Creative Health Books Released in 2025
Creative Health publishing is thriving in 2025, with a wide range of new books offering fresh insights into practice, policy, and research. From handbooks and therapy guides to explorations of philosophy, creative research methods, and health systems change – these releases reflect the growing depth and diversity of the field.
In this round-up, NCCH highlights the latest titles for practitioners, researchers, and anyone interested in how creativity continues to shape health and wellbeing – including a sneak peak of what you can expect from 2026. If you notice a text that we have missed, be sure to get in touch at: info@ncch.org.uk
Top Releases
Routledge Handbook of Arts and Health – available here
Routledge International Handbook of Wellbeing Arts: Arts and Everyday Aesthetics as Positive Psychology Interventions – available here
Cultures of Creative Health – available here
A Creative Health Communication Framework: Addressing the Compatibility and Marketability of Mental Health and Wellbeing Services – available here
Social Entrepreneurship in Art Therapy: Creative Changemakers in Action – available here
Handbook of Arts-Based Research: Second Edition – available here
Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform our Health – available here to pre-order
Making Music That Matters: Positive Music Leadership for Social Health - available here
Books on Creative Therapies
Art Therapy with People with Learning Disabilities: Authentic Voices in Clinical Practice and Research – available here
Narrative Therapy and Older People: Challenging Stigma, Supporting Connection and Building Hope – available here
Creative Play in Family Therapy: Effective Strategies and Interventions for Child-Centered Treatment – available here
Sandplay: the Image Speaks for Itself – available here
Music Therapy Supervision: Diverse Perspectives on its Cultures and Practices – available here
Creative Arts Therapies in Clinical Practice – available here
Music Therapy Handbook, Second Edition – available here
Space, Place and Dramatherapy: International Perspectives – available here
Stuck in a Role: Releasing Trauma in Teens through the ENACT Drama Therapy Method – available here
Creative Arts Therapies: Theory and Practice – available here
Treatment Approaches for Body Image in Art Therapy – available here
The Healing Power of Art Therapy: A Beginner’s Guide to Reducing Anxiety, Healing Trauma, and Restoring Emotional Balance Through Creative Expression and Proven Art Therapy Techniques – available here
Child-Centred Music Therapy: Integrating Best Interest of the child into Theory, Research, and Practice – available here
Creative DBT Activities for Children Using Music – available here
Artful Grieving: 50 Art Therapy Directives to Creatively Inspire Your Practice with Grief and Bereavement – available here
Creative Counselling with Adults: 50+ Creative Therapeutic Interventions in Practice – available here
Psychedelics and Art Therapy: A Trauma-Informed Manual for Somatic Self-Discovery – available here
Other Books on Creative Health
The Creative Dementia Practice Handbook: Arts for Health and Wellbeing – available here
Psychological Support for Refugee Adolescents: An Expressive Arts Approach to Wellbeing and Trauma Recovery – available here
Hands, Wrists, Fingers: Creative Health for Musicians – available here
Exploring Creative Wellbeing Frameworks in Context: Nature, Culture, and Sustainable Futures – available here
Good Vibrations: Unlocking the Healing Power of Music – available here
Selling Healing: Creative Arts and Health Communication in Ghana – available here
Eco-Psyche, The Intersection of Mental Health, Nature, and Creative Vision – available here
Writing and Health Care: Creative and Critical Approaches – available here
Drawing in Health and Wellbeing: Marks, Signs and Traces – available here
Crafting to Process Anger: Release and Renew Through Creative Flow – available here
Expressive Arts: The Ultimate Creative Guide to Transforming Stress – available here
Creating Life Story Theatre: A Guide for Applied Theatre Practitioners – available here
Artful Memories: A Guide to Creative Activities for Seniors in Memory Care: Creative Techniques to Enhance Memory, Communication, and Joy for Seniors with Dementia – available here
Creative Self Help and Casual Reading
The Creative Wellbeing Handbook: How to fuel creativity, find balance and stay inspired – available here
Wellbeing and Self-care in Higher Education: Embracing Positive Solutions, book series – available here
Art Therapy for Kids and Teens: A Creative Guide to Reduce Anxiety, Improve Focus, and Feel More Confident – available here
