Expressive Arts Therapy for Veterans and First Responders

Awareness and personal experience in the military or public safety — either through yourself or a friend or loved one — tells us time and again that our veterans and first responders are highly susceptible to the effects of trauma.

The exposure to violence and life-threatening, life-or-death situations they’re placed in every day can begin to weigh on the psyche and the body, where just one traumatic experience can raise one’s risk of developing trauma disorders like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Statistics tell us that PTSD is more common in veterans (7% lifetime prevalence) than in civilians (6%). And an estimated 30% of first responders go on to develop behavioral problems like depression and PTSD alike.

And while the signs and symptoms of conditions like PTSD can be treated successfully with conventional psychotherapy, sometimes the effects of trauma can be too uncomfortable to talk about. Language alone isn’t often enough to process what’s happened.

Expressive arts therapy is one outlet to process and work through the thoughts and feelings — no matter how upsetting or traumatic — that are part of PTSD. What are expressive arts? Whether it’s through drawing, painting, music or simply writing down how you feel, read on to learn more about how creative expressive therapies can help.

What Is Expressive Arts Therapy?

Is there a difference between art therapy vs expressive art therapy? The definition of expressive arts is a type of art therapy designed to help make sense of difficult, almost abstract emotions and promote emotional growth. People who have gone through trauma — especially vulnerable demographics like veterans and first responders — may be carrying memories and feelings that are difficult to name.

The creative work of expressive therapies enables you to channel those emotions onto a canvas or sculpture, through pen to paper or just simply communicating it through moving your body. Creative work by way of expressive art therapy activities for adults becomes an alternative way to process traumatic experiences so you can finally begin to make sense of them and, hopefully, translate them into something that becomes easier to talk about in therapy.

“Art comes from a deep emotional place within you; hence, creative endeavors will enable you to undergo a profound process of self-discovery and understanding,” notes Psychology Today.

How Can Expressive Arts Therapy Treat PTSD?

PTSD can begin after witnessing or experiencing even a single stressful, frightening or terrifying moment, like war or combat exposure or the constant, repeated rigors of crime, fire or medical emergency response. Verbally recounting a traumatic moment can often feel like reliving it all over again, especially when some PTSD symptoms, like intrusive thoughts, nightmares and flashbacks are too painful to cope with.

Trauma-informed expressive arts therapy can help in several tangible ways:

It gives voice to trauma when words aren’t there. Some traumatic memories are so painful that even trying to talk about them brings about distress, or if you’re unsure what to say or how to articulate it. Art therapy becomes an alternative, expressive outlet for giving voice to the trauma. Drawing it, painting it or setting it to music allows you to show how you interact with the trauma and make it easier to discern without the pressure of describing it. · It encourages true neurobiological healing. A recent study cited by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) noted that through methods like expressive therapies, you’re able to better process trauma and mine parts of the brain storing those memories once inaccessible. This has been proven to physically rebalance those areas responsible for dysregulated behavior in response to past stress and trauma.
It allows for more successful therapeutic connections. The abstract, no-rules nature of person-centered expressive arts therapy helps develop better relationships — both with one’s traumatic memories and their therapist — than regular psychotherapy, according to NAMI. “When you’re moving with somebody, when you’re making sounds together — whether you’re drumming or even listening to music together — you’re in relationship with them,” says Dr. Cathy Malchiodi of the Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute, in the article.
It reduces the hypervigilance common to PTSD. A hypervigilant, panicked state of being always on guard, easily startled or anticipating threats that aren’t there is one symptom of PTSD that can be exhausting to the mind, the body and nervous system. But the focused, physical act of creating something can be incredibly grounding and calming when you’re on high alert. PTSD keeps many people living in the past or the future, but expressive arts therapy keeps you in the present moment, quiets the mind and begins to lessen the anxiety you might feel.

Types of Expressive Arts Therapies

Just as there isn’t only one way to express yourself artistically, expressive arts therapy isn’t limited to one approach. If you enter recovery for PTSD or a trauma disorder, you’ll work with an expressive art therapist trained in creative arts therapy and they’ll start by asking you which type of creative processes resonate the most with you.

Here’s a look at some of the different expressive therapy activities and activity therapy using unique art forms you might try:

Art Therapy

Giving physical form to abstract emotions — positive or negative — is at the core of art therapy, where you might use materials like paint, charcoal, pencil, chalk or clay. It can’t be replicated; it’s your own unique expression of how you’re feeling, and it can take any shape you want as you go. Your therapist is there to guide you through the process; they may ask you to try

drawing what your anxiety feels like or painting what you feel after a bad dream or flashback. You might sculpt what your anxieties (or your strengths) look like, or sketch what your ideal state of being feels like free of PTSD.

There’s freedom to draw, paint or sculpt what you want. The therapeutic work then focuses on what you’re creating as you go. Why did you choose the colors you picked? What do they represent? What do the shapes or intensity of the brushstrokes mean? Think about how looking at a work of art on the wall makes you feel. What kinds of impressions or interpretations from the artist do you glean? An art therapy session works in the same manner, only this time, it’s your creation and what it means personally to you and your traumatic memories — the chance to unlock and process insights that start to make sense.

