I immediately realized how powerful and necessary the integration of arts in healthcare is. This is something that no newspaper article or textbook had taught me or prepared me for in my 30 years of medical practice. Says Iva Fattorini, founder of Artocene
Art as a tool for healing, now known as Art Therapy, will be one of the topics at the second World Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health, organized by the ARTOI Foundation, ISCMR and ESIM in Rome from September 19th to 22nd, 2023.
In one of the plenary sessions of the Congress, featuring Iva Fattorini, a pioneer of Art Therapy worldwide, the relationship between Art and Medicine will take center stage: the concept of expressive therapies, their history, and evolution, the connection between art and healing, and art and oncology will be explored. In a summary article on the experience of a group of integrated Art Therapies at the Milan Cancer Institute, it was found that:
- The use of mediative objects such as music and art allowed participants in the group to establish a deeper connection with their own emotions.
- The art therapy and music therapy activities carried out in a group setting facilitated communication exchange and an improvement in the quality of interpersonal relationships.
- Artistic production, along with music therapy exercises focused on using the body for expressive and communicative purposes proved effective in promoting deep reflection on body perception and image.
These considerations are even more significant when considering, for example, the medical history of patients with breast cancer, an event that alters a woman’s perception of herself and her body image, making it more challenging and painful to listen to the emotions conveyed by the body.
In the complex and delicate field of oncology, through group expressive therapies, patients who struggle to verbally express their emotions can find a new form of communication that involves sounds and images.
Art, with its profound connection to the mind, body, and spirit, can play a central role in the treatment of oncological diseases, through a process of recovery, awareness, and reconstruction of the patient’s body image.