(NEWS10) — For many veterans, the hardest battle comes home with them. One local program is using the medicinal power of theatre to help them process trauma and PTSD.
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DE-CRUIT was created by Stephan Wolfert, a military veteran, to help other veterans work through their trauma and PTSD through Shakespeare. Stephan and his wife Dawn work with a researcher at NYU to track the program’s effect on the brain and body.
When asked how Shakespeare could improve the lives of veterans, Stephan explained, “Shakespeare’s rhythm and his verse quite literally help us rewire trauma. Reprocess trauma,” He continued, “It goes in iambic pentameter, five heartbeats per breath, or five stressed syllables per line,”
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Each veteran puts their trauma into words — then they’re paired with a Shakespeare passage that reflects it. For many, it can be a hard sell at first.
“For those folks to come into that room and be desperate enough to try Shakespeare shows how sorely lacking the sufficient programing or adequate programing is for veterans. And then they get in and realize he wrote us perfectly.” explained Stephan…