Several years ago I was fortunate to have completed a year-long certification program at Michigan State University focusing on treating combat veterans. Although I have been treating trauma for over two decades, this program changed my thinking and my approach in treating combat veterans. As a result, I feel compelled to share some of what I have learned and will do so in a series of articles entitled “Sharing the Burden of War.” I have included a link to the course below and invite you to look it over. You will discover this certification program is the first of its kind in the nation. It was developed to address the suicide epidemic among this population and to save lives. I was one of eight in the first cohort to complete the program. The cohort included mostly MSW graduate students, me being the first established professional to complete the program. The program is unique in its design. Students are immersed in the intense and emotional journeys of our combat veterans, from their indoctrination in boot camp, what they experience in war, to the struggles they encounter to reintegrate back into being a civilian. The final semester focuses on how we as mental health providers are inadequate in our understanding and approaches to healing our combat veterans and offers other ways to be more effective.
My goal is to share what I have learned with other mental health professionals, based on my personal experience. It is certainly no substitute for the program, but my effort to further the mission of the course by sharing what has helped me better serve this population.
I invite any discussions relative to these articles. As mental health professionals desiring to work with this population, I believe, we are challenged to look at different, more effective ways to assist in healing the invisible wounds of our returning combat veterans.
https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2019/battling-combat-veterans-true-enemy-the-specter-of-suicide/
Next Article: Sharing the Burden of War: Societal Changes
My goal is to share what I have learned with other mental health professionals, based on my personal experience. It is certainly no substitute for the program, but my effort to further the mission of the course by sharing what has helped me better serve this population.
I invite any discussions relative to these articles. As mental health professionals desiring to work with this population, I believe, we are challenged to look at different, more effective ways to assist in healing the invisible wounds of our returning combat veterans.
https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2019/battling-combat-veterans-true-enemy-the-specter-of-suicide/
Next Article: Sharing the Burden of War: Societal Changes
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