Blog posts with the tag "Staff Perspective"

Staff Perspective: Growing Stronger Together

Dr. Shantel Fernandez Lopez

Military-connected children often demonstrate remarkable strength and resilience, thriving through many changes and transitions. However, they also belong to a population that experiences unique stressors such as frequent relocations, long separations from extended family, and having to adjust to new schools and environments repeatedly. While this lifestyle brings opportunities, such as exposure to diverse cultures and friendships around the world, it also may pose some challenges like disrupted routines, interrupted education, emotional strain, and family stress.

Staff Perspective: The Nightly Struggle - Untangling Rumination and Sleep

Dr. Linda Thompson

You're in bed. The lights are off, the world outside is quiet, but your mind refuses to wind down. You've done everything you're meant to do, hidden your phone, kept the room cool, perhaps even tried the deep breathing trick, but sleep simply won't come. Instead, your mind insistently keeps cycling through something that is already in the past: an awkward conversation, a missed opportunity, some annoying regret.

Staff Perspective: Helping Clients Slay their Dragons through Therapeutically Applied Role-Playing Games (TA-RPGs)

Dr. Brian Ludden

When the world shut down in 2020, I found freedom and healing not in my living room—but in a forgotten forest, as a chaotic hero with a big sword and even bigger self-doubts. It is early March of 2020, and an unprecedented event is taking place around the world. A global pandemic on a scale that few living today have ever experienced has halted daily life as we know it. The world has shut down and for many of us the way we interact with our jobs has changed drastically.

Staff Perspective: Cleats, Jerseys and “Kicking Balls” - Finding a Sense of Belonging

As Month of the Military Child (April) comes to an end and Military Spouse Appreciation (May) begins, I have been reflecting on my experience as a military spouse. The old adage, “it takes a village” comes to mind in relation to these experiences and how “my village” has helped me cope with the challenges of military life. With another pending PCS and not looking forward to the stress of moving, I take pause to appreciate the opportunities for new connections each duty station has brought.

Staff Perspectives: Never Have I Ever…Been a Military Dependent

Allison Hannah, LCSW, MSW

I’m a military spouse—a dependent, as we are often referred to in the military community. That word frequently comes with a sting, implying passivity, lack of contribution, and sometimes even entitlement. But my story, like many others, is much more complex than being defined by a label. 

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