ABSTRACT
This chapter provides definitions of grief and manifestations of complicated grief as well as military-specific contributing factors that place service members at risk for complicated grief. It provides clinical art therapy to active duty service members in treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health (PH) conditions at Intrepid Spirit One (ISO), National Intrepid Center of Excellence satellite at Fort Belvoir. A bereaved person is considered to be experiencing complicated grief when a grief response is particularly severe and prolonged according to social norms and chronically impairs functioning in various domains. Disenfranchised grief occurs when an individual experiences loss and is not afforded opportunity to grieve. Military personnel are continually at risk for contact with violent death. Physical, cognitive, and psychological injuries leave affected service members faced with the challenge of accepting lost abilities and their "new normal". Art therapy is demonstrating value as an especially effective means of processing complicated grief for service members seeking care at ISO.
