59-05-032 Proceeding

333 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress from central to local levels in Vietnam are insufficient in number and lack clinical experience. In recent times, such shortcomings have been partly overcome. At the School of Education under VietnamNational University inHanoi, there is amaster’s course in clinical psychology of children and adolescents. Students of this course are taught psychological therapies such as behavioral activation or behavioral awareness [4].TheMinistry of Health has placedmusic and art therapy in the list of psychiatric techniques under psychiatric rehabilitation 5. On 6 th - 7 th December 2014, the 2 nd international Vietnamese-German conference on Psychosomaticmedicine and psychotherapy was held at the National Institute of Mental Health and Hanoi University of Medicine, attracting a large number of experts in various fields including psychiatry, dermatology, traditional medicine, general medicine, psychology and social work fromHanoi, HoChiMinhCity, Hue, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Thai Binh and Ha Tinh in Vietnam and from Germany. They discussed a variety of topics related to psychosomatic medicine from the perspective of psychotherapy. Professor Alexandra Danner-Weinberger presented a report on the application of art therapy to the care and support of patients with chronic pain. At Central PediatricsHospital, art has beenwidely used in the treatment of illnesses over the last few years. As a matter of fact, seriously ill children who have to stay in for long-term treatment suffer not only physically but psychologically as well. In 2008, after field trips to several hospitals in Sweden and with the assistance from the Vietnam-Sweden Friendship Association, the board of the hospital startedworking on a project to set up a play-cum-therapy ward for children inpatients. The project has turned out to be effective. Doctors, teachers and volunteers are clearly aware of the need to create an upbeat atmosphere by organizing childish games for the patients so they can reduce their stress. Special attention is given to singing, dancing, drawing and acting. Sometimes, Figure 2 Productions of art therapy, plastic flowers, at Mai Huong Daytime Mental Hospital.