What is the CaRE Project?
The CaRE Project is an NHS led creative and systemic team development intervention. We provide co-designed arts-based workshops and awaydays online and in person with integrated leadership support, inspiring new ways of working better together following recent challenges.
Between 2020 and 2025, the CaRE Project has collaborated with 61 NHS teams across various service lines, engaging a total of 790 multidisciplinary staff members
What we do
CaRE Project is a creative, collaborative and experiential process for healthcare teams who are at any stage of developing their team. Workshops are designed using arts and embodied exercises to enable safe reflection on recent events and to construct shared narratives of team experiences, roles and priorities.
This project brings teams together to inspire new ways of thinking and to collectively envision and cultivate a responsive, resilient, and compassionate team culture.
Our aims
- To support teams to engage with their collective potential
- To engage teams in creative, compassionate and shared experiences
- To embody the collective dynamic strengths of the team
- To enable learning and innovation through the emergent narrative
The CaRE Programme
- Workshop 1: Using embodied movement to explore meaningful experiences of the team and challenging events
- Workshop 2: Visualisation and image making to create a shared vision of the team eco-system
- Workshop 3: Team reflective spaces to explore emergent themes, identify strengths and promote authentic interpersonal skills
- Workshop 4: Embedding pragmatic 'next steps' to support a collective vision for a thriving team
News and upcoming events
- The CaRE Project has a paper published in "The Arts in Psychotherapy" journal. Find out more.
- Jenni and Dominik ran a workshop at the Royal College of Psychiatrists Medical Psychotherapy Conference on 18 April 2023, introducing medical psychotherapists to principles of the CaRE Project.
- On 3 June 2023, the CaRE Project presented at the UKCP Research Conference, sharing the recent research findings that demonstrated a positive impact on healthcare teams engaging with the project.
- The CaRE Project workshop provided by Jenni and Dominik for the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, AHP Conference on 7 June 2023, was fully booked and well received.
- Dominik was invited to speak at the European Federation of Art Therapy (EFAT) Conference on 16 June 2023 to present on the theoretical underpinnings of the CaRE project.
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On 17 September 2023, the CaRE Project was invited to the House of Lords to celebrate the achievements of the project during the Covid pandemic alongside other recipients of funding from the Royal College of Nursing.
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The CaRE Project - Artwork on permanent display at Trust Headquarters. Read the full story.
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Dominik Havsteen-Franklin and Jenni de Knoop led a training day in Stockholm, Sweden, on 14 November 2024. The session spotlighted innovative approaches to Mentalization-Based Arts Psychotherapy (MBAP). Find out more.
What teams say…
"I can honestly say this is the single best intervention which I have experienced in my team, and I would recommend this to any team"
Melissa, Head of Midwifery, Gynaecology and Paediatrics
"Hopefully this will lead to more collaboration as we bonded together as a team and recognised each other's strengths."
Rachel, Mental Health Support Worker
"People's willingness to share and open up and the depth and richness of the arts engagement. It really surprised me and helped us feel connected and creative."
Lei, Nurse Lead
The CaRE team
The CaRE team are registered arts therapists and trained team development facilitators. Each member of the team specialises in different health care sectors and provides creative skills to promote powerful unified change with your team.
The project lead is Dominik Havsteen-Franklin (Consultant in Arts Psychotherapies) and the practice lead is Jenni de Knoop (Dance Movement Psychotherapist). Members of the team include Weronika Kucharska, Abby Hubbard, Matteo Merla, Katie Dunne, Claire Grant, Diane Eagles, Emily Hoffman, Barbara Kasprzyk, Maria Tsiplitari Tsamadia and Yra Nasrany.
Read about the team's CaRE Project exhibition at the Royal College of Nursing
Get in touch
For any questions, please email us directly at: care.project@nhs.net