Designing for Invisible Injuries: An Exploration of Healing Environments for Posttraumatic Stress

This paper examines the potential of design and the healing environment to positively contribute to the experiences of veterans working to recover from combat PTSD. Examining challenges in the physical, social, and ambient environment through veterans’ perspectives, a design studio at Washington University in St. Louis developed a series of proposals that combined outpatient therapy with a residential-based resource center. The design exploration reveals elements in the built and natural environment that uniquely resonate with veterans’ experiences and play a significant role in the approach to creating spaces for behavioral health treatment.