Pamela Whitaker

Pamela Whitaker

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8382-0607
  • PhoneUNKNOWN

  • York Street, Belfast Campus

    BT15 1ED Belfast

    United Kingdom

20162025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Research Interests

Art Therapy and Social Engagement 

Art Therapy and Contemporary Art 

Cultural Practice Art Therapy: Museums, Galleries, Libraries and Festivals

Festival Art Therapy 

Performance Art and Art Therapy 

Art Installations as Therapeutic Environments 

Land Art and the Outdoor Studio 

The Art of Walking 

Choreography and Movement within Art Therapy 

Lecturer as Curator: Designing Art Therapy Education with Cultural Partners  

Art Therapy Pedagogy: Collaborations with Artists, Activists and Social Innovators 

 

 

Biography

 

Pamela trained as an art therapist in Vancouver and has worked in Canada, Malaysia and Ireland. She is interested in contemporary art and creative health, art therapy in museums and galleries, environmental art therapy, the walking studio, and ecologies of care in civic practice and higher education.
 
She is a member of the Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists and the British Association of Art Therapists and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. 
 
Pamela is the founding co-editor of Polyphony: Journal of the Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists and past editor of the Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal. She is also a special issue co-editor on the topic of nature assisted art therapy for the International Journal of Art Therapy. She has served on the editorial boards of Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association and the International Journal of Art Therapy.
 
Pamela is a co-investigator for CHOICE, Challenging Health Outcomes/Integrating Care Environments: A Community Consortium To Tackle Health Disparities For People Living with Mental Illness funded by the Arts Humanities Research Council, which is a reseach project led by Professor Gerard Leavey, Director of the Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing aiming to improve the quality of life for people with lived experience of mental health challenges. 
 
She is also the first Practice Based Researcher in Residence at the Void Arts Centre in Derry funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Impact Accelerator Account. The focus of her research will be The Nature of Life: Gardens as Art and The Walking Studio, both methods of engagement within civic society that focus on environmental activism and pride of place.
 
Pamela has written chapters for the books Materials and Media in Art Therapy, Art Therapy and Postmodernism, Found Objects in Art Therapy, Bridging the Creative Arts Therapies and Arts in Health and Ecopoiesis: A New Perspective for the Expressive and Creative Arts Therapies in the 21st Century. 
 
She has also written editorials and articles on environmental art therapy, material and visual culture, festival art therapy and art therapy pedagogy, most notably: Full On - Festival Art Therapy, Make Yourself at Home: Home Studios as Pedagogical Practice (co-written with her colleague Dr. Chris McHugh at Ulster University), Groundswell: The Nature and Landscape of Art Therapy and Studios of Life: Outsider Art at School. 
 
Pamela has been a conference keynote speaker for the Canadian Art Therapy Association, the Hong Kong Association of Art Therapists and the Healing through Photography conference at Belfast Exposed Gallery. She was also a visiting artist for the MA Art Therapy course at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. 
 
Pamela is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and has achieved a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice, Ulster University. She is currently the External Examiner for the MA Art Psychotherapy programme at the University of Roehampton.

For more information visit www.groundswell.ie

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 15 - Life on Land
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

External positions

Board Member, Northern Ireland Mental Health Arts Festival

30 Nov 2024 → …

Practice Based Researcher, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Impact Accelerator Account

31 Aug 2024 → 31 Aug 2025

External Examiner, University of Roehampton

28 Nov 2023 → 28 Nov 2027

Artist Researcher, Creative Ireland and Louth County Council

1 Sept 2023 → 1 Dec 2024

International Journal of Art Therapy, Special Issue, Co-Editor Nature Based Art Therapy

30 Apr 2023 → 30 Jun 2025

International Journal of Art Therapy, Peer Reviewer, British Association of Art Therapy

1 Jan 2023 → …

European Federation of Art Therapy, Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists, European Federation of Art Therapy Representative

Jan 2023 → Jun 2024

Polyphony: Journal of the Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists, Peer Reviewer

1 Jan 2022 → …

Arts and Health Coordinators Ireland

1 Jan 2013 → …

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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