Thesis on Resilience and the Arts.Docx
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© Rebecca Quinn, 2014. Abstract This arts-based curriculum proposal was developed in response to a white paper entitled, Arts, Health and Well-Being Across the Military Continuum: White Paper and Framing a National Plan for Action, released in October of 2013. The military’s need for art is not a new concept, however — intentionality, timeliness and relevance were key to developing this curriculum that focuses predominantly on Military Resilience Training (MRT) or pre-deployment training. Preparing soldiers for war means preparing their families as well —therefore the “Art, Play and Recreation Unit” requires soldiers to work with their families in preparation for deployment through shared art experiences. Additionally, some curriculum units, such as the “Dark Theater Unit,” overlap with Veteran art programming and PTSD therapy activities. This enables the facilitator of MRT training to coordinate with veterans groups, while also providing civilians with a theatrical venue for understanding and supporting the returning soldiers’ experience(s). Emotional distancing from family and community compounds stressors in the reacclimatization process of a soldier’s homecoming. This curriculum calls for art exhibition, which can reconnect the soldier with his family, friends and community. Connectivity is just one area of whole- hearted living that will be addressed through this curriculum. Mindfulness, transitional fear, ambiguity within a war zone, development/maintenance of a growth mindset, archetypal influence and spiritual healing will be addressed as well. Arts activities readily convey evidence of transformational learning and introspective awareness. After the trauma of war, art therapists and healers working with soldiers/survivors have traditionally used diverse methods to generate reflective conversation, encourage healthy relationships and explore intra-personal understanding through a thematic art-making process. By using a similar framework in pre-deployment, soldiers, given a chance at reconciliation of previous trauma, can avoid compounding trauma within the war zone and practice the healing arts during their deployment. Additional research on therapeutic psychology, sociology, adult education and creative arts therapy support this proposal, as do interviews with veterans. Due to the uncertainty of warfare, the soldier’s individual mission requires him/her to refine his/her humanity while developing and examining individual and collective (unit) intentions. Art is remarkably well-suited to this conscious and subconscious exploration of intention, reflection and resolution. Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Arts, Health and Wellbeing: The Challenge ............................................................................... 3 History of PTSD and Psychological War Trauma ...................................................................... 5 On Vulnerability, Authenticity and Positive Psychology: The role of creativity and critique ... 8 Observations and analyzation of data ....................................................................................... 12 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 13 Literature Review.......................................................................................................................... 14 Growth mindset and Grit .......................................................................................................... 15 Resilience and Vulnerability ..................................................................................................... 16 Homecoming Process of Soul Reckoning: Art Therapists, Psychologists and PTSD .............. 17 Adult Learning Theory ............................................................................................................. 18 Military Service ............................................................................................................................ 19 Pre-Deployment: Resilience and Training ................................................................................ 19 Knowledge as War ................................................................................................................ 22 History of Warfare and Culture ............................................................................................ 24 Art = Vulnerability = Resilience ........................................................................................... 25 Deployment: Creating and Exhibiting ...................................................................................... 26 Maintaining a gratitude and art journal ................................................................................. 27 Rebuilding connection through the arts ................................................................................ 30 Rebuilding connections stateside (through Internet and exhibition) .................................... 32 Rebuilding community within the war zone ......................................................................... 33 Homecoming: Family and Community .................................................................................... 35 Sharing your story with those who have earned the right to hear it ..................................... 36 Sharing war story as a National Endeavor ............................................................................ 38 Trust + Vulnerability = Catharsis ......................................................................................... 39 Resolution + Restitution = Options for health and wholeness .............................................. 40 Reflection on Homecoming and Exacerbating PTSD .......................................................... 41 Method of Application: Maintaining resilience in the face of trauma ......................................... 44 Healing PTS in Homecoming: Research on Techniques and Procedures ................................ 45 Curriculum and Transformational Learning Theory................................................................. 46 Limitations, Assumptions and Range of Validity ..................................................................... 49 Unit Plans ...................................................................................................................................... 50 Course Title: Homeland-Wasteland (PTSD & MRT - Individual Narrative) ........................... 50 Course Title: Shadow Dancing in the Theater of War (PTS & Narrative) ............................... 55 Course Title: Damage Control: Art and Destruction (MRT & Officer Training) .................... 59 Course Title: Women’s Study (MRT & Officer Training) ....................................................... 66 Lesson Title: “Camocouture” and Design (MRT or Officer Training) .................................... 72 Course Title: Wordsmithing and Honoring Voice (MRT, PTS & Narrative) .......................... 76 Course Title: Art, Play and Re-Creation (MRT, Military Family & PTSD) ............................ 82 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 89 References ..................................................................................................................................... 96 Resilience Training through the Arts 1 Introduction The US Military, together with the Kennedy Center for the Arts, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Americans for the Arts, recently put out a White Paper and developed a National Plan for Action that explores arts education and programming for the purpose of promoting resilience across the Military continuum. Over the years of working with returning veterans, art therapists, such as Tripp, Howie, Walker, Maldiochi, Rankin and Taucher, have made it clear that there is a clear connection between art and health. This connection has become clear to the Military policy makers as well. There are many factors that lead to health and wellness, creativity and art are two outlets where Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) sufferers and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) sufferers are getting some relief after traumatic war experiences. Can we expand on the role arts play within the Military, by offering the arts as a form of resilience training? What impact might this early exposure to discussions about and creation of artworks have on soldiers while they are deployed? If they choose to maintain creativity, then how might the arts aid soldiers who are enduring daily trauma in war zones to offset PTSD and its effects? This thesis describes background research and development of a curriculum proposal for an art and resiliency training program that I hope to test/implement in the near future. The curriculum guide presented has not yet been implemented. “Military readiness is an enormous concern with implications for national security. Stress is a part of military life from enlistment onward, not just post-trauma. How service members deal with stress before trauma determines performance after. We know from research that the arts offer powerful tools for coping with stress. Thus, an introduction of Resilience Training through the Arts 2 the arts in the very beginning can help build coping mechanisms and resiliency