SSGT Joseph White came into the local VA Community based clinic for medical care. When he was discussing his situation at home, the medical doctor found that it would beneficial that the social worker talk with SSGT White. The social worker obtained an appropriate assessment to assist with finding services that would be available to him through the VA and/or local community organizations for his symptoms and treatment options. When establishing a relationship with a potential client, building and keeping a rapport with the individual is key to a positive working relationship. The individual needs to feel that they are respected, understood, and listened to when the relationship begins. As stated by Miller and Rollnick, a positive relationship begins with “establishing a trusting and mutually respectful working relationship, …show more content…
Relationship problems; 2. Return from deployment; 3. Chronic medical problems for self; 4. Poor sleep patterns; 5. Depressed anxious mood; 6. Family maltreatment; 7. Social isolation; and 8. Going it alone in dealing with life’s challenges. These risk factors are common with most of the returning veterans. Because of the stigma of obtaining military personnel being perceived as weak, and trying to deal with challenges without any professional assistance. However, the protective factors are present at the beginning of treatment. One of the main protective factors that many of military personnel has is the sense of family. In many cases, they tend to isolate because they try to protect their family from the images and stories of their deployment experience. However, these protective factors are something that can be strengthened during the therapeutic relationship. In the case of SSGT White, his protect factors and opportunities for growth are as follows: 1. Positive social support; 2. Sense of responsibility to the family; 3. Hope or optimism for the future; 4. Acceptance of change; 5. Job satisfaction; and 6. Leisure
The podcast, The Trauma Therapist Project- The Military Series by Guy MacPherson with Lt. Eric Strom gives listeners an inside look on what it's like to be a trauma therapist and how the interviewee became an expert in the field of trauma. Let's take a brief look into who Eric Strom is, why he became interested in social work, why he chose to specialize in trauma with veterans, challenges he faced while working in the field, and valuable advice he has for non-veteran therapists and new upcoming therapists.
Tenisha Pressley, Period 6 Brotherhood in the Battlefield What is more important in the line of duty than the bond between fellow soldiers? Brotherhood is one of the most necessary qualities amongst those who spend months, maybe even years, fighting for the safety of their country. Soldiers should feel safe going to combat knowing that their brothers are watching their back.
Phil Klay’s story “Redeployment” shows many instances where mental health was a problem for the soldiers who have come back from serving time. This relates to what's happening in the world today with people all over the world. The main illness that is talked about is Post Traumatic Stress
Veterans returning home often suffer from
Through numerous conversations, I fostered relationships with my colleagues based upon many commonalities including
Veterans upon returning to their homes are met with pain and heartbreak. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects an estimated one in ten Afghanistan veterans and as many as one in five Iraq War veterans. Psychological trauma faced by soldiers returning home can be just as bad or even worse than the physical trauma of war. Studies have found that less than half of returning soldiers with problems sought help, mostly out of fear of being stigmatized or hurting their careers. Dr. Charles W. Hoge, a researcher at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, has said “The most important thing we can do for service members who have been in combat is to help them understand that the earlier that they get help when they need it, the better off
Military Life on Families Not a lot of people know the actual challenges of what military men and women go through with their families. Until now, individuals have this misconception that the military life is as ordinary to any regular civilian life. Many of the common beliefs that people assume about military service members they just serve their country, go out to war occasionally, and handle constant deployments easily without a struggle. While this is the case, civilians fail to recognize that military spouses and children face many obstacles when they are separated from their service member.
It is evidenced in numerous areas, such as lacking resources in university counseling centers and poor support from the military (e.g. reactive rather than proactive mental health care; Rudd, Goulding, & Bryan, 2011; Jakupcak & Varra, 2011; Morrison, 2014). Upon returning home, Coll, Weiss, and Yarvis (2011) find that these multiple factors may lead to struggles adjusting to civilian life. Covell (2011) expressed that although many veterans do not struggle with PTSD or mental health disorders, many veterans have missed out on significant experiences or have decreased social support at home because everyone has moved on with their lives .Further, Covell (2011) and Vandervort (2011) both met significant barriers upon leaving the military and trying to get a job. Vandervort stated that he nearly committed suicide before going back into the military. They wrote that employers don’t understand the value of being a combat veteran who is able to work under stress.
Veterans face a ton of challenges when returning home. Their difficulties range from nightmares to depression to problems finding employment to inability to adapt to the sudden freedoms of non-military life. Some don’t have any problems at all and make is just fine. Some veterans have a hard time adjusting to civilian life coming from their wartime life.
One of the common mental health problems returned veterans faced is depression. Deployed and returned veterans had a higher suicide risk compared to general population. Veterans with depression often experience symptoms such as deep feeling of sadness, hopeless, inability to focus, and loss of interest. These kind of symptoms are prevalent among veterans however, soldiers with PTSD and depression can lead to suicidal. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US, resulting in 38,000 fatalities (in 2010), making it a significant public health priority.
Building Trust Good working relationship in a team cultivates trust and constantly gives members assurance of everyone being in the benefit of
One physical trauma that a veteran can experience from combat are burn wounds. Burn injury is a universal threat for most military personal who have experienced combat. Burns and injuries from shrapnel fragments or small fire arms are very common wounds (Borden Institute. The Textbooks of Military Medicine). Even with the protective factors the military uses today, such as Kevlar vests, burn wound victims are usually left with serious mutilations and handicaps from burns over body areas not protected by the vest.
Introduction The meaning of reintegration has been defined as “the process of transitioning back into personal and organizational roles after deployment” (Currie, Day, & Kelloway, 2011). While reintegration may bring images of family homecomings and welcome home parties, it is not that simple for the returning veteran. According to a survey conducted by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (U.S. Dept. of VA), 40 percent of surveyed military members returning from deployment report experiencing a high level of difficulty reintegrating into civilian life (Sayer, Noorbaloochi, Frazier, Carlson, Gravely, & Murdoch, 2010). As war wages, more service members are returning to face any number of barriers to their reintegration such as: mental health issues, domestic situations, employment or lack thereof, disabilities, and lack of support from the Veterans’ Affairs, etc.
Pride is a feeling that many military service members feel when they put on their uniform everyday. Those dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the stigma that comes with it tend to feel vulnerable. Some of the issues suffered by Veterans with PTSD include, mental health, depression, anger management, and substance abuse issues. Stigma is problematic, the feeling of judgment causes many service members to not seek the treatment they need, this can lead to suicide. With an increase in deployments due to both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Veterans were returning home with both physical and mental issues.
Identifications and reflections can highly impact the work of a social worker and client in any setting. As for MQ and I, the stereotype of the resident always thinking that everyone else is always talking about him or planning to do something bad to him has interfered with our work together. Due to this stereotype, trying to get the resident out of the room in order for him to interact with others and attending recreational activities has been hard for me. Although, the resident does not mention that he feels there some sort of oppression going on, but he does inform me on how he feels. He is constantly mentioning how the medical staff is trying to control him and tell him when he and how much medication he should take.