Art Therapy Gains Ground in Singapore Hospitals

As conversations about mental health and the arts continue to grow larger, CNA reports that there has been an increase in demand for art psychotherapy in national organisations.

Interviewing senior art therapists in organisations such as Woodlands Hospital, Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Khoo Teck Puat-National University Children’s Medical Institute at National University Hospital (NUH), and National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), it’s reported that referrals for art therapy have increased significantly in some institutions by as much as three times since 2019.

Woodlands Hospital, which opened at the end of 2023 has recorded a 25 per cent increase in art therapy referrals since last year.

At IMH, the number of art therapy sessions has increased by about 20 per cent since 2023.

The growth in demand in palliative care, patients in geriatrics, outpatients with medical conditions, as well as psychiatric and paediatric care pushes calls for the therapy practice to be regulated in Singapore. National regulation will provide further safeguarding standards for individuals undergoing art therapy.

Art therapy utilises psychological frameworks to identify information and themes that could surface from the artwork or even the medium. “Somebody who is untrained, this will be all lost in translation, and we’ll lose (the) opportunity to capture important things about what’s going on with the child”. Professional art therapists are trained at the master’s level, with expertise in both art and psychology. National regulation would definitely strengthen public trust.

As an art therapy studio in Singapore, SPACE looks forward to art therapy being more available to the general public and more sectors outside of medical organisations.


News article link:
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/art-therapy-growing-hospitals-regulation-concerns-5811126?cid=internal_sharetool_web_06012026_cna