The Write to Heal: Transforming Pain Through Art (Episode 3)

Interview with Brooke Dickhart, Executive Director of The Joel Fund and Linda Giles, retired social worker with the Department of Social Work at Womack Army Medical Center

In this episode, you'll hear from Brooke Dickhart, the Executive Director of the Joel Fund, a North Carolina organization serving military members and their families through inspiring outreach programs such as Operation Art, and Linda Giles, a Gestalt therapist who has worked transformatively with veterans for many decades.

Check out our show notes for more information about Brooke and Linda's backgrounds, along with a link to the heart-touching digital story Brooke created in memory of her father, a former Navy Seal. We hope you enjoy this conversation about the power of storytelling to inspire connection and healing, and do stay to the end because we have a provocative writing prompt we're inviting you, our listener, to sink your teeth into.

The second part of your question, the people we serve, we serve really anyone who has served our country, if it's the reserves, active duty, national Guard, veterans, and their immediate family members. I would also love to say that the art program that we offer is also in honor of my dad because art was something that we shared.

My mom used to always tell me, you get your art skills from your dad. My dad used art to heal. He would draw, he did sculpture, he painted, and so art was a way that he expressed himself. And with his line of work, he was gone nine months a year. Sometimes he was gone for years at a time, depending on where he was stationed. So that was a way I always felt very connected to him.

He lost four of his buddies right before he got out. I believe that was the catalyst to him getting out of the military. He didn't believe the mission should run and resulted in four deaths that I think stuck with him forever. He would draw those and it was very, very dark. I mean, you could see the pain that he was going through.

I knew him as Joe. He was Joseph, you know, but Joel was who he was the second half of his life. So, you know, I try to do things the way he would have wanted them done and, and that is why we call it The Joel Fund.

Because for so long there was guilt. I can finally say the guilt is gone. We're doing so much good that that is no longer the driving force behind what we do. But that guilt was in that digital story and I struggled with it. It was a very difficult thing for me to write. And then to put the digital stories, you know, the way they put the images and the sound to them, takes them to a whole other level. It brings the person into it in a completely different way, and it was unlike anything I have ever attempted to do. I appreciate your kind words in what you say about it. Because I look at it and I don't see that. I see just the rawness of my emotion in it. So that's where I struggle with it.

I have done a pretty good job of living my life without regret until I lost my dad. My dad and I had some great times together. He introduced me to different languages and cultures. He taught me about the world outside of my world. And most importantly, he taught me about service and sacrifice. My dad was gone most of my childhood and he never missed the important milestones.

He was at my high school graduation, my college graduation, my wedding, and he even had the opportunity to meet all three of his grandchildren. For a long time I lived with a regret, but that regret wasn't about my relationship with my dad. That regret was that I didn't know more and truly understand what he was going through. I didn't understand his PTSD or his use of drugs and alcohol to numb his pain.

My dad chose the ocean as his final resting place. Arlington just wasn't for him At the sunrise ceremony where so many of his brothers had gone before him, we gathered to say goodbye. His name was announced followed by the tolling of a bell.

The folded flag placed in my lap and the Captain's salute were almost too much for me to bear. Turning on his heel in the sand, he gave a final salute to signify that the time to lay my dad to rest was close. As I watched my dad's ashes being carried into the ocean by his brother-in-arms, I knew that he was finally at peace and at that moment I decided not to let my regret hold me down, but to use it to serve others like us.

As was written to me by one of my dad's brothers-in-arms after he died, another legacy inserts under the Pearly Gate. We have the watch. Fair winds and following seas, mate - you will be missed by those who are never out of the fight. Long live the brotherhood. Dad, I will see you on the flip side.

The group had been together for several months and they rallied around him and they took him meals and they drove him to doctor's appointments and did things for him that he didn't have before that class. That's an amazing benefit of these classes. You know, we're teaching these men and women the therapeutic benefits of art.

It's not art therapy, but we want them to find the beauty in everyday life. It's the community aspect of it that’s vital because they need to be with their peers and they need to be able to share their experiences with people who get it. And that's not just the veterans or the active duty service members, but also the family members because they have a level of understanding.

The slideshow was a piece of cake - I didn't put words to that. But sometimes people just aren't able to do that, and so having other options, whether it's photography or drawing or painting, to be able to express that without actually having to use words, it's just, it's powerful. And teaching them and giving them that skillset, that tool in their toolbox, is very powerful in their healing.

Brooke Dickhart: I love that.

Active duty and veterans get it. What does ‘get it’ mean? What are they getting? What kinds of shared understandings might they have?

So it takes, you know, word of mouth. My hope one day with this, June, is that, and I have told this to the higher ups at the VA, my hope one day is that when a therapist gives a script for medicine, they also give a script for an art class.

That war shaped me, and I noticed that not everybody loved the way my parents loved each other and loved us. And I think that was a big part of that childhood was they not only talked and used words for love, but they lived it in action. They were good to their neighbors no matter what.

And also right after that 9-11 happened and my husband, who was 64 at the time. Because he was Egyptian, he volunteered for our military and they took him in as a contractor with the Special Forces and he knew the language and the culture. So they sent him over to Hungary where he was preparing to go into Iraq as a US citizen.

And I just thought, wow, that is so important to this whole healing - for people to express themself in art, in all the arts. And so many, like when I worked with the children at Fort Bragg, many of them didn't have the words to put to their feelings, just like the men who never learned to do that. And so using art therapy to get them to express themselves so that they could figure out what was going on and then put words to it was an important part of that. And there was just a natural healing.

And I'd like to talk about grounding too, because it's so important in this day and age - we're in our heads so much it’s important to get into our bodies and to get our feet on the ground and feel rooted in the earth. It's just healing in itself, like getting out and walking in nature, taking what I call forest baths. So it's amazing what we can do with our imagination. So that's why I use the visualization, trying to get people to know that they can use that so that they can go to that safe place.

I learned the art of sharing from my siblings. I learned the value of freedom and choice from my husband. I learned about the endurance of the human soul and its hope from all those who have crossed my path. I learned from my soldiers the importance of their healing to wholeness so that they could live their best life as extraordinary citizens.

Writing has given me a way of seeing the woman I have become. The tapestry I have woven allows me to see my need to step back into my power, realizing I am not done. I choose to keep on keeping on. I must change my paradigm on aging and perfection. All my imperfections provide good experience for my learning.

I am an extraordinarily ordinary human being. That's me.

Tamara Kissane: Thank you, Linda.

Take a moment to jot down whatever comes to mind. No need to edit yourself. Just let it flow. And if you're willing, we'd love to hear your thoughts and writings. You can share them by sending to artistsoapbox@gmail.com with the subject heading, The Write to Heal.

The Write to Heal: Soldiers Deep Dive into Storytelling is a production of artist soapbox in partnership with June Guralnick. This series is dedicated in memory of David Brave Heart, whose inspiring music graces our introduction and closing sections with additional music by Louis Wilkinson. The intro montage is sound engineered by Royce Froehlich with post-production by Jasmine Hunjan and Tamara Kissane.

For more information, including the list of writers who contributed to our opening montage, please see the show notes, catch us on social media, or visit our websites: artistsoapbox.org and juneguralnick.com.