Making Matters: In Search of Creative Wonders – available here
Art Therapy To Go! 100 Brilliant Exercises for Creative Minds – available here
The Dance Advantage: Raising creative and resilient children for tomorrow – available here
Story Work: Field Notes on Self-Discovery and Reclaiming Your Narrative – available here
Art as a Safe Space for the ADHD Mind: How Art and Imagination Transform ADHD Challenges into Creative Strength – available here
Nature Cure – available here
Creative Research Methods and Philosophy
Creative Research: Research Theory and Practice for the Creative Industries – available here
Sandboxing in Practice: Qualitative Interviewing with Sand, Objects, and Figures – available here
Poetic Inquiry as Research: A Decolonial Guide – available here
Creative Research Methods for Critical Event Studies – available here
Practice Research through Creative Bodies: Perspectives on Embodied Inquiry – available here
Encountering the World with I-Docs: Interactive Documentary as a Research Method – available here
Creative Adventures in Education and Human Services: Part 1: Attuning Into Arts-based Methods – available here
Crealectics as a Creative Method: A New Approach to Holistic Innovation for Compossible Worlds – available here
Ethics, Identity, and the Dramatherapy-informed Classroom: Processes of Identity Negotiation and Performance – available here
Conversations on Humanity and Creativity – available here
From Heidegger to Performance – available here
Artificial Humanities: A Fictional Perspective on Language in AI – available here
Creative Practice and Embodied Narratives: Transdisciplinary Inquiry through the Body, Story, and System – available here
Creativity and Critical Pedagogy in Education – available here
Museum of Doubt: A modest manifesto by a science curator – available here
Other
The Design of Care – available here
Embracing the Messy Complexities of Co-Creation: A Dialogic Approach to Participatory Qualitative Inquiry – available here
Navigating Changes In Healthcare: Managing Change Effectively for Healthcare Professionals – available here
From Rounds to Reform: A Toolkit for Healthcare Professionals in Policy, Advocacy & Systems Change – available here
Poems for Medical Students – available here
Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI – available here
Begun, Continued: A Personal and Political Memoir (Chapter on Creative Health) - In the last year before his death, our NCCH Honorary President Lord Howarth wrote a personal and political memoir, chronicling the fifty years of politics and activism in which he had been engaged during his lifetime including being a leading figure in Creative Health movement. This Memoir is now available as an eBook or as a Paperbook Edition - available here
NCCH Features in 2026
Creative Health in Systems: the People, Priorities, and Challenges Shaping Integration. Edited by our Research and Policy Manager, Jane Hearst – this will be a comprehensive text on creativity within healthcare, featuring ~70 authors from industry
Nurses and Allies Harnessing the Arts to Deliver the SDGs. Edited by Creative Health advocate Marion Lynch – leader of Art of Nursing – this book features a chapter from two of our Creative Health Associates on the theme of Creative Health Strategies across England
Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities: The Creative Health Model. Edited by Creative Health leaders at NCCH and UCL, this book captures findings from the UKRI-funded Mobilising Community Assets programme
- The Role of Creative Health in Public Health - special edition of Perspectives in Public Health, in collaboration with Arts Council England
After receiving tremendous interest in our Special Edition from researchers and practitioners alike, we are excited to announce that there will be TWO special editions releasing in 2026 (expected March and September).
Other 2026 Books Available to Pre-Order
Black Creative Healing: Arts-based Approaches to Imagining Liberation and Addressing Race-Based Trauma – available to pre-order here
The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy – available to pre-order here
The Bloomsbury Handbook of Creative Research Methods – available to pre-order here
Comics, Zines, and Graphic Novels in Art Therapy: Illustrating Stories – available to pre-order here
Creative Ways to Explore Identity: Work Creatively with Intersectionality within the Therapeutic Professions – available to pre-order here
Post-Traumatic Growth and Film/Video-Based Therapy: Cultivating Resilience Through Storytelling and Media Psychology – available to preorder here
That’s all from 2025 – we’ll be back next year with another round-up. Until then, happy reading!
