U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Douglas Collins Visits Valor Therapeutics to Learn About Community-Based Creative Arts Therapies.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Douglas Collins Visits Valor Therapeutics to Learn About Community-Based Creative Arts Therapies. 

BEAVERCREEK, OH — July 6, 2026 — Valor Therapeutics welcomed U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Douglas Collins to its headquarters to showcase the vital, community-based art therapy, music therapy, and yoga services they provide to local veterans across the Miami Valley region. Secretary Collins met with volunteers and therapists who run the program, and veterans who have benefited from Valor’s services. He discussed with veterans how those services helped fill critical gaps in their healthcare and transition to civilian life.

"Having the Secretary of Veterans Affairs see our operation firsthand validates the incredible hard work and dedication of our clinical team and the profound resilience of the veterans we serve," said Julie Garrison, Program Director at Valor Therapeutics. "This visit underscores the urgent need for localized, community-driven support for our heroes by increasing access to art therapy, music therapy, and yoga within the community.”

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) designates art therapy and music therapy as essential clinical interventions for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and complex behavioral health diagnoses. Valor Therapeutics builds upon these clinical protocols to deploy evidence-based, non-pharmaceutical therapies designed to lower cortisol, regulate the autonomic nervous system, and facilitate post-traumatic growth through three tailored lanes of localized care:

• Music Therapy: Harnessing music improvisation, composition, re-creating, and listening, and neurologic sensory processing to process emotions, increase self-awareness, decrease social isolation, treat the injured brain, and reduce symptoms
• Art Therapy: Using clinical art media to safely externalize complex psychological triggers, process complicated grief, and rebuild positive personal identity narratives.
• Yoga & Mindfulness: Building resilience through mindfulness, applying structured movement and somatic deep breathing to release physical trauma retention, lower physiological stress, and combat chronic anxiety.

By shifting these specialized clinical therapies directly from hospital to community settings, Valor Therapeutics ensures that veterans receive immediate, uninhibited care. Conversations with Secretary Collins also focused on the necessity of optimizing the VA's Community Care Network (CCN) to streamline credentialing processes for community-based creative arts therapists, thereby accelerating patient access and reducing clinical wait times.

To learn more about Valor Therapeutics or support their mission to create healthy futures for veterans, service members, first responders, and their families in the Miami Valley, visit www.ValorTherapeutics.org. 

About Valor Therapeutics Based in Beavercreek, Ohio, Valor Therapeutics is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on restoring health, psychological well-being, and community connectivity to veterans, service members, first responders, and their families. Founded by a retired, combat-wounded Air Force veteran and his spouse, Valor specializes in providing evidence-based, drug-free rehabilitation options, including music therapy, art therapy, and yoga.



Media Contact: 

Julie Garrison

Program Director, Valor Therapeutics

ProgramDirector@ValorTherapeutics.org

937-477-1087