Dr. Nadine Kaslow speaks at the Georgia Capitol after Georgia House creates the First US legislative policy recognizing the arts as a resource for mental health treatment (House Resolution 1007).
Hello, my name is Dr. Nadine Kaslow. As past president of the American Psychological Association and a former professional ballet dancer, I have witnessed firsthand how our nation has long searched for innovative, culturally responsive and evidence-based approaches to mental health care. With House Resolution 1007, Georgia has taken a historic and unprecedented step. This is the first legislation in the US to formally recognize the arts as essential to mental health healing, positioning our state as a national model for how we think about — and invest in — psychological well-being.
HR 1007 acknowledges what so many clinicians, patients, artists and communities already know: the arts are not an accessory to healing — they are a pathway to it. This bipartisan resolution elevates the arts as credible, evidence-based tools for prevention, trauma-informed care and community healing. It signals to policymakers, health systems and funders that the arts deserve a seat at the table in our mental health strategies.
As a faculty psychologist at Emory University and the Chief Psychologist at Grady Health System, I see every day how urgently we need these tools. In our work with individuals facing profound psychiatric struggles, we actively integrate the arts into care. Through our Coping Through Art groups, expressive arts programming, and restorative movement initiatives, we witness transformation: patients reconnecting with purpose, expressing emotions they could not yet articulate and reclaiming parts of themselves that trauma tried to silence.
These are not small moments. They are breakthroughs.
The arts provide something conventional treatment alone cannot always offer: a bridge between suffering and expression, between isolation and connection, between surviving and healing. And for many of our patients at Grady — individuals navigating layers of adversity — creative expression becomes a lifeline.
HR 1007 brings visibility to an approach that is culturally responsive, community-centered and deeply human. It opens doors for future funding, statewide access and expanded programming so that the healing power of the arts is not a luxury, but a standard of care.
Together, with HR 1007, we are saying to our patients, our communities, and our nation: healing can take many forms — and the arts are among the most powerful.