Music, art, and drama as mental health support for Black young people

Black young people in England face stark mental health inequalities. They reach specialist services later, experience those services as less responsive to their needs, and are more likely to enter the mental health system through crisis or compulsion rather than choice. Yet they are under-represented in the early intervention services designed to prevent exactly that escalation.

Part of the problem lies in the interventions themselves. Standard talking therapies can feel like a poor fit – verbally demanding, insufficiently attuned to experiences of racism and identity, and disconnected from the ways many Black young people already process emotion. The result is a treatment gap shaped not by a lack of need, but by a failure of fit.

BLACK-ARTS set out to ask whether creative arts therapies – music, drama, visual art – could offer a better route into mental health support for Black young people

Our approach and partners

BLACK-ARTS was a four-year research programme that combined interviews and focus groups, national survey analysis, a global review of evidence, and a community-based pilot. The work drew on partnerships with five NHS Trusts across England, Black service users and clinicians, creative arts therapists, and Grounded Sounds, a community music charity in South London. It also used data from the OxWell Student Survey, the ARC OxTV supported large-scale survey of children and young people's mental health.

Focus groups brought together Black young people and clinicians within NHS settings to explore their experiences of creative arts therapies. A secondary analysis of the OxWell survey examined how over 12,000 adolescents access mental health support. A global meta-analysis synthesised evidence on creative arts interventions for PTSD in young people. And an eight-week community music programme tested whether these approaches work outside clinical settings

What we found – and why it matters

• Black young people and clinicians see creative arts therapies as emotionally accessible and culturally meaningful. Across five NHS Trusts, 35 participants described these approaches as supportive of identity, agency, and trust – particularly for young people disengaged from conventional talking therapies. But they also identified structural barriers: underfunding, limited provision, and a lack of training to help therapists work effectively across cultures.
• Black and Black Mixed adolescents rely disproportionately on informal support and access formal mental health services at lower rates. Analysis of over 12,000 young people in the OxWell Student Survey revealed that these young people turn to school-based and informal networks rather than NHS services – a gap that points to the need for mental health services that feel relevant and accessible to these young people.
• Creative arts interventions significantly reduce PTSD symptoms in young people worldwide. A meta-analysis of 4,587 participants found strong effects across populations, with particularly pronounced benefits among West African adolescents – reinforcing the cultural resonance of these approaches.
• A community-based music programme reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD among Black young people. The eight-week pilot with Grounded Sounds showed improvements in wellbeing alongside symptom reduction, demonstrating that these interventions are feasible beyond clinical settings.

What this means

Creative arts therapies offer a way to reach Black young people who currently fall through the gaps in mental health provision. By working through music, art, and drama rather than relying solely on verbal expression, these approaches can reduce stigma, build trust, and support earlier intervention.

Building creative arts therapies into NHS services and community programmes could shift care towards something more equitable – and reduce the reliance on crisis services that currently characterises too many young Black people's experience of mental health care.

What needs to happen next

This evidence base needs to move from proof of concept to practice change. That requires larger-scale evaluations of creative arts therapies within NHS youth mental health services, sustained funding, and investment in workforce development – including training to help therapists work effectively with Black young people.

Commissioners and policymakers need to support stronger links between clinical and community services, and to treat creative arts therapies not as extras or experiments but as a core part of the offer. Black communities must remain central to shaping how that happens.