Veteran Wellness Beyond the VA: Why We Need More Creative Therapy Options

When we think about veteran mental health, the first system that comes to mind is the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], and for good reason. The VA remains the most extensive integrated healthcare system in the country, serving over 9 million veterans annually [1]. It offers a range of evidence-based treatments for PTSD, depression, substance use, and other challenges common in post-service life. But the VA isn’t always enough. Long waitlists, limited provider flexibility, stigma around seeking mental health care, and the impersonal nature of bureaucratic systems can prevent veterans from fully engaging in their recovery [2]. Worse, the assumption that clinical settings are the only place healing can happen ignores a critical truth: some of the most powerful recovery happens outside of those walls.

What’s Missing in Traditional Systems?

Traditional therapy, whether through the VA or private care, often focuses on talk-based, pathology-centered interventions. While CBT, EMDR, and CPT are all evidence-based and can be life-saving, talk therapy isn’t always enough. As Dr. Bessel van der Kolk famously wrote, “the body keeps the score" [3]. Many veterans describe being “stuck” even after completing years of therapy. They understand their trauma intellectually but still feel dysregulated, disconnected, or numb. This is because trauma, especially complex or chronic, affects brain and body networks that verbal therapy doesn’t always reach [4,5].

Creative Therapies Offer a Multisensory, Embodied Pathway to Healing:

Creative therapies, like music therapy, dance/movement therapy, expressive arts, and somatic practices, engage the brain and body in a integrative way. These modalities activate regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and motor cortex, helping veterans process trauma not only cognitively, but emotionally and sensor motorically [6,7]. At some non-clinical settings, vets have observed this firsthand. Veterans who participated in trauma-informed music, movement, and rhythm-based sessions reported improvements in sleep, emotional regulation, and interpersonal connection—many citing these sessions as “more helpful than therapy” or “the first time I felt safe in my body again.”

Veterans shared themes like:

• “I didn’t have to talk about what happened. I just felt better.”

• “Music hit the emotions I couldn’t access in therapy.”

• “The rhythm helped me stay present.”

This echoes broader findings in trauma neuroscience: repetition, rhythm, and sensory input help regulate the autonomic nervous system, building the conditions for post-traumatic recovery [8,9].

Veteran Wellness Beyond the VA: Why We Need More Creative Therapy Options

Why This Matters for Veterans:

Creative therapies also tap into two things many veterans deeply miss after service: purpose and community. We thrive when we have purpose and shared experience. Participating in a drum circle, learning to DJ, or expressing grief through dance offers a somatic release and a return to connection, cohesion, and expressive freedom. These are protective factors against suicide, isolation, and relapse, especially among those who feel alienated from traditional civilian life [10].

The Science Is Catching Up

Recent research supports the shift in the zeitgeist:

• Neurologic Music Therapy has been shown to improve executive function, working memory, and emotional integration in individuals with PTSD and TBI [7].

• Vibroacoustic stimulation [e.g., low-frequency bass] engages the vagus nerve, supporting parasympathetic tone and grounding in the present [9].

• Dance/movement therapy has shown benefits for veterans in expressive regulation, self-awareness, and somatic reconnection [11].

• Music’s ability to simulate emotional tension and resolution mirrors exposure therapy—but with a sense of safety and control [6,12].

One of the most promising findings is the emerging field of personalized music therapy. Future

interventions may use wearable neurofeedback to match genre, tempo, and frequency with each

veteran’s unique nervous system needs [13].

What We’re Building at VEDM

At Veterans Exploring Dance and Music [VEDM], we’re creating spaces where veterans can reconnect with themselves and each other through rhythm, movement, and community. Whether it’s through silent disco sessions, EDM-informed somatic workshops, or healing spaces at festivals, we believe that healing should be accessible, expressive, and embodied.

We don’t aim to replace traditional therapy, but we intend to complement it. And for some veterans, we can be the first space they feel comfortable in, even as they begin their healing journey.

Final Thoughts

Healing doesn’t always happen in a waiting room. Sometimes it starts with a beat. Or a shared rhythm. Or a safe space to dance without judgment.

Veteran Wellness Beyond the VA: Why We Need More Creative Therapy Options

Veterans deserve care that’s not only trauma-informed, but creatively liberating. That’s the mission behind VEDM: to expand the circle of healing, bring the science to the dancefloor, and offer veterans more ways to come home to themselves.

References:

1. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Annual Report 2023.

2. Tanielian T, Jaycox LH. Invisible Wounds of War. RAND Corporation; 2008.

3. van der Kolk B. The Body Keeps the Score. New York: Penguin Books; 2015.

4. Ogden P, Fisher J. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment. New York: Norton; 2015.

5. Porges SW. The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory. New York: Norton; 2017.

6. Eck A. How Music Resonates in the Brain. Harvard Medicine Magazine. 2024.

7. Altenmüller E, Schlaug G. Neurologic music therapy: From basic research to clinical practice. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2015;1337[1]:257–64.

8. Ganesan K, Acharya H, Mooventhan A. Vibroacoustic therapy: A narrative review. Int J Yoga. 2021;14[1]:47–55.

9. Bhat M, Shanmugavel A. Whole-body vibration therapy in PTSD: A randomized study. J Trauma Stress. 2020;33[2]:254–66.

10. Hall KS, et al. Social support, resilience, and suicide prevention in U.S. veterans. JAMA Psychiatry. 2021;78[2]:191–201.

11. Koch SC, et al. The effects of dance movement therapy: A meta-analysis. Arts Psychother. 2014;41[1]:46–64.

12. Salimpoor VN, et al. Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music. Nat Neurosci. 2011;14[2]:257–62.

13. Raglio A, et al. Personalized music listening interventions: A review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17[19]:1–12.