Art in Healing – Warrior (n) a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage or aggressiveness.
Many of our nation’s heroes are faced with fighting a war, every day. Whether it’s overseas or in their own backyard; these warriors face evil every day, to protect us from harm. Oftentimes, these warriors find themselves fighting a different battle once they return.
The battlefield at home has proven to be a far greater a foe than any frontline – domestic or overseas. From the damaging effects of PTS to chemical dependency, those who have fought to defend our country and its people, are combating the battle against addiction and depression every day. A torrent of emotions and thoughts that is one of the loneliest feelings in the world, doesn’t have to be fought alone.
Warriors Heart – a private treatment facility, exclusively for Warriors, providing care for addiction and chemical dependency & PTS for active military, veterans, law enforcement and first responders – understands the unique demands of our warriors, and works to successfully navigate healing and recovery while in the company of people who personally understand each experience.
Military (both active duty and veteran), first responders and law enforcement have very different life experiences from the rest of the population; facing unique physical, emotional, and mental health demands. These exceptional circumstances oftentimes lead to issues with Substance Abuse Disorders and chemical dependencies, as they provide temporary feelings of relief or self-medication for stress, trauma, and PTS symptoms.
The role of a warrior requires you to be combat-ready, while maintaining the capacity to serve as a counselor, priest, lawyer, or social worker all at once. This deep sense of dignity, respect and courage is more often the reason why so many of these men and women are unwilling to seek help, fearing it will jeopardize their jobs or make them look weak. Additionally, many of the treatment programs or groups place them in the company of civilians they may have dealt with in the past, or who don’t fully understand their circumstances.
Warriors Heart recognizes the need for a cultural shift to provide these warriors with the support they deserve, without the fear of appearing weak; offering a sanctuary for sick and suffering members of the Warrior community to come together under one common goal – to recover from the disease of addiction.
“There are many different forms of PTS,” stated Tom Spooner, Co-Founder of Warriors Heart. “You can’t simply look at someone suffering from trauma and expect to treat them the same. Volunteer PTS, which is most common in Military and First Responders, requires a much different level of care than that of victim PTS. The trauma is different; therefore, the healing must be as well.”
The ART in HEALING
Warriors Heart believes in the healing process of creativity. Understating the distinctive mindset of those who walk through their doors, the team at Warriors Heart helps to train everyone how to use the work and effort learned on the battlefield and channel it to a different form of activity – wood working, metal shop, culinary skills and the art studio. For these men and women, hard work is the way of life, and the ability to hone that indisputable ethic into a form of creative mastery allows them to focus and heal at the same time.
Art therapy can be beneficial to people of all ages, including our nation’s Veterans who return home with acute psychological or medical conditions that impair functioning, disrupt relationships, and prevent reentry into society. For Veterans who are receiving care for PTS and other ailments, art therapy has proven to be an effective form of treatment, when combined with other treatments.
“For Veterans, focusing on all of their intense emotions and memories, it’s often difficult to convey those thoughts into words,” stated Dan Monreal, Warriors Heart, Art Director. “These emotions are more often easily expressed in images with the guidance of a trained professional. For most of them – they find a new outlet and passion which they never thought would open a new door for life. Sometimes when a warrior has had a tough session, they might go to the shop and pound out some steel or build something with wood, to help process the session. If they have trouble verbalizing something, it may be recommended to go to art and put it on paper. It’s amazing the healing that can happen in some of these electives.”
Warriors Heart is a place where that mentality, warriors helping warriors, resides in the hearts of every member of the team. Other warriors and team members personally connect with those who have reached a point in their life where they think they have nothing to live for; showing them that strength is found in this unique facility, that simply and truly believes in the power of the warrior community, the power of each client that walks through the door of Warriors Heart and the power of each graduate who proudly emerges through the gates after graduation.
Call 24/7 @ 1 844-958-1183 or visit the link below.
