Arts for the blues–a new creative psychological therapy for depression

The article presents a framework for a new pluralistic 'meta-approach' to depression therapy, based on interdisciplinary thematic synthesis (Thomas, J., & Harden, A. (2008). Methods for thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8[1], 45) of the active ingredients of both classical therapies and creative approaches. It also proposes an illustrative group therapy workshop based on this approach, to be piloted with clients and practitioners in an NHS mental health service. Further research is needed to evaluate this pilot project and to develop a comprehensive treatment to be tested within the service.