Active elements, effects, and working mechanisms of creative arts therapies in forensic psychiatric care: a realist review

Description

Susan van Hooren, Annemarie Abbing, and Wim Waterink published a realist review in 2025 on how creative arts therapies work inside forensic psychiatric care. Detainees carry heavy rates of mental disorder, and many cannot use talk therapy well, so art, music, drama, and dance therapies offer another door. The question has shifted from whether they help to how.

From twenty-seven studies, after quality and relevance screening, seventeen fed the synthesis. Twelve models emerged, linking the therapies' active elements to their effects. The elements stack in a hierarchy: bodily and sensory experiences at the base, then emotional expression and recognition, then attention and self-control, and finally social and reflective gains. The map tells clinicians which ingredient to reach for, for which patient, at which stage.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC12875998