The National Endowment for the Arts Announces Expansion of Creative Arts Therapy Program

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

Mask-making therapy will be one of the treatment activities for military patients with traumatic brain injury and psychological health issues at the Fort Belvoir NICoE satellite. Photo courtesy of NICoE

PHILANTHROPY---The National Endowment for the Arts announces the expansion of its landmark arts partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense to bring art therapy to military patients at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital’s satellite center of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence in Fairfax County, Virginia. The NEA will support a three-month pilot program at the new NICoE satellite dubbed “Intrepid Spirit One,” in which a creative arts therapist will conduct visual arts therapy and therapeutic writing activities with wounded warriors diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health conditions. The initiative just released a white paper, Arts, Health, and Well-Being Across the Military Continuum, on integrating the arts into healthcare for the military and their families. [link]