The Healing Arts Programs was started in response to the Asian tsunami of December 2004. The organization wanted to transfer the knowledge and experience gained from the treatment of the child survivors of the 9/11 attacks to help the tsunami child survivors. The Tsunami Healing Arts Program was extended to the U.S. Gulf Coast as Katrina Healing Arts Program after Hurricane Katrina.The ICAF partnered with the World Bank Arts Program in 2005 on its "Destruction, Reconstruction and Prevention" program to broaden the understanding of natural disasters in the international development community.