Therapeutic enactment : a case study of the experience of a Canadian military veteran

Much of the literature on therapeutic treatments for military personnel who have suffered an operational stress injury or PTSD from active duty focuses on individual therapy models. While models of group therapy for military veterans do exist, limited understanding of the impact of their process is known, particularly with Canadian military veterans. This study attempts to understand the experience of one particular type of group therapy called Therapeutic Enactment (TE) through the lens of a Canadian Armed Forces veteran. A case study research design was employed for this study. The participant of this study was a male, Canadian military veteran who had suffered an operational stress injury related to his role in the military and had completed at least one prior Therapeutic Enactment in relation to this difficulty. Data was collected through a 1-hour semi-structured, open-ended interview with a participant via a virtual recorded interview over Zoom. The results of the study were analyzed using the six-phase process of thematic analysis from Braun and Clarke (2006). Four main themes, each with two or three subthemes emerged from this data analysis. The four major themes were: 1) Trust, 2) Beneficial aspects of Therapeutic Enactment, 3) Challenges in Therapeutic Enactment, and 4) Recommendations for future Therapeutic Enactments. This study contributes to our overall understanding of how Therapeutic Enactment is experienced and gives guidance for practical application for clinicians. Implications for future research are also discussed.Education, Faculty ofEducational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department ofGraduat