A heartfelt thank you to Megan for her inspiring facilitation and for sharing her research on clinician burnout. Her session, “Sustaining Care, Sustaining Clinicians: Group Art Therapy to Reduce Burnout”, offered invaluable insights into how expressive art-making, reflective dialogue, peer witnessing, and psychological safety can support clinicians’ wellbeing’
This study day, organised by the Special Interest Group from BAAT, “Working with Loss: The Creative Response”, took place at Harlington Hospice, Northwood, London, and was opened by a talk from Dr Ros Taylor, Harlington’s Medical Director. Dr Taylor who is a strong advocate for art therapy stayed for Megan’s presentation and participated in the morning workshop.
We are grateful to the hospice team for hosting the event and providing such a welcoming space. The day brought together 30 art therapists and health care professionals working in palliative and oncology care to pause, reflect, and reconnect with their practice, colleagues, and the profession. Combining research presentations, experiential art-making, and peer engagement, the day provided a rich environment for learning, reflection, and renewal.
Peer connection was a clear highlight. Participants valued the opportunity to meet like-minded colleagues, sharing experiences and feeling understood in ways that everyday clinical work rarely allows. One participant reflected on “making meaningful connections with other art therapists,” while another described the sense of being connected to peers and supported within the professional community.
Research and practice relevance were equally emphasised. Megan’s findings from her recent randomised controlled trial (Tjasink M, et al. 2025) demonstrated significant reductions in burnout risk and psychosocial distress among hospital clinicians. Participants found these insights immediately applicable, noting that the art-making sessions were “helpful for me as an individual and as a facilitator of groups.”
Facilitation and care were highly appreciated. Activities were clearly introduced and sensitively guided, allowing participants to engage fully. Many commented on the thoughtfulness of the programme, highlighting the evident care and attention throughout. One participant noted “the way each activity was explained clearly,” reflecting the accessible and supportive approach.
Finally, the day was described as re-energising and affirming. Several participants left feeling nourished, inspired, and reconnected with the power of art therapy. One captured the experience perfectly: “helped me re-centre myself in my practice, in the middle of institutional madness.”
This study day reminded us that sustaining care begins with sustaining the clinicians themselves.
Through connection, research-informed practice, thoughtful facilitation, and meaningful engagement, art therapists were able to reflect, recharge, and reaffirm their professional purpose — a testament to the impact of dedicated reflective spaces like this one.
by Tristan Chan, Nana , Nana Zhvitiashvili, Hannah Cridford, Michele Wood
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Reference
Tjasink M, Carr CE, Bassett P, Soosaipillai G, Ougrin D, Priebe S. Art therapy to reduce burnout and mental distress in healthcare professionals in acute hospitals: a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Public Health. 2025;3:e002251. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjph-2024-002251
Megan’s research study recently featured on BBC London news – the clip can be viewed here https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7411365631431884801/
Brief description: Clinician wellbeing is foundational to compassionate, safe care, yet the emotional labour of this work is often suppressed. Megan will present findings from a recently published randomised controlled trial of a manualised group art therapy programme (CHArt) for hospital clinicians, which demonstrated significant reductions in burnout and psychosocial distress. She will also share insights from a parallel process evaluation, highlighting how expressive artmaking, psychological safety, peer witnessing, and reflective dialogue create conditions for meaning-making, moral repair, and renewal. The focus will be on palliative and oncology doctors’ experiences, linking mechanisms of impact to practical staff support, with implications for organisational culture and patient-centred care.
Megan Tjasink is Principal Art Psychotherapist at Barts Health NHS Trust, working across the Staff Psychological Support service and Cancer Psychological Services. She is Chief Investigator of a multi-centre randomised controlled trial testing CHArt, a manualised group art therapy programme co-developed with Barts Health clinicians and funded by Barts Charity. Megan is also a PhD researcher at Queen Mary University of London, focusing on reducing burnout and psychosocial distress among healthcare professionals. She develops training and reflective practice models that integrate arts-based methods with trauma- and systems-aware care, and her work has been presented nationally and internationally.
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