Exhibition of veterans’ art at US Embassy organised by Churchill Fellow

Janice, an art therapist, invited veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to display their art at the US Embassy in London in September 2019.

Janice is Senior Art Psychotherapist at Combat Stress, a veterans’ mental health charity. Janice was invited to exhibit art by veterans she has worked with during treatment programmes. A number of these veterans accompanied her to meet Mrs Pence at the Embassy to discuss the impact of art therapy on ex-service men and women with PTSD, and the part it can play in recovery.

Janice said: "Mrs Pence is a champion for art therapy in the US, especially in the military context. She took a keen interest in what the UK veterans shared about the benefits of art therapy, and warmly received the work she was given by them as a gift, which now hangs in her office at the White House."

Janice’s Churchill Fellowship allowed her to travel to California, Connecticut and New York to research art therapy for military veterans with PTSD. The Second Lady was recommended Janice’s work by American art therapists who had met Janice during her Churchill Fellowship.