PARKER - He served his country for eight years in the United States Army. A veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, William Rist came back to Colorado suffering the effects of a traumatic brain injury.
"I can tell you when I was injured on active duty and I made the transition to civilian life, it was not an easy task," Rist said. "Stuff was built up inside me and I felt like I had a lot of baggage trying to manage the symptoms, and it was through medication that those symptoms are being treated."
He spent years taking prescription medications to treat the symptoms caused by his injuries. Those medications created problems of their own for Rist.
"It actually affected every aspect of my life. It affected personal time with my family," Rist said.
To reclaim his life and his family, Rist set out to find an alternative to the medications. He found an option that is working for him in music therapy. Once a week, a trained music therapist, Amy Wilson, works with Rist. She is teaching him to play the guitar and she is teaching him to deal with the stress and baggage he brought home from war.
"He is able to tell me week in and week out, this week has been stressful, but I've gone to my guitar and I've been able to put those stressful things to the side," Wilson said. "I see it day in and day out when I work with patients. This little light bulb comes on and understanding and communication and changing their behavior for the better so they're not self injurious or self destructive."
The music therapy has made so much difference in Rist's life that he is asking the Veteran's Administration to add structured music therapy sessions to their facility in Colorado. The VA is paying for the music therapy sessions in Rist's home, but currently do not offer them at their facilities here.
A statement released by the VA said, "The VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (ECHCS) offers many opportunities for veterans to use their artistic abilities and interests in a therapeutic manner. Most notably, the very successful annual VA Creative Arts Festival, which provides veterans with an opportunity to express themselves and find an outlet through display of artwork and musical performances. While ECHCS does not have a specific music therapy program, the programs it does offer provide a large number of veterans the opportunity to engage in artistic expression as a therapeutic outlet."
Currently, several VA facilities in other parts of the country offer a structured music therapy program for veterans. Wilson believes a program here would not only benefit a greater number of veterans, but also be cost effective.
"Bottom line for administrators and others that really want to watch the budget, it is cost effective. That's all there is to it," Wilson said.
Rist plans to continue with his music therapy sessions. He says the difference it has made in him is measurable and has improved the quality of life for him and his family.
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