Ars Bellum Foundation: Beyond the Battlefield

Mental Health CareMinnesota, United States0-1 Employees

Across our country, more than 460,000 American veterans deal with PTSD. More suffer from anxiety, depression and other symptoms. For these brave men and women, every day is a struggle. For some of them, conventional therapy is not effective at helping them reintegrate into civilian life. Even worse, 22 veterans take their own lives each day in this country. It doesn’t have to be that way. That’s where we come in. The Ars Bellum Foundation is a non-profit founded by veterans to help veterans. We’ve partnered with Adler Graduate School to create a clinical art therapy program for veterans with PTSD and related mental health conditions, based on a model developed at Walter Reed. Art therapy gives vets a way to cope with trauma in ways proven to reduce many of their worst symptoms: nightmares, depression, anxiety attacks, emotional numbing. Our programs are run by licensed mental health professionals, tailored to each group. We are mobile, going out to veterans instead of making them travel to a clinic every week, and we include family members to help them reconnect. Ars Bellum works with the MDVA, MN National Guard and other organizations to provide art therapy programs that serve specific groups in our military family: family members of veterans, Gold Star families, and military victims of sexual trauma. Our sponsors and partners include Tee It Up For The Troops, Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, Minnesota Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vets4Vets Trust, Minneapolis Foundation, Rochester Foundation, Blue Star Moms, Minnesota Vikings, 173rd Airborne Association Chapter 15, Special Forces Association Chapter 20, and private donations. We also educate the public about the difficulties our service members face through our Beyond The Battlefield Art Exhibition, a multimedia exhibit showcasing veteran art. It is our hope that in sharing our veterans’ experiences and creations, we can help others better understand their struggles and the healing process.

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