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Associate professorship Arts & Health
The associate professorship Arts & Health aims at contributing to the professional field of the arts therapies and highlighting the relevance of the performing arts for positive health and mental wellbeing. The professorship is connected to the Codarts Master of Arts Therapies (MAT), with a specialization in Dance Movement Therapy and Music Therapy.
The research domain of the associate professorship Arts & Health is related to the impact and meaningfulness of the performing arts dance and music for personal life and society. Our special focus is on the human experience of aesthetic practices in relation to health and wellbeing.
Research topics of the associate professorship Arts & Health cover the applicability of arts-based and arts-informed interventions in community settings, societal networks and (mental) health settings.
Activities of the associate professorship are related to
- Building a body of knowledge from and for the arts therapies.
- Co-creating a body of knowledge with practitioners in the arts therapies.
- Building evidence for arts therapies interventions.
- Building educational programmes for the arts for wellbeing and mental health.
The associate professorship Arts & Health works in close collaboration with the department of Arts Therapies at Codarts and seeks to connect to dance therapy and music therapy experts in the mental health field. Outcomes of these projects are accessible for Codarts students and faculty as well as the professional field. Where possible we seek to deliver open access educational and research resources.
Current research projects
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Intervention mapping/intervention evaluation
Topics in this research line are medical applications, dementia, socio-cultural synchronisation.
This research lines collects first-hand knowledge from arts therapies practitioners. Systematic documentation of applied interventions are used to build intervention descriptions that meet the standards for replication of therapeutical application, research studies and education.
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DMT/MT observational studies
This research line is collecting observational outcome of dance and music therapy interventions. Therapists have to navigate the participants’ behaviours to decide on suitable methods and interventions. The same behavioural markers on changes in therapy may support outcome evaluation and effectiveness studies.
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Perceived effects of arts therapies
This project is a collaboration of Codarts associate professorship Arts & Health with the HAN professorship ‘ Vaktherapie bij persoonlijkheidsstoornissen’ and the KenVaK professorship. This study aims to investigate the effects of arts therapies interventions as perceived by participants.
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Dance Audience Synchronisation [DAS]
This project is a collaboration of Codarts associate professorship Arts & Health with two independent researchers. The project aims to investigate how we can measure the impact of watching dance performances for individuals and groups. Funded by Codarts Research Fund.
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DMT/MT in forensic settings
This project is a collaboration of the Codarts associate professorship Arts & Health with the HAN professorship ‘ Vaktherapie bij persoonlijkheidsstoornissen’, professorship ‘ Psychomotor therapy’ at Windesheim and the KenVaK professorship. The project will collect and document working factors of arts therapies in the forensic setting. Funded by Kwaliteit Forensische Zorg (KFZ).
Past research projects
Education
The professorship Arts & Health contributes to the research curriculum of the Master of Arts Therapies. Students are prepared to become mental health professionals with an orientation towards state-of-the-art research in dance movement therapy and music therapy, evidence-based therapeutic practices, related arts-informed procedures, and theoretical frameworks. Where suitable, research projects of the professorship arts and health are open for student participation.

Simone Kleinlooh
PhD kandidaat
E: skleinlooh@codarts.nl
T: +31 (0)651511746