Staff Perspective: 10 Years of the Center for Deployment Psychology
This year, 2016, we celebrate a notable anniversary for the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP). Ten years ago, CDP was established at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and embarked on the crucial undertaking of training and educating behavioral health professionals to help them better care for our nation’s Service members, Veterans, and their families. Since that time, we have worked to help professionals understand the unique characteristics of the military culture, the stress of deployment, and the health care issues that might arise as a result of these challenges.
When we started in 2006, our country was three years into Operation Iraqi Freedom with over one hundred-thousand Service members deployed that year and their numbers surged in 2007. The nation was beginning to recognize the psychological impact of the wars and the number of returning Service members that faced behavioral health challenges. The CDP was created to provide a dedicated source of education and training for mental health providers serving the military.
Since the launch of the CDP, more than two million personnel have deployed, with many Service members deploying multiple times. With increasing deployments came increasing stress levels and accompanying psychological and behavioral health concerns. Without access to behavioral health providers who are in tune with these challenges and tools to address them, these negative effects might persist.
When we began ten years ago, CDP hosted a single course, a two-week-long event covering multiple aspects of the military experience and stress of deployment. In addition, our Deployment Behavioral Health Psychologists were placed to provide focused training for military clinical psychology interns. Since that time, we have grown to include more than a dozen separate programs aimed at effectively disseminating information to providers. We have also undertaken numerous projects aimed at identifying and better understanding how best to encourage professionals to adopt new practices.
CDP has created an extensive list of education and training tools ranging from face-to-face workshops to online webinars and learning tools. Over the years, more than 40,000 providers have accessed CDP workshops or tools on topics including military culture, evidence-based psychotherapies, and clinical issues such as PTSD, depression, and traumatic brain injuries in Service members and Veterans. None of this would be possible without the outstanding work of the team of dedicated professionals who have worked at the CDP over the last ten years.
At CDP, we do what we do because we understand the enormous burden that our Service members, Veterans, and their families bear and the obligation our country has to facilitate their return from combat and to care for their injuries, physical and emotional. Although we have accomplished a lot, we still have a long way to go. In 2014, a RAND survey of more than 500 psychiatrists, psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers found that just 13 percent were deemed ‘cultural competent,’ meaning they understood military mores, language and traditions, and were trained to deliver evidence-based treatments for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. While behavioral health providers can find many sources of training and education, I believe that the expertise and tremendous commitment of the instructors and staff at CDP ensure that providers that attend our programs will be able to offer the military community the best possible care.
Beyond education and training, caring for Service members, veterans, and families requires a community of engaged and connected professionals. Therefore, an important part of our mission is developing a network of support for our military community. CDP works actively with partners in military and civilian health care organizations to build a corps of educated and culturally mindful providers that can support our mission. Through these partnerships, we work to spread the word about our trainings and resources to benefit both civilian and military providers.
At this, our ten-year mark, it can be quite gratifying to look back over our achievements. However, it is more important, and more exciting, to look forward to the opportunities in our future. We look forward to building on our existing partnerships and pursuing new ones. If you work in the field of military behavioral health, we want to get to know you and see how we can work together.
CDP’s vision is one in which all Service members, Veterans, and their families receive quality behavioral health care that meets their unique needs. I want to thank the tremendous faculty and staff of CDP, our committed partners, and all those who have participated in our training for their dedication to this vision and contributions to our continued success.
David Riggs, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair, Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology (MPS) at the Hérbert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland and also serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP).
This year, 2016, we celebrate a notable anniversary for the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP). Ten years ago, CDP was established at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and embarked on the crucial undertaking of training and educating behavioral health professionals to help them better care for our nation’s Service members, Veterans, and their families. Since that time, we have worked to help professionals understand the unique characteristics of the military culture, the stress of deployment, and the health care issues that might arise as a result of these challenges.
When we started in 2006, our country was three years into Operation Iraqi Freedom with over one hundred-thousand Service members deployed that year and their numbers surged in 2007. The nation was beginning to recognize the psychological impact of the wars and the number of returning Service members that faced behavioral health challenges. The CDP was created to provide a dedicated source of education and training for mental health providers serving the military.
Since the launch of the CDP, more than two million personnel have deployed, with many Service members deploying multiple times. With increasing deployments came increasing stress levels and accompanying psychological and behavioral health concerns. Without access to behavioral health providers who are in tune with these challenges and tools to address them, these negative effects might persist.
When we began ten years ago, CDP hosted a single course, a two-week-long event covering multiple aspects of the military experience and stress of deployment. In addition, our Deployment Behavioral Health Psychologists were placed to provide focused training for military clinical psychology interns. Since that time, we have grown to include more than a dozen separate programs aimed at effectively disseminating information to providers. We have also undertaken numerous projects aimed at identifying and better understanding how best to encourage professionals to adopt new practices.
CDP has created an extensive list of education and training tools ranging from face-to-face workshops to online webinars and learning tools. Over the years, more than 40,000 providers have accessed CDP workshops or tools on topics including military culture, evidence-based psychotherapies, and clinical issues such as PTSD, depression, and traumatic brain injuries in Service members and Veterans. None of this would be possible without the outstanding work of the team of dedicated professionals who have worked at the CDP over the last ten years.
At CDP, we do what we do because we understand the enormous burden that our Service members, Veterans, and their families bear and the obligation our country has to facilitate their return from combat and to care for their injuries, physical and emotional. Although we have accomplished a lot, we still have a long way to go. In 2014, a RAND survey of more than 500 psychiatrists, psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers found that just 13 percent were deemed ‘cultural competent,’ meaning they understood military mores, language and traditions, and were trained to deliver evidence-based treatments for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. While behavioral health providers can find many sources of training and education, I believe that the expertise and tremendous commitment of the instructors and staff at CDP ensure that providers that attend our programs will be able to offer the military community the best possible care.
Beyond education and training, caring for Service members, veterans, and families requires a community of engaged and connected professionals. Therefore, an important part of our mission is developing a network of support for our military community. CDP works actively with partners in military and civilian health care organizations to build a corps of educated and culturally mindful providers that can support our mission. Through these partnerships, we work to spread the word about our trainings and resources to benefit both civilian and military providers.
At this, our ten-year mark, it can be quite gratifying to look back over our achievements. However, it is more important, and more exciting, to look forward to the opportunities in our future. We look forward to building on our existing partnerships and pursuing new ones. If you work in the field of military behavioral health, we want to get to know you and see how we can work together.
CDP’s vision is one in which all Service members, Veterans, and their families receive quality behavioral health care that meets their unique needs. I want to thank the tremendous faculty and staff of CDP, our committed partners, and all those who have participated in our training for their dedication to this vision and contributions to our continued success.
David Riggs, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair, Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology (MPS) at the Hérbert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland and also serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP).