Veterans Use Creative Forces to Heal Invisible Wounds of War On Aug. 30, 2021, the United States officially withdrew forces from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war. The two decades of continuous conflict resulted in the deaths of more than 2,400 American service members and 46,000 Afghanis. And for many returning military, the fight is not over as the battlefield follows them home. The U.S. Department […] Read More Dialog Series: How Creative Forces Work Together to Heal the Military Using the Arts Following an improvised explosive device detonation during a military mission, Captain Luis Avila was left paralyzed and unable to speak. With intensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and music therapy, Avila began his recovery. The music therapy provided by the Creative Forces program proved to be an essential rehabilitation tool and helped Avila regain […] Read More The Art of Recovering from War Future military doctors receive training in art therapy. The military face many health risks and challenges on the battlefield, but the scars they carry are not always visible. While physical injuries are on the decline in recent years, service members are increasingly struggling with lingering psychological tolls. More than 500,000 veterans of the U.S. military live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic […] Read More Creative Forces: Healing Arts for the Military On Memorial Day, we honor members of the military who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our country’s liberty. We also pay homage to those who returned home bearing the scars of their heroism. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s a fitting time to acknowledge that more than 500,000 service members are living […] Read More Your Brain on Art: A Promising Path to Healing War Trauma Seven service members, all diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from combat, sat at the psychotherapy group table, creating symbols of themselves out of clay on a fabric placemat to keep their workspace clean. During the verbal processing part of the group, each participant described what he made; symbols that ranged from flat hearts to […] Read More Healing Service Members Through the Arts IAM Lab participated in the first annual Foundation of Youth Consortium in Saint Petersburg and Tampa, Fla., March 23- 24, 2018. Symposium leaders launching this initiative include Dr. Jonathon Ellen, President of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital; Hank Hine, Executive Director of the Dali Museum; Susan Magsamen, Executive Director of the International Arts + Mind Lab […] Read More Join the neuroaesthetics conversation. Subscribe here.
