The Artopia Program: An Examination of Art Therapy’s Effect on Veterans’ Moods

Abstract

The Artopia: Creative Healing with Veterans program was a collaboration between the University of Texas Arlington’s Art + Art History Department, Department of Psychology, and Veterans Assistance Center along with our community partner The Art Station. The objective of this pilot study was to examine how art therapy could benefit veterans’ mood states and psychological distress. Five art therapy workshops over seven months were assessed using a quasi-experimental design. Quantitative data from pre- and post-test surveys were collected and qualitative data from comments and semi-structured interviews were used to contextualize the quantitative data. Findings indicated an overall significant positive mood state increase before and after art therapy. Moreover, veteran participants perceived benefits of engaging in art therapy were positive.

Keywords:

• Veterans
• art therapy
• quasi-experimental
• POMS-SF

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amanda Alexander

Amanda Alexander, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Art + Art History Department, University of Texas Arlington, Arlington, TX.