How does creativity benefit mental health and wellbeing? | Kate Wood | TEDxNantymoel

How does creativity benefit mental health and wellbeing? | Kate Wood | TEDxNantymoel

Kate is a Community Arts Practitioner who set up ‘The Craft Junction’ in Bridgend after teaching Design and Technology for 18 years both in the UK and abroad. This talk not only explains the benefits that creativity can have on mental health and wellbeing but also gives a brief and raw insight into her own battles with mental health.

In this thought-provoking talk, Kate speaks about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of ‘Flow’, and how beneficial being in a state of ‘Flow’ can be as well as what happens to the brain when in that state. Kate Wood is a Community Arts Practitioner who set up The Craft Junction in Bridgend in 2018 after teaching Design and Technology for 18 years both in the UK and abroad. She is currently studying an MA Arts Practice (Arts for Health and Wellbeing) at The University of South Wales. As part of her studies she has been working with a group of autistic females, who are not in education or employment, to find out if engagement in creative activities can improve self-esteem, wellbeing, social isolation and anxiety.

Kate has recently registered a CIC called Art and Soul which will be a Community Art and Wellbeing Cafe to support all ages of people, who struggle with mental health and wellbeing, social isolation or have additional learning needs, by taking part in a variety of creative activities. She has big plans for her project and is determined to help improve the lives of as many people as she can, through Art. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx