programme, join us in person.

Employer-funded tickets

Employer-funded bookings can be made for in-person or online tickets by completing an invoice request form and sending it to events@baat.org. The deadline for employer-funded bookings is Thursday, 1 October 2026.

Prefer to join us in-person? Find out more about our in-person tickets:

In-person tickets

*We want this event to be accessible to everyone. If you need support (such as BSL interpretation or live captioning), please register and share your requirements by 20 August, so we can ensure the right support is ready for your online experience!

**Please note that this is a live-only event and a full recording will not be made available to attendees afterwards.

Tickets for our annual conference can only be purchased directly from our website.

Sponsors

Founded over 240 years ago in London by artisans Richard and Thomas Rowney, Daler-Rowney has partnered with creative legends – from Turner to Peter Blake – to handcraft materials that inspire artists at every level. Colour remains at our core, crafted by UK artisans, alongside our brushes, papers, and curated canvases. Our vision: empower everybody to create and raise their artistic voice – captured in our philosophy, PAINT LOUD™. Stand out. Be bold. PAINT LOUD™. 

Learn more at https://www.daler-rowney.com/

ArtAICare is an initiative from University of Luxembourg advancing art therapy through an integrated ecosystem of research, education and practice support. Its pioneering, secure, end-to-end platform empowers therapists with complete art therapy toolkits and data-driven insights for in-person, remote and phygital (physical and digital) art therapy sessions, while its academy provides AI and technology literacy programmes for art therapists and mental health professionals, ensuring therapists lead and technology supports responsible practice in a digitally native world.

Learn more at www.artaicare.com and www.artaicare.academy

Artway empowers creativity with affordable, high-quality, and sustainable art supplies across the UK. From eco-friendly papers to mixed-media kits, our materials provide the foundation for self-expression. We proudly support the art therapy community with a 15% discount for BAAT members, offering materials that honour your clients’  journeys and the environment.