May I have your attention (
please) for a few short minutes?
I promise this will be a very quick read.
You've heard that over-used and sometimes trite response people use with a military service members or veteran. Around Memorial and Veterans' Day you hear the phrase:
"Thank You for your service". Nice words, right? Yes, but only words. In order to make words count, actions must follow. Words without deeds convey nothing but empty appreciation. Connecting the head, the heart and the hand to move us into action is critical in order to put meaning in our lives. Clinical mental health counselors are deep thinking souls who have special innate and intuitive senses which draws them to our profession as a "calling" to lessen the misery and help others.
And so I am sounding this emergency siren, as a clarion wake-up call to all clinical mental health counselors to help
our nation's brave ones who really need us and really need us right now.
Since 9/11, over + 2.7 million service members have been deployed. This means there are many many vets out there and some are not doing well. The hallmark wounds of post 9/11 wartime range from post-traumatic stress to traumatic brain injury. Substance use may complicate these these wounds as they try to find ways to meet the challenges of continued military service or transition back to civilian life. Bottom life up front (a.k.a as BLUF in the military) - our military and veterans have faced extraordinary stressors and their mental health needs priority attention from our nation.
As clinical mental health counselors, we have an important job and I am calling you into ACTION, as mere words will not suffice. We need to do something and we need to do it now. Our well meaning intentions need to be followed by actions. These actions start with developing the foundation and core skill set to work with and help serve our military and veterans the same way they served our nation - with honor, dignity and purpose.
This is an excerpt from an article linked below from THE HILL's
Maura C. Sullivan -Honor the fallen by supporting mental health for the living
Sadly, researchers have found that after U.S. forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2011, death by suicide surpassed war-related deaths — making it the second leading cause of death, after accidents, among active service members in 2012 and 2013. Furthermore, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that up to 20 percent of U.S. military personnel who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, about 400,000 Veterans, have Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). To put this figure in perspective, that’s nearly the equivalent of the population of Wyoming. Many other Veterans suffer from depression, isolation, anxiety, and adjustment disorder. There is an unprecedented demand for care.
Our military and veterans need our help. How can you ACT?First, let's say
THANK-YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE in a meaningful way that make's a difference. Let's make our military and vets a priority in our counseling careers and continue to keep focus on this key populations to serve.
Second, let's choose to serve our military and veterans as they chose to serve our nation: with the same measure of dedication and resolve that they gave to our nation. Clinical mental health counselors can become and stay culturally and technically proficient in this population with the core skill sets and standards for working with the military and veterans populations. Ethically, we should never assume having a license or degree means you can serve everyone. We know various populations and conditions require additional training and knowledge which includes cultural awareness. Working with the military and veterans is one such area but there are so many areas where cross-training works - Trauma, PTSD, TBI, Neuroscience, Mood Disorders, Children, Marriage and Family etc.
I'll post again about resources and other important AMHCA news. Meanwhile, I hope you're planning to come to AMHCA's Annual Conference this July 27-29, 2017 where there will be several break-out sessions focused on the military and veterans. That's a great way to start. If you're interested in an AMHCA special interest group focused on military and veterans, please let me know. We will make it happen.
Thank you!