Music Therapy

Music has the powerful ability to make us feel happy, sad, excited, pensive, or evoke emotions and memories linked with a certain person, place or period of time. Studies show that hearing music activates important parts of the brain associated with a range of feelings. Expressive music therapy operates in the same way as art therapy, but here, sound itself becomes the language you use in a session.

You don’t need to play an instrument to derive benefit from it — you might pick up a guitar and simply improvise something that reflects an emotion representative of a traumatic memory too difficult to talk about. Or you might collaborate with your therapist to write a piece of music that conveys a difficult feeling into a song narrative. Music therapy group activities could be as simple as listening to specific pieces of music together; which ones bring you closer to identifying with the unresolved trauma you’ve suffered? Which lyrics hit home for you or mirror your personal experiences? Music therapy activities can open up a discussion with your therapist, insights that may never have occurred without the help of music therapy.

Writing Therapy

Too often, the anxiety or depression that can accompany a stress or trauma disorder make it hard to make sense of and organize your conflicting feelings. Expressive writing therapy aims to make sense through the power of the written word, a tool to advocate for yourself and express deeply held beliefs, feelings and sentiments. The mere act of putting words on a page — whether it’s journaling, poetry or storytelling — is what makes the diversity of writing therapy so engaging and helpful.

Your therapist will give you some time during a session to try anything from free-form journal therapy, jotting down, without filters, your unfiltered thoughts. You might try writing a short story about a traumatic experience you had. How does it feel to write about it from a safe distance, as an observer?

Your therapist may also implore you to write your own trauma narrative. It’s linked closely to narrative exposure therapy, where you might begin to write about past trauma from the very start and fill in the blanks as you go, helping you to organize memories that may initially feel disorganized, feelings dysregulated, when you first begin therapy.

Dance/Movement Therapy

The body can somatically store away trauma in ways that can be felt, symptomatically, through aches, muscle tension, headaches, fatigue and more. Dance and movement therapy (DMT), which was started as a technique in the 1940s, uses movement to access and release that stored tension.

According to the American Dance Therapy Academy, dance/movement therapy is holistic, which means that it’s a type of therapeutic language and recreational therapy that strives to make a connection between the mind, body and spirit. Each one, through mindfulness art therapy activities, is inextricably linked to your health and well-being. For trauma survivors, art therapy group activities such as DMT can be a particularly helpful tool because, by becoming more aware of your body and physical sensations, you can communicate and express, non-verbally, how you feel — making a valuable connection between your movements and emotions.

In fact, studies show that DMT, as well as recreational therapy activities and play therapy activities, can minimize depression and anxiety, counteracting it with an increase in quality of life, interpersonal relationships and cognitive abilities.

Benefits of Expressive Arts Therapy

The goal of expressive arts therapy isn’t how “good” or “bad” your work is, and you don’t need any past experience. You might never have picked up a paintbrush or sketch pencil before, ever played the guitar or attempted an interpretive dance. There’s no evaluating or judging during therapy — the focus is on the creative process, not the finished product.

It’s the act of creating that can impart a deep sense of catharsis and help you process, reprocess and begin to make sense of unresolved trauma that’s deeply affected you. For vets, first responders or their families, expressive therapies and activities for art therapy can benefit you in a host of ways:

You’ll be able to process trauma on your own terms in a less structured, more abstract fashion, using artistic languages that transcend the spoken word. · You’ll reduce your anxiety and depression while bolstering your self-esteem and internal awareness, bringing your mind and body back into better balance.
You’ll better reconnect with yourself and solidify trusting personal and professional relationships that PTSD can dull.
Because expressive arts therapy teaches how to manage trauma triggers or challenging emotions, you’ll develop better coping skills for going out into the world, especially if you’re still active-duty military or a current emergency responder.
You’ll reconnect and renew your sense of identity and purpose, arguably some of the most important facets to serving your country and community.
Lastly, you may discover new talents you never knew you had before — skills like painting, writing or playing music you can make a part of you for the rest of your life.

Expressive Arts Therapy Programs at Aliya Veterans

Aliya Veterans began as an avenue specialized for veteran and first responders, recognizing the needs they have battling trauma and stress that too often go hand-in-hand with their roles. Our expressive arts therapists hope to offer the best, most specialized care, grounded in a unique understanding of their cultures, through art therapy activities for trauma.

The best expressive arts therapy programs are designed with our clinical philosophy top of mind — to meet you where you are. So, if you’re searching for expressive arts therapy near me, our full continuum of care, from expressive psychotherapy and beyond, is led by expressive therapists who create a safe space for recovery. Treatment at one of our rehab centers, including substance abuse group therapy activities, addiction group therapy activities and more geared toward drug abuse and mental health disorders, are designed to build a foundation for a better you.

You just need to start that process, and we’ll be with you every step of the way. If you have questions about Aliya Veterans, PTSD treatment, behavioral therapy, or what expressive arts therapy is, contact us today to learn more.