Arteterapia

Discover our programs

The ARTHE Foundation implements a variety of artistic programs across Poland – in hospitals, crisis centers, schools, and support facilities. We collaborate with numerous partners, adapting our activities to specific needs and locations. However, we are united by one unwavering goal: through color, sound, movement, and authentic presence, to restore hope to those experiencing mental health crises, especially children and young people. Every meeting, workshop, and performance is a step toward regaining joy in life, a sense of empowerment, and the belief that they are not alone.

Student Mental Health in the Spotlight

Poland's first art therapy program for students of the Warsaw University of Technology and the Medical University of Silesia. The program aimed to strengthen coping resources, improve students' quality of life, and improve their psychological functioning. The program ran from October 2023 to February 2024 and included music therapy, dance therapy, relaxation techniques, painting, and psychodrawing. The program was accompanied by a campaign with experts and students to raise public awareness of the topic.

The pace of life won't slow down, and challenges will only increase. We need to introduce mental health prevention in higher education to teach students how to manage their emotions, experts emphasized during the debate inaugurating the "Students' Mental Health in Focus" program. They pointed to art therapy as an effective preventative tool, summarized Krzysztof Jakubiak, editor-in-chief of the Modern Healthcare Institute and the mzdrowie portal.

"We need a safety valve to release accumulated stress and negative emotions. Visiting a psychiatrist is still taboo, so art therapy is a fantastic idea because it allows us to explore, and even understand, our emotions in a gentle way and allow them to escape," emphasized Prof. Michał Lew-Starowicz, a psychiatrist and member of the Scientific Council of the European Foundation for Art Therapy. Lew-Starowicz added that we should promote this form of therapy, which is non-stigmatizing and, instead, very good for mental health. "I regret that there is no subject in schools that would give young people the ability to cope with emotions."

"Art therapy has a dual effect. First, it's preventative, involving emotional regulation, and second, it's reactive, aiming to regain internal balance once it's disturbed," emphasized Prof. Marek Krzystanek, head of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Clinic at the Silesian Medical University in Katowice. He believes people struggle to cope with emotions because they don't understand them. "If an emotion arises, it usually lasts 11-12 minutes, and we should let it burn out like a match. From our brain's perspective, it's best to avoid overly intense emotions, both positive and negative, because they are incredibly tiring." Prof. Krzystanek emphasized that nurturing our brain and mental health is the best investment in ourselves, and art therapy is a great tool for this.

"The person conducting this type of therapy suggests an artistic activity appropriate for the individual. If someone resists drawing, the specialist suggests other techniques for expressing emotions, such as through gestures, colors, or even dance. The idea is to try to name the emotions, and the creative act itself is a pretext for this," explained Dr. Aleksandra Chmielnicka-Plaskota from the Department of Visual Activities and Art Therapy at the Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education in Warsaw. She emphasized that art therapy is for everyone, even if someone has no artistic talent.

Students themselves emphasize the significant need for psychological support. Magdalena Krawczyk, a representative of the Warsaw University of Technology Student Government, cited the results of a survey conducted among 716 university students, which showed that more than half of them needed psychological help because they were struggling to cope with the demands of their universities or the job market.

Watch the video from the program premiere

View gallery

The Power of Culture For You

Our signature program, which promotes innovative forms of exposure to art and culture for mental health, has received funding from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for implementation in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

"The Power of Culture for You" is a program of the European Foundation for Art Therapy. It's an extraordinary, three-year journey through the world of art and culture, opening the door to a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. In free art therapy workshops, taking place from 2024 to 2026, participants have the opportunity to participate in an innovative program that combines art with personal and social development. Through contact with clay, paint, and artistic expression, participants discover their own emotions, develop creativity, and build a sense of community, said Anna Mikosz of the ARTHE Foundation.

