Finding therapy for war veterans through art

"It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from. You will find what helps you, and it will change your life," said war veteran, Dallas Hanson.

Hanson suffered depression after serving over six years in Iraq.

Dallas is happy to say that he's finally found a unique form of support.

"As a veteran who's both suffered TBI and PTSD prior to and in the army... art helps. I also suffered from chronic depression. And medication, I mean it helps but it doesn't work, and with photography I have a smile on my face the whole time. I'm happy and I feel good," said Dallas.

The idea of healing through art came from his mother, Wendy.

"I did my own recovery and healing through art. I have a very personal story on it. It's very powerful and I know what it can do and where it can bring you. I had been diagnosed with PTSD and I was in therapy for many years. It was while I was in therapy that I actually got into doing the art. It was kind of like a floodgate opened and everything just came flooding out," said Wendy.

After realizing how powerful art therapy was for both her and her son, Wendy started a program to help veterans locally.

"It offers them just one more little hope that they can get some help and that they can recover from this. The military suicide rates are horrendous. They're way higher than the national average. So, if we can help just one military veteran then we've succeeded," explains Wendy.

Suicides are surging among America's troops, averaging nearly one a day in 2012- the fastest pace in the nation's decade of war.

Wendy is confident her art program will help change that direction.

Wendy said, "It's easier to work through art than it is to just sitting and talking about it and a lot of times where a veteran or anyone won't reach out, that if they can use the art and work through the art, it just brings things out, and the nice part is once they come out they won't come back."

"It's almost like cutting a cancer out, your taking it away and letting yourself heal and become whole again," said Dallas.