Museums as healing spaces: exploratory research on promoting mental health of college students

Mental health challenges among college students have become increasingly prominent, yet traditional psychological services face challenges such as low utilization rates and high avoidance rates. This study employs a mixed-method research approach, conducting scale measurements and in-depth interviews with 18 college students visiting two museums in Suzhou to explore the psychological healing potential of museums as healing spaces. The findings reveal that museums provide college students with a four-dimensional healing experience characterized by “detachment, expansiveness, appeal, and compatibility” through their unique spatial environments and content. These experiences demonstrate positive significance in alleviating fatigue and negative emotions, while promoting attention restoration and psychological improvement. Although the two museums differ in their healing approaches (The Wu Culture Museum emphasizing passive immersion versus the Mingde Education Hall focusing on active participation), both exhibit significant healing effects. The study proposes a new “environmental intervention” approach for campus mental health services, suggesting the integration of museums into diversified, low-threshold psychological support systems while optimizing their healing space design and service models.