Trials / Recruiting

RecruitingNCT05414708

Art Therapy and Emotional Well Being in Military Populations With Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

Status: Recruiting
Phase: N/A
Study type: Interventional
Enrollment: 40 (estimated)

Sponsor: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center · Federal
Sex: All
Age: 18 Years – 64 Years
Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Art therapy is used across the Military Health System for treatment of posttraumatic symptoms, but there is limited research on how art therapy is able to restore emotional expression and regulation in service members. This research hopes to learn about the effects of art therapy on emotional expression and regulation in service members as well as the neurological systems at work. If a participant chooses to be in this study, he or she will attend eleven sessions over a period of six to eight months. The first session will be an interview and self-assessment questionnaires to collect information on a variety of symptoms, experiences, and personality traits, and an MRI scan. During the MRI scan, participants will be asked to perform a task where they will be shown a series of neutral and negative images. The following eight sessions will be one-hour art therapy sessions with a certified art therapist. The tenth session will consist of the same self-assessment questionnaires and another MRI scan. The final session will consist of some of the same questionnaires from the tenth visit, as well as a qualitative interview done virtually three months after the tenth visit.

Detailed description

Art Therapy is used across the Military Health System (MHS) as part of interdisciplinary treatment programs with great success, but there is limited research on how this art therapy works. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to learn about the effects of art therapy on emotional expression and regulation in service members as well as the impact of art therapy on brain systems. If a participant chooses to be in this study he or she will attend eleven sessions over a period of six to eight months. The first session and tenth sessions of this research study will include interviews and self-assessment questionnaires to collect information on a variety of symptoms, experiences, and personality traits, and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. During the MRI scan, participants will be asked to perform a task where they will be shown a series of neutral and negative images. These sessions will be about 2.5 to 3 hours. The sessions two through nine will include a one-hour art therapy sessions with a certified art therapist. The art therapy sessions are also considered research interventions. The eleventh and final session will consist of some of the same questionnaires from the tenth visit, as well as a qualitative interview done virtually three months after the tenth visit. There is the risk that participants may experience increased psychological or emotional distress or frustration when discussing traumatic events during either the art research intervention sessions or during the questionnaires or interviews. Participants may experience a reduction in symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress (PTS), mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and/or other psychological heath disorders through the art therapy process. However, there is no guarantee that participants will benefit from being in this research. As an alternative to this research, participants can talk to your physician about art therapy or other therapeutic options.

Conditions

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Art Therapy	During the art research intervention session, the art therapist will walk you through the creation of various types of art and may spend time asking you about the artwork, how you are felling, as well as your past experiences.

Timeline

Start date: 2022-02-01
Primary completion: 2026-12-01
Completion: 2027-12-01
First posted: 2022-06-10
Last updated: 2026-01-08

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT05414708. Inclusion in this directory is not an endorsement.