8th Annual Conference of the German Scientific Association for Arts Therapies
Welcome
Welcome to the congress publications of the 8th Annual Conference of the German Scientific Association for Arts Therapies (Wissenschaftliche Fachgesellschaft für Künstlerische Therapien, WFKT), which took place on Nov 13th & 14th 2025 at the Catholic University of Applied Social Sciences Berlin (KHSB) under the theme “Culture & Health – Art Therapies in medical-therapeutic research”.
The recognition of art therapies and their proven effects is growing increasingly. They have become an established part of the entire healthcare system, in medical-therapeutic and psychosocial care, as well as in areas of prevention, health promotion and inclusive education. Their dynamic development is not only driven by technical and interdisciplinary developments but is also particularly influenced by the abundance of social challenges.
This raises larger questions about the impact of cultural life on psychological quality of life and well-being. The focus here is primarily on the importance of art and culture for individual and social health. Current studies and projects clearly point to effective interrelationships between art, culture and health. Approaches for the integration of art and culture into health and social care in Great Britain, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland and Austria serve as a template for concrete policy recommendations.
This annual conference of the WFKT was dedicated to the complex and systemically important topic: Culture & Health in the context of lectures and an interdisciplinary panel discussion. Scientific and artistic research study projects were also presented during the poster sessions. This year there was also a pre-conference of the “Young Research” working group, which encouraged students, doctoral candidates and those interested in research to engage in a lively exchange.
