Dance Battles to Doodles: How Communities Are Using the Arts to Support Mental Health
Nov 03, 2025
A powerful shift is emerging in mental health care: arts-based creative approaches are increasingly being used within mental health support.
At the heart of this shift are community-led organisations, weaving music, dance, theatre, visual arts, journaling, photography, and other creative practices into their mental health care models, often in contexts where traditional services are limited, stigmatised, or culturally misaligned.
In partnership with Alliance Magazine, Ember Mental Health hosted the webinar “Dance Battles to Doodles: Discovering the Therapeutic Power of the Arts – Voices from Community-Led Organisations.” The session brought together leaders from Jordan, Palestine, Zimbabwe, Mexico, and Myanmar, each pioneering arts-based approaches to mental health within their communities.
All the organisations featured in this conversation were discovered through Ember Mental Health’s 2024 Call Out: a moment that revealed both the scale of arts-based mental health work already underway, and how little visibility it often receives. This webinar was an intentional attempt to create space for these organisations, bringing their voices and practices into the spotlight.
Through shared reflections, speakers highlighted how arts-based approaches create safe, culturally grounded spaces for emotional expression, building confidence, resilience, and collective understanding.
And importantly, what new futures become possible when the arts shape care.
Interested in learning more? [Click below to watch the full webinar recording]
Curious to learn more about the organisations behind this work? The panellists included:
INTSHA Trust, in partnership with Loktion Dance Crew, empowers young people through peer-to-peer talks, support groups, and dance expression to foster open conversations on mental health and support youth facing depression and substance abuse.
Turath for Social Development's Madaba Orchestra School is the only institution in Jordan qualified to offer music therapy sessions and has promoted mental health and well-being for 2,000 Syrian refugees. They conduct music therapy in disability centres, fostering healing, reducing trauma, and strengthening social cohesion with host communities.
Pandeo, a multisocial cultural project dedicated to emotional health care, runs two arts-based initiatives—Bicéfala, an exhibition programme for trans-non-binary artists, curators, and allied women, and Ruidaa, a programme offering musical production support for dissidents.
Holy Land Trust, runs the first “Art Therapy” programme of its kind in the city, integrating social, cultural, and artistic issues to strengthen the arts sector, create stigma-free safe spaces, and support community integration.
Inclusion Journey’s holistic initiatives—including the “She & Her Project (2024)” and “Younified”—use peer engagement and arts-based activities to challenge discrimination, build empathy and resilience, and strengthen advocacy and community support for youths with intellectual disabilities.
Conversations like this continue to shape how Ember listens, learns, and evolves its model.