Ms. Melissa S. Walker, MA, ATR, is a nationally registered Art Therapist with experience in the use of the creative arts with military service members and their dependents. After earning a Master’s degree in Art Therapy from New York University in 2008, Ms. Walker began her professional career and moved to the nation's capital to serve as Art Therapist on the Inpatient Psychiatry Service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC). While at WRAMC, Ms. Walker received the Q.U.E.S.T. for Excellence award for positive patient feedback based on her therapeutic services and passionate execution of the mission. Ms. Walker transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in December of 2010 to work as Creative Arts Therapist and Healing Arts Program Coordinator for the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE). Since joining the NICoE, Ms. Walker has developed and implemented the Healing Arts Program in order to focus on the integration and research of the creative arts therapies for service members with traumatic brain injury and psychological health concerns. Since its inception, NICoE's Healing Arts Program has captured the attention of local, national, and international media outlets alike. In October of 2011, Ms. Walker spoke on a vision of the future of arts in the military at the first ever WRNMMC National Summit: Arts in Healing for Warriors. This past April she also spoke on a panel at the second National Summit: Arts, Health and Well-being across the Military Continuum. Ms. Walker has acted as liaison between WRNMMC and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in an initiative to bring NEA's writing program Operation Homecoming, as well as a Neurologic Music Therapy program, to NICoE/WRNMMC. Ms. Walker is passionate about the care of our service members, and looks forward to continued implementation and research of the healing arts in the military healthcare system and community at large.