Program posiada trzy filary, jeden w postaci interdyscyplinarnych warsztatow twórczych dla mieszkancow Warszawy, drugi pod nazwa Festiwal Arteterapii, realizowany dla Pacjentów, ich rodzin i przyjaciół w Mazowieckim Specjalistycznym Centrum Zdrowia w Pruszkowie, trzeci mentorski z udzialem wybitnych ekspertów ARTHE LAB, dla poszukujacych rozwoju osobistego i profesjonalnego.

Zobacz stronę silakultury.pl

Zobacz galerię

Sztuka SelfLove

Program wspierał młodzież w budowaniu pewności siebie oraz wyrażaniu emocji poprzez sztukę, co przyczyniło się do ich rozwoju emocjonalnego i społecznego.

Składał się z kampanii zwiekszajacej świadomość na temat zdrowia psychicznego, zrealizowanej w drogeriach Rossman oraz w Internecie. W drugiej części programu z arteterapeutycznych warsztatów dla młodych Podopiecznych Szpitali Psychiatrycznych: Szpitala im. Józefa Babińskiego Specjalistycznego Psychiatrycznego Zakładu Opieki Zdrowotnej w Łodzi oraz na oddziałach: Leczenia Nerwic dla Młodzieży oraz Psychiatrycznym Rehabilitacyjnym Oddziale Dziennym dla Dzieci i Młodzieży w Mazowieckim Centrum Neuropsychiatrii.

W trakcie profesjonalnej arteterapii dla 100 dzieciaków, zrealizowanej w okresach maj-czerwiec oraz październik- listopad 2025. Budowaliśmy i wzmacnialiśmy • otwartość na pracę w grupie • wzbudzenie zaufania i poczucia bezpieczeństwa w grupie • rozwijanie ciekawości uczestników  • odkrywanie własnych możliwości twórczych • przezwyciężanie własnych barier utrudniających aktywność twórczą • umiejętności empatycznego współdziałania w grupie • abstrakcyjne myślenie • pewność siebie w aktywnościach twórczych • poczucie własnej wartości w aktywnościach twórczych • skupienie się na pozytywach w ich życiu • pozytywne wzmocnienie uczestników. Powiedziała dr Anna Klara Zielińska, realizujaca program z ramienia Fundacji ARTHE.

Zobacz galerię

Zobacz ofertę dla firm

Współczesna Sztuka Świadoma

The project combined art, digital ecology, and new technologies. Participants learned about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in artistic creation and art therapy, and created their own works inspired by reflections on the relationship between humans, nature, and technology. The project, in addition to training in the use of new technologies, included an exhibition of works at the Prześwit Collective Cultural Institution at 39 Freta Street in Warsaw, along with a debate between experts and artists, an online opening, an exhibition catalog, an information campaign, and original art therapy programs. These programs were used to conduct 200 hours of creative workshops with elements of art therapy at the Mazovian Specialist Health Center in Pruszków, the Youth Anxiety Treatment Ward in Zagórze, the Hostel Sociopsychiatric Rehabilitation Center in Otwock, the Youth Psychiatric Ward in Józefów, and the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Day Unit for Children and Youth in Warsaw, ul. Koszykowa 79B, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Day Unit for Children and Youth in Zagórze, Children's Ward in Józefów.

This award-winning original program was created and implemented by Joanna Wierzbowska, an art therapist and participant in the ARTHE Lab Power of Culture for You master classes and the Contemporary Conscious Art program.

"My inspiration was a personal reflection on the relationship of modern man with art, new technologies and nature. Then the book "Ecopsychiatry. How proximity to nature supports our psyche" (ed. Katarzyna Simonienko, Sławomir Murawiec, Piotr Tryjanowski) - showing how deeply intertwined the condition of our psyche is with our relationship with nature. Together with the youth, we practiced: • Incorporating nature into the therapeutic process through creative activities inspired by ecopsychiatry • Showing a two-way relationship: nature as a source of solace and support, and we as guardians of its elements (birds, plants, bees...) • Regulating tension and safely expressing emotions through art • Developing emotional awareness through symbols of nature • Building self-awareness and reflection on one's own needs • Symbolically recognizing and expressing needs in a gentle way

See  the Contemporary Conscious Art page

View gallery