GREAT: Open Studio Program to Assess and Treat PTSD in Veterans

The intent of this thesis grant proposal is to secure funding for an art therapy program serving veterans with PTSD. The proposed art therapy support group provides an alternative to existing treatment programs offered by veteran’s medical facilities and as an adjunct to community educational treatment programs, with a goal towards making therapeutic art therapy services an integral part of assessing and ameliorating PTSD. Art therapy group sessions will provide veterans an opportunity for creative and emotional expression with an aim to help individuals make meaning of their traumatic experiences. These issues will be addressed through the therapeutic, creative process of art making, combining Gestalt therapy, along with mindfulness based stress reduction therapy, (MBSR) and Talwar’s (2007) Art Therapy Trauma Protocol (ATTP). This paper presents the biological, cultural, and psychological impact of traumatic experience on individuals. There is a potential to create a manual after the pilot program data is analyzed