The healing power of the arts for service personnel and veterans

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10/04/2024 | Faculty of Arts and Design

The healing power of the arts for service personnel and veterans

The process and reporting of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (2021-2024) has been a stark reminder for Australians of the stress, and in many cases trauma, experienced by Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and the importance of caring for not just the physical health of servicepeople, but also their mental health and wellbeing during and post service. The Australian Defence Force Arts for Recovery, Resilience, Teamwork and Skills (ADF ARRTS) program is a collaborative and research-led creative practice program designed to build the confidence and resilience of current and former ADF, ACT Emergency Services, and Australian Federal Police personnel through the arts. Most of the participants are active ADF personnel.

The University of Canberra won the competitive tender to host and facilitate the program for 2015 to 2023 and won its renewal for 2024 until 2028. Between 2015 and 2024, 18 programmes have been delivered at UC’s Inspire Centre involving nearly 400 participants. From 2018, ACT Emergency Services and Australian Federal Police personnel have been able to participate in the program alongside current and former ADF personnel.

Part of the original agreement was to:

Design and coordinate two four-week residential programs per year in partnership with the Department of Defence.
Deliver creative arts workshops across three streams: visual arts, music and rhythm, and creative writing (originally four including drama, which was later closed).
Support two PhD candidatures to investigate the benefits of the program and experiences of the participants: one was qualitative-focussed (Dr Geoff Grey, University of Canberra) and the other quantitative-focussed (Dr Tavis Watts, University of New South Wales).
Undertake additional research to explore benefits of the program and design future iterations to maximise impact for participants.

The creative arts workshops are delivered by creative professionals – writers, poets, artists, musicians and more – including many UC staff undertaking research in creative fields. The creative professionals offer mentorship for program participants, helping them develop technical skills and providing advice for their creative expression. An on-site psychologist is on hand for program participants to provide support.

Over the course of the four-week program, participants learn and master skills in the creative stream of their choice and develop a major piece of work or series of works. At its conclusion, participants are invited (never required) to exhibit or perform their work in a showcase attended by leaders and personnel from the Australian Defence Force, ACT Emergency Services and Australian Federal Police, and the participants’ families. The showcase is a celebration of their commitment to the program and any healing they may have experienced during the process.

Dr Geoff Grey CSM, whose military career spans four decades and counting as a musician, studied the program for his PhD and also works as its Artistic Director.

“For the ARRTS program, the core foundation is that it is not judgemental. We're providing an opportunity for wounded, injured and ill Defence Force personnel to try their hand at creative engagement for a month-long residential program with no report at the end, no pass/fail, so there is no pressure on them.

“Through the research, we also found out that the program is hugely beneficial to people who are transitioning to a civilian life and career, which we hadn't really forecast before we started this.”

Dr Geoff Grey, ADF ARRTS Artistic Director for UC UnCover.

What the research found

An initial study by the Defence Science and Technology Group (DTSG) of the ADF ARRTS programme found significant improvements above baseline among participants in reported self-esteem, social and physical functioning and positive affect, along with significant reductions in psychological distress, insomnia and post-traumatic stress. These findings were confirmed in psychologist Dr Tavis Watt’s (UNSW) PhD study of the programme, which found that 87% of respondents reported benefit in behavioural activation, sense of belonging, flow and therapeutic alliance, while 61% reported those benefits persisting 2 years after the programme.

Dr Geoff Grey’s (UC) PhD found that 85% of participants continued their creative engagement two or more years after the programme. Geoff’s qualitative study focused on the participants’ experiences of the programme. Some of their comments included:

“I’d say the program has had a significant impact on my life and the lives of others.”

“The resultant satisfaction gained for me was like medicine.”

“It's difficult to say definitively but I'd say it's possible I wouldn't be here now without it.”

“The ARRTS world is giving you a different outlet for some of that anger. Not to negate it, but to channel it.”

“It […] gave me the courage to create and pursue a new profession.”

The experiences of the participants remain the central focus of the program, with the hope they transfer creative expression to their lives outside the program.

“I’ve just had so many Defence members talk to me after the program just saying how grateful they are that they’ve had the opportunity to work with the mentors that we have on the program, that has enabled them to open up in a way that they haven’t been able to do in some cases for years and to be able to reconnect with their family and community. Which, at the end of the day, is why we do it.”

Ian Drayton, program contributor (Creative Australia, YouTube)

The health and wellbeing of service personnel and first responders is of significant importance to our communities. We rely on them in times of emergency and disaster. This puts them in high stress and, in some cases, life threatening situations. To be able to serve this purpose and face those challenges, being mentally healthy and resilient is essential. The ADF ARRTS program focuses on supporting them to develop resilience and expression through creative practice that will support them in their service careers, in civilian life post-service, and as people in our communities.

Translating this model

The ADF ARRTS program has empowered and initiated the transferral of the creative arts for recovery model to other contexts, such as drought relief in Condobolin (see also: ‘A spoonful of art helps break the drought’, UnCover), bushfire recovery in regional areas (for example, Regeneration in 2021) and Difficult Conversations (2022).