Returning Home from Combat....Helpful Steps

The return from your deployment can be a happy and uplifting reunion. Your military experience may have provided you with new skills and a new set of colleagues. You may feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. The staff at the CSIP project thank you for your service to our country.

Returning from a combat theater can also cause difficulties with your ability to relate to family, friends and work; or affect other areas of your daily functioning. You may have encountered incidents during your deployment that have resulted in varying degrees of emotional and psychological trauma. Unaddressed adjustment issues that come home with you may affect your ability to function effectively both at home or at work.

If this is the case, counseling services are available. It is important that you reach out for assistance and utilize the resources that are available to you. Remember, your feelings and concerns are a normal reaction the difficulties inherent to a combat situation. Seeking help is a sign of effectively dealing with concerns rather than a sign of weakness. It is important to maintain good mental and emotional health for you and for your family.

If you are unsure where to get started as you look for help, you can contact your local Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center  or the VA Community Based Outpatient Clinics in your area or one of the local VA Readjustment Counseling Centers. Or you can also talk to someone you trust who has experience in mental health -for example, a doctor, nurse, social worker, or religious counselor or your workplace EAP program or call one of your community's Local Mental Health Services.  Ask their advice on where to seek treatment.

• If there is a university nearby, its departments of psychology may offer private and/or sliding-scale fee clinic treatment options.
• You can begin your search for services otherwise, in your local Yellow Pages under "mental health," "health," "social services," "suicide prevention," "crisis intervention services," "hotlines," "hospitals," or "physicians" for phone numbers and addresses.  You can call to inquire about your options for services.
• In times of crisis, the emergency room doctor at a hospital may be able to provide temporary help for a mental health problem, and will be able to tell you where and how to get further help.

If You Call:

• Be prepared to describe your concerns and have your questions ready
• Have your insurance information at hand if you have it
• Be sure to explain your circumstances as a Veteran
• They may ask you some questions over the phone; and/ or may ask you to set up an appointment
• They may provide you with a different referral number
• Ask if they can provide you with other local services in your area
• Ask lots of questions until you feel comfortable

How to Choose a Counselor:

1. Locate two or more counselors currently available for New Clients. We do our best to keep our online directory up-to-date but a couselor's avalability may have changed since the last update. Please contact a few counselors to locate one or more currently available for New Clients.
2. Tell prospective counselors about your experience. Speak with prospective counselors on the telephone and tell them that you are a veteran or a family member of a veteran. Share a brief explanation of the issues affecting you.
3. Ask prospective counselors about their experience. While speaking with prospective counselors on the telephone, as about their experience working with the specific issues that are affecting you. Listen to how each counselor conveys an understanding of how your experiences might be affecting you and/or your family. Counselors may not be familiar with the military culture, but they must demonstrate a willingness to understand your culture and experience.
4. Make notes. When contacting more than one therapist, it can be helpful to make a few notes about each counselor's experience and how you felt when speaking with them.
5. Think about it. You may feel comfortable with a couselor while speaking with him/her and confident that you would like to schedule a session right away, or you may want some time to consider who feels right for you. You can tell a counselor when speaking with him/her that before you schedule a session you would like to take a little time to think it over and be certain you're making the best choice for you.
6. Choose a counselor. When making the choice, consider which counselor you felt most comfortable talking with on the telephone. Trust your inner compass or intuition if a couselor feels "right" for you, even in you're not sure why. Call you counselor of choice, tell him/her that you are a veteran referred by RVRPNW, and ask to schedule an appointment.

FUNDING SOURCE: The study is sponsored by the Department of Defense (DOD) Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) and USAMRAA.  Contract Number: W81XWH-07-1-0593 Modification P0001The awarding and administering acquisition office is the "The US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity", 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5014. The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. Award Number (W81XWH-07-1-0593)