Since 2001, more than 2.6 million U.S. military personnel have been deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. Between 2001 and 2016, more than 350,000 cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI) have been diagnosed in active duty Service members, most of which are concussive TBI (cTBI), also known as mild TBI.
Thinking about relationship, and always looking for a new slant that captures imagination, creativity and makes me pause to identify and question long-held beliefs, I decided to write a review of a new book that did exactly that. Dr. Brene Brown is a qualitative grounded theory researcher who develops theories based on peoples lived experiences rather than proving or disproving existing theories. In the midst of an era of disconnection, she speaks of cultivating community and the power of belonging.
If you have ever worked with a combat Veteran, at some point you have heard frustration from both the Veteran and family members about their communication specific to details about combat experiences. I was recently listening to a patient of mine with this common problem, and he put it very well – “I should tell my wife everything. But I don’t…. I can’t. It is too much to pile on her, and it would hurt her. So I don’t. I push her away instead, block her questions out so my pain won’t be her pain.” Listening to him, and all the others with similar statements, always seems to take me back to the first time I explained this issue with a patient and his family.
It’s easy to say “I support the troops.” It’s quite another thing to leave your family during the holidays, travel 24 hours to the other side of the world, clear multiple levels of security, and provide free entertainment to deployed Service members. However, this is what the band Soul Asylum did recently. In late December, I talked with lead guitarist Ryan Smith about performing for Service members, morale abroad, and the experience of being a civilian visitor in a deployed setting.
Various theories of psychotherapy have long highlighted the importance of developing individualized treatment plans developed to meet the idiographic needs of the individual person. Decades of research have also supported the positive impact of patient-provider collaboration, which has yielded benefits to include increased sense of empowerment, autonomy, and satisfaction with treatment (Slade, 2017). Collaboration in treatment has led to improved treatment compliance and engagement, thereby producing enhanced treatment outcomes (Patel et al., 2008).