Mail Art as art therapy for victims of online bullying

[Kathryn Kennedy]

People who have been harmed online are often expected to keep using digital spaces as though nothing happened. Cyberbullying attacks identity, erodes confidence, and leaves people hypervigilant in the very spaces they are expected to inhabit.  

Most existing therapeutic interventions address this through talk-based or psychoeducational formats. Mail art offers something experiential instead. Mail artists can create positive messages for themselves and others, actively replacing the negative messaging of cyberbullies with something tangible, personal, and lasting.

Unlike social media, there is no comment section, no likes, no algorithm deciding who sees the work, and no harsh judgement. There is only the quiet act of making something for someone.

The approach aligns closely with established art therapy principles: process over product, the healing power of creative expression, the rebuilding of community and belonging through authentic exchange, and embodied nervous system regulation through tactile, sensory engagement.  

My question for this community: How would I go about promoting a student-run virtual Mail-Art Therapy Group to the Canadian membership? 

Thanks!

[MH//ANTIPODE]

I'm trying to understand the core of the project: If the group is virtual, why the specific focus on "Canadian membership"? Do you plan to send around scans of physical works or how is it supposed to work?

[Kathryn Kennedy]

It is a student project for a Canadian Virtual Art Therapy clinic where the students are working to earn some Clinical  Hours toward certification. It would be a Closed Group. Any artwork created by the participants would only be shared (optionally) in the private online environment. The group will run in a few months once there are enough registrants for it to proceed. I was just curious as to whether posting about this group would be appropriate in this Forum or not. Thanks!

[Eduardo Cardoso]

Hello Kathryn,

Are the students going to exchange Mail Art between them outside the virtual space? Can we send Mail Art to this project?

[Kathryn Kennedy]

Ola Eduardo,

I am still proposing the virtual clinic group to my school - so it is not confirmed or scheduled yet- but the idea is that the group would be made aware of this network and be encouraged to explore the community and to participate in it, if it interests them. The group would come together online to make mail art together but the art is not being shared outside the group. Since I am participating in the IUOMA community, I will send you an a mail art letter. You can send one back to me if you would like to too. I will share examples of mail art from my collection with the future group.

Thanks!