Noteboom The Law Firm

Veterans Finding Relief Through Art Classes

June 22, 2010 - Having trouble adjusting to civilian life following a deployment is not a phenomenon limited to veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans from every war have suffered the same issues, and for some, it never gets easier. Without help, many of these veterans may never fully adjust.

Veterans Fine Arts Studies and Training (Vet-FAST) is a shared effort between a few founding veterans. These veterans had already discovered the cathartic results that came from creating with their hands; the therapeutic benefits of creating beautiful art. Vet-FAST offers classes in three different creative mediums:

• Painting;
• Sculpting; and
• Stone carving.

 For those veterans who cannot seem to control or stop negative thoughts from recurring, Vet-FAST provides a healing guide. Stone carving, for example, does not stop the thoughts. What it does, however, is allow the veteran an outlet. Veterans are able to transfer the thoughts from their head to the stone. Every stone provides a new opportunity to purge the invasive thoughts.

According to the Vet-FAST founders, the program works because of its very nature, i.e., it engages the right side of the brain. The right side is the creative side of the brain as opposed to the left side, which is designed to keep people at the ready. Veterans returning from combat, then, are fully engaged in a left-brain mentality as they are used to being on alert all the time.

Vet-FAST also offers programs geared towards family members. These programs allow the veterans and their spouses to take classes together so as to have something in common with each other; small steps towards re-establishing a connection.