معرفی
Vicky Karkou is Professor of Arts & Wellbeing at Edge Hill University, where she directs the Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing and holds leadership responsibilities for research in the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine. An internationally recognized scholar with over £10 million in external funding, her work spans arts therapies, dance movement psychotherapy, and mental health interventions. She joined Edge Hill in 2013 after extensive international research collaborations.
Education:
- PhD in Arts Therapies, University of Manchester (1994-1998)
- MA in Art Education, University of Manchester (1993-1994)
- BSc in Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1987-1991)
Her research focuses on evidence-based creative therapies for depression, anxiety, and dementia, employing diverse methodologies from artistic inquiry to systematic reviews. She has led landmark projects including the Arts4Us initiative (£2.5M UKRI funding) developing arts-based mental health interventions for children, and the Arts for the Blues creative psychotherapy program. Her work integrates clinical practice with innovative arts-based research methodologies.
Analysis of her 118+ publications shows strong emphasis on validating arts therapies through randomized controlled trials, exploring mechanisms of creative interventions, and developing scalable mental health solutions. Recent work demonstrates increasing focus on implementation science and realist evaluations of community-based arts initiatives.
Honors:
- Honorary Doctor of Medicine, Riga Stradins University (2014)
She leads substantial research initiatives including the ERA study (UK's largest arts therapies RCT) and international collaborations with WHO Arts and Health Office. Her £2.5M Arts4Us project involves 50+ collaborators developing place-based arts interventions for children's mental health across Northwest England.
Through the Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, she oversees interdisciplinary teams investigating creative psychotherapies while maintaining clinical partnerships with NHS services. She frequently conducts international workshops and serves as co-editor of Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy journal.
