Blog posts with the tag "Guest Perspective"

Guest Perspective: Moral Injury and the Need for Innovative Treatment

As a researcher and clinician who has worked with military personnel and Veterans for over 15 years, one of my most important priorities is providing the best assessment and treatment possible to those experiencing post-deployment mental health problems. While excellent, evidence-based treatments exist for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), many military personnel and Veterans continue to meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD after psychotherapy,1 highlighting an imperative need for innovative treatments.  Designing, improving and implementing these treatments is a major focus of my research.

Guest Perspective: Moral Injury and Moral Repair

“Die woman, die!”  These are the words of HM2 Jones (All patient material has been de-identified), a 30-year-old Navy FMF corpsman with two tours to Iraq, as he watches an Iraqi woman lay dying.  She has just killed one of his Marines during a firefight, and he has just returned fire on her.  Yet as the corpsman, his role now is to save her.  “I wanted her to die.  I was so angry.  It bothers me that it doesn’t bother me, Doc.  Is that wrong?  Am I evil?”  He continues to question his capacity for evil.

Guest Perspective: Lost Heroes

Over the past several years I have seen the same bewildered expression on the faces of numerous Veterans as they struggle to understand and explain their own actions. After several months of treatment, one such client was finally able to articulate, It’s like there’s a switch in my head that suddenly turns on and it takes everything I’ve got to fight the impulse to do something crazy.”

Guest Perspective: No Pain – No Gain: The Gift of Adversity

Combat stress is an issue that concerns all healthcare professionals and military officers who support and facilitate military readiness.  When YOU reflect on the phenomenon we call Combat stress, do you consider it:

  • An undesirable consequence of war?
  • A disabling force affecting our military men and women?
    OR
  • A source of growth and strength voluntarily sought by those with hardy attitudes?
  • A challenging test one takes to affirm and strengthen personal values for success in life?

Guest Perspective: Reflections From the Past, or Perhaps the Future?

For nearly four decades, I had the honor of serving on the staff of the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye, retiring in the fall of 2011 as his chief of staff.  During that time, I was actively involved within the governance of the American Psychological Association (APA) and served as its President in 2000.  Over the years, we have observed many changes within the field of mental health, both from the “front line” and at the all-important health policy level.  Perhaps the most significant of these changes has been external to any of the mental health disciplines – it is the gradual acceptance by society of the importance and appropriateness of receiving quality mental health care, in the same manner that it is now “all right” to openly discuss receiving treatment for cancer or diabetes.  

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