I will never market my workshops for mental health - here is why

Not long ago, I had a conversation about art and craft classes promoted to improve well-being and mental health. As a jeweller and a psychologist researching creativity, I suppose I could easily make that step and even sound rather credible, but there is a very clear reason why I run my jewellery-making classes as “craft only”, and I leave my “psychology” hat at home.

Besides the fact that I love the craft regardless of my academic background, there is another, much more serious issue that I see throughout society spreading into the creative industry and undermining its purpose. We are so used to making choices and doing things for their secondary interest that it often falls under the threshold of perception. As young people, we are told to choose our area of study BECAUSE it will deliver a desired position on a labour market, we exercise BECAUSE we want to stay fit, we make certain meal choices BECAUSE it keeps us healthy and prolongs our life expectancy, we spend time in nature BECAUSE it is good for our mental health, and yes, you guessed it, we do art BECAUSE it is proven to be beneficial for our mental health and well-being.

We are living in a constant chain of Mephistophelian deals with high-flying promises and uncertain outcomes. When the desired effect is not achieved, we get ill, struggle to find a well-paid job position or experience difficulties with mental health, we are made to believe that we didn’t do enough and put another item on our already long list of “chores” that should make us into good citizens, consumers and human resources. It is a perpetual entrappement in a utilitarian universe with no relief from the constant pressure on performance. Which, quite honestly, isn’t great for mental health either.

What I propose instead is studying subjects because they spark curiosity, exercise for the joy of movement, eat healthy for the pleasure of good food, spend time outdoors to experience exposure to elements and do art for creative expression. Make jewellery for the sake of making jewellery. And forget everything else. Perhaps the feeling of well-being will follow. Or maybe you will experience a great deal of frustration or any other type of affect that people perceive when faced with creative challenges. The variety is important here. Being human, living with a psyche and within culture and social relationships is incredibly complex and trying to reduce it to one-directional growth sounds like a very poor arrangement to me.

So, if you ever make it through the door to my jewellery-making classes, you will learn how to make a piece of jewellery. That’s the deal.

If you want to work on your wellbeing, catch me on the days when I work as a coach :-)

Disclaimer: What is written below does not apply to workshops that are designed for a specific group of clients, especially those already struggling with mental health issues, or people living under challenging life circumstances, such as those in provisional housing (asylum seekers included) or otherwise institutionalised. Those workshops need to consider a whole different set of nuances and complexities that cannot be easily summarised.