Art Therapy and Emotional Well Being in Military Populations With Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

Summary

Art therapy is used across the Military Health System for treatment of posttraumatic symptoms, but there is limited research on how art therapy is able to restore emotional expression and regulation in service members. This research hopes to learn about the effects of art therapy on emotional expression and regulation in service members as well as the neurological systems at work. If a participant chooses to be in this study, he or she will attend eleven sessions over a period of six to eight months. The first session will be an interview and self-assessment questionnaires to collect information on a variety of symptoms, experiences, and personality traits, and an MRI scan. During the MRI scan, participants will be asked to perform a task where they will be shown a series of neutral and negative images. The following eight sessions will be one-hour art therapy sessions with a certified art therapist. The tenth session will consist of the same self-assessment questionnaires and another MRI scan. The final session will consist of some of the same questionnaires from the tenth visit, as well as a qualitative interview done virtually three months after the tenth visit.

Conditions

• PTSD
• Military Activity
• Post-Traumatic Headache
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Delayed Onset
• Sleep Disturbance
• Nightmare
• Irritable Mood
• Anger
• Combat and Operational Stress Reaction
• Combat Stress Disorders
• Military Family
• Military Operations
• Emotional Regulation
• Emotion Processing

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Art Therapy

During the art research intervention session, the art therapist will walk you through the creation of various types of art and may spend time asking you about the artwork, how you are felling, as well as your past experiences.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pennsylvania

  collaborator OTHER

• Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

  collaborator FED

• Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine

  collaborator OTHER

• Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

  lead FED

Principal Investigators

• Chandler Rhodes, PhD · WRNMMC

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

64 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-02-01

Primary Completion

2026-12-31

Completion

2027-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations