Beyond Borders: Healing Through Art

As part of Mental Health Awareness Month, ATB plans to organize two events that reflect this year’s theme: “Care for mental health, invest in social rights.” Both events aim to highlight the structural roots of mental health challenges while offering practical tools for care, expression, and healing.
The first event is an online webinar focused on the mental health of activists, humanitarian workers, frontline defenders, and social justice practitioners. These individuals often face burnout, compassion fatigue, and second-hand trauma as a result of their work. ATB seeks to open up a crucial and often overlooked conversation: How do we care for ourselves while caring for others? The session will bring together voices from the field to share strategies, stories, and practices for sustaining well-being in high-impact roles.

“Beyond Borders: Healing Through Art” – The second event is an in-person creative workshop tailored for migrants and refugees. Centered on the mental health impacts of social exclusion, poverty, housing instability, and limited access to education, this workshop will unfold in three parts:

1. A group discussion acknowledging these structural challenges and offering mental health coping strategies.

2. An art session providing a safe, expressive space to process emotions and experiences, using art as a healing tool.

3. A closing healing circle with storytelling, guided meditation, or affirmations to foster community and emotional support.