Dance For Veterans

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Brentwood Biomedical Research Institute

Greater Los Angeles VA Medical Center

[August 2010-Present]

 

I co-created a dance program at the "School for Better Living" (PRRC), a psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery initiative housed at the West Los Angeles VA campus under the direction of Dr. Donna Ames, MD. Our current student population includes veterans living with various psychological diagnoses including PTSD, Post-Traumatic Brain Disorder, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and other severe mental illnesses. Thanks to a grant from the VAMC Integrated Health and Healing Program we sucessfully trained embedded VA clinicians and staff to implement the dance curriculum, which is now being run in eight VAMC locations across Greater Los Angeles. In fall 2014 we will continue our curricular dissemination and undertake a women-only dance-based intervention in Downtown Los Angeles.  Forthcoming scholarly publications co-authored by the Dance for Veterans team address the scope and future impact studies of the program. The present team of dance educators includes Kristen Smiarowski, Christine Suarez, and Sarah Wilbur. Lead Psychiatrist is Dr. Donna Ames, MD, Director West Los Angeles VA Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center, Professor UCLA Geffen School of Psychiatry.