Proposal for an Art Therapy Clinical Program Within the U.S. Department of Veterans Health Administration

In recent years, the military veteran population has increased due to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This increase is congruent with the escalation of a Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnoses among military war veterans. Currently, the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) PTSD treatment utilizes various pharmacologic and/or psychotherapeutic interventions ranging from Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in residential and outpatient settings. In the event a veteran has a “complicated medical case” or comorbidity that does not respond to conventional medical treatment, the veteran may be referred to an art therapist, recreational therapist, or creative arts therapist. The purpose of this thesis was to examine the therapeutic benefits, therapists’ caseload, credentials, licensure, demographics, and efficacy of art therapy with PTSD veterans to suggest the incorporation of a standard clinical art therapy program within the VHA to address the rising number of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) victims among military veterans. The information presented was qualitative data gathered from four interviews with art therapists that work or worked within the Veterans Health Administration. The interviews were conducted in a note and quote format and an analysis was conducted in order to find the commonalities among participants. Findings that emerged from the interviews pertained to credentials and licensure to work within the VHA, facility demographics, individual caseload, theoretical approach and program efficacy. The results can be used to suggest a proposal of standards for implementing a standard clinical art therapy program within the Veterans Health Administration.