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NEA’s Creative Forces program outlines clinical reach and research priorities; community-engagement grants coming near Veterans Day
Summary
Creative Forces director Bill O'Brien reported that the NEA’s clinical program now includes 32 creative arts therapists who have delivered more than 140,000 individual therapy sessions to over 25,000 patients since 2017, described research priorities from a 2023 summit, and said community-engagement grant guidelines will be released around Veterans Day (Nov. 11).
Bill O'Brien, director of Creative Forces, briefed the National Council on the Arts on the program’s clinical services, partnerships and research priorities, saying the program is embedded in Department of Defense care networks and works with the Department of Veterans Affairs and external partners.
"Our clinical program currently includes 32 creative arts therapists," O'Brien said. "Since 2017, these therapists have provided care to over 25,000 patients, delivering more than 140,000 individual therapy sessions." He described Creative Forces’ integration into DoD interdisciplinary care teams and noted administrative support from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.
O'Brien summarized outcomes from a 2023 research summit that convened clinicians and researchers from the DoD, VA and creative arts-therapy communities. The program’s research priorities include recovery from trauma through meaning-making and positive reframing, reduction of symptoms tied to traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, improved emotional expression and development of coping strategies, strengthened resilience and increased social connectedness.
He also announced that the next round of Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant Guidelines would be released around Veterans Day, Nov. 11. The community-engagement grants previously awarded support nonclinical arts engagement and aim to expand outreach to military-connected communities.
Why it matters: Creative Forces is a long-running NEA initiative that brings arts therapies into military and veteran care settings; the figures O'Brien provided indicate the program’s clinical footprint and research agenda, which inform policy and partnership decisions with DoD and VA.
What the record shows and limits: The presentation detailed program scope, partnerships and research priorities. The transcript includes numeric claims as reported by O'Brien but does not include grant award amounts or a detailed methodology for the cited research review; the 25,000-patient and 140,000-session counts were reported by the director and are presented here as such.
