Author: American Art Therapy Association

Publication Year:

Media Type: Report

Summary:

Art therapy can be beneficial to people of all ages, including adults who have emotional, cognitive, and /or physical disabilities. Our nation’s Veterans often return home with acute psychological or medical conditions that impair functioning, disrupt family relationships, and prevent reentry into the workforce. Others may develop chronic disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that require months or even years of counseling or rehabilitation. For Veterans who are receiving psychiatric care for PTSD and other emotional conditions, art therapy can be an effective form of treatment, either as a adjunct to other therapies or as a form of individual or group psychoth

Abstract:

Art therapy can be beneficial to people of all ages, including adults who have emotional, cognitive, and /or physical disabilities. Our nation’s Veterans often return home with acute psychological or medical conditions that impair functioning, disrupt family relationships, and prevent reentry into the workforce. Others may develop chronic disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that require months or even years of counseling or rehabilitation. For Veterans who are receiving psychiatric care for PTSD and other emotional conditions, art therapy can be an effective form of treatment, either as a adjunct to other therapies or as a form of individual or group psychotherapy.

Senator Bob Graham (FL) emphasized the value of art therapy with US veterans in The Congressional Record, stating: “Art therapists provide effective treatment and health maintenance intervention for veterans, focusing on all of their life challenges, such as mental, physical, and cognitive impairments. Intense emotion and memory, often difficult to convey in words, often are more easily expressed in images with the guidance of a trained clinician...Given the number of veterans gradually returning from the current war in Iraq, art therapy has the potential to assist them as a form of rehabilitation.”

Members of the American Art Therapy Association hope that the following information will give you a greater understanding of how art therapy can be used in the treatment of our nation’s veterans and offers unique value in enhancing and improving mental health.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Visual Art, Arts and Military