Betsan Corkill on the therapeutic benefits of knitting

Her physiotherapy background led Betsan Corkill to connect the dots when a new role in craft publishing saw her overseeing Letters to the Editor, 99 percent of which referenced the therapeutic benefits of knitting and stitching.
Betsan, from Bath in the United Kingdom, looked at the science and the deeper she looked, the more she appreciated craft could be important for wellbeing and managing some health symptoms.
Initially when therapeutic knitting was dissed as something only old women did, Betsan replaced the ‘k’ word with the medical mouthful of ‘bilateral rhythmic psychosocial intervention to manage pain’.
Knitting is beneficial because of its rhythmic nature, because it requires both hands to co-ordinate, and because creativity is applied to master it. The touch and texture of the knitting influences wellbeing, as does colour but to the lesser extent. It is highly portable, meaning it is available as a self-soothing tool in all settings. If done in a group, there can be social benefits too.
Bestan says therapeutic knitting is best done in 20 to 30 minute intervals, then getting up and being physically active. It is having moments throughout the day when you bring yourself back into that state of safety, that state of embodied presence which brings your systems back to a healing state.
It offers an alternative to traditional medication-based approaches to health and wellbeing. “There are a few psychologists and occupational therapists using it, but you can run a therapeutic knitting or stitching group on many different levels, even just as a social group.”
“Our grandmothers and great grandmothers used to gather together and talk over their knitting or mending and solve their problems. People don't do that as much these days.
“When you're sitting side-by-side with somebody listening, and you're just in a conversation, there's something about the rhythmic automatic movement that encourages people to talk more freely, more equally. So it's a really good vehicle to use in a therapy group.”
For my Churchill Fellowship, it was fascinating to talk with Betsan about the therapeutic benefit of using our hands to make. #makingforwellbeing #slowclothing #ChurchillFellowship