'This has given me so much': Art therapy keys Veteran's recovery

Daso, 49, had a penchant for art as a child. But when trauma entered the picture, he was forced to grow up too quickly and abandon his art.

As he moved through life, the trauma never left him, leading to alcoholism and self-destructive behaviors, including a suicide attempt. 

But when the art returned, it opened a door to healing and renewal.

“This has given me so much,” said Daso, who is one of four Veterans from the Milwaukee VA who has qualified for the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, to take place May 11-18 in Denver.

“It’s so cool. I’m still blown away by it,” he said. “All this horrible stuff led to this amazing thing.”

Childhood trauma

Daso was sexually abused as a child, but repressed the trauma for years, turning to alcohol to assuage the pain.

When his drinking got him kicked out of college, he joined the Marines at age 19. He spent 17 years in the service, 13 of those years on active duty.

While on a deployment in the Mediterranean Sea, Daso tried to kill himself after some of the childhood trauma he had suppressed for so long bubbled up on a day when he was drunk.

That led to treatment and counseling, but Daso still didn’t fit the Marine mold, harkening back to his childhood, when he said he felt like a “weirdo and maverick.”

While stationed in Dover, Del., watching over the remains of fallen soldiers coming home from overseas, he became disillusioned.

“Almost everybody who got killed was younger than me, and many of them were fresh out of high school or college. That was just really sobering,” he said. He began to question the war in Iraq, which eventually led to him leaving the military.

“Most of my military career was great,” he said, noting the benefits of the GI Bill put him through college and led to his career as a therapist. “But it was because of the politics and the leadership that I got out.”

But alcoholism and its effects continued to plague him after his service.

“I’ve been divorced twice, bankrupt twice and done some really horrible things to hurt people I loved,” he said, noting he’s not in communication with three of his adult children. “That’s the consequences of things I’ve done.”

He eventually reached out to VA for help. His therapy helped him unearth and grapple with the repressed childhood traumas that were at the root of his struggles.

“That helped my recovery take off,” he said, noting that he made significant progress until a setback led to him entering the Milwaukee VA’s Domiciliary.

But that’s where he rediscovered his love for art.

The power of art therapy

He was 12 when he stopped doing art and started doing “a bunch of OCD, weird things,” he said, “and I lost my creativity.”

But when he began art therapy in the Domiciliary, things began to click.

“I love it, and it’s something that I’ve really reconnected with,” he said. “It’s so freeing. I’m so able to channel emotions into it. I would just put it into the art. It was amazing, and a huge part of my recovery.”

Veterans in the Domiciliary are required to take part in art therapy, and Daso took it to heart. After fulfilling the requirement, he continued to log studio time, and art therapist Marisa Straub introduced him to more challenging techniques that required more detail and focus.

“I provided the initial tools, and he jumped on it,” she said. “There were blips and frustrations along the way, but I could see he had something in his mind he wanted to do.

“This was a way for him to put out there what he was struggling with. And that’s the beauty of art therapy: Giving people the opportunity to explore and express their feelings and emotions.”

His favorite art is painting ceramics, and that’s what earned him a place in the national festival.

His winning piece, titled “Majestic,” features a dragon wrapped around a lighthouse. It showcases his penchant for creating provocative and unconventional colors from his painting. The lighthouse has a matte finish while the dragon is glossy, adding depth to the piece.

He uses a dry brushing technique, which involves placing small dabs of paint on the ceramics, slowly adding layers and building unique color palettes.

The technique appeals to him because there is no right or wrong, and he can easily pivot from a color he doesn’t like into something different.

“It’s this very gentle thing, and it’s where a lot of the freedom has come in,” he said. “I just go with the flow. I love it so much.”

A bright future

After leaving the Domiciliary, Daso moved into the TR House on the Milwaukee VA campus, where he continues to work on his recovery and create his art. He draws a direct line from his art to his recovery, and he works on his art whenever it moves him. He has multiple pieces in production.

He recently landed a job as an intake clinician with the Milwaukee County Jail, doing assessments of inmates. He’s not sure how long he’ll stay in the TR House, but said everything is looking up.

“This is a safe place with stability,” he said.

He said he’s grateful for the VA, saying it saved his life and without it he would probably be homeless. 

And for Straub, Daso’s success is testament to the power of art therapy.

“He really took the opportunity and blossomed through it. It really built his self-esteem,” she said. “I try to impress on Veterans that this can be a place to grow and learn about themselves and help them in their recovery.”