Recently I was invited to attend a lecture by LTC (Ret.) Dave Grossman titled “The Psychological Effect of Combat.” I knew of LTC Grossman because so many of my military clients raved about his books, On Killing and On Combat. I was intrigued to see him speak, but was also quite skeptical about his message and expected to disagree with him at every turn.
Over the last several years there has been an increased emphasis on providing evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs) in military and Veteran healthcare environments to treat PTSD. The Institute of Medicine (2007) produced a report indicating that the DoD and VA lacked evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of the treatments they are providing. The report was not suggesting the treatments themselves were not effective, but simply that both the VA and DoD did not have a system in place for measuring the effectiveness of the treatment in those environments. Further inquiry in a variety of studies indicated that only a small portion of individuals diagnosed with PTSD even received EBPs.
To “group” or not to “group”…. Have you ever found yourself asking that question as a provider? There is, of course, the general concept of group theory and what patients work best in a group and those that don’t. It can be easy to spot people who will not interact with others well, to one extreme or the other. But it can be harder as a provider to determine the more intricate question of what type of behavioral health problem can be better served in a group format instead of individual.
In Part 1 of this blog titled, Pondering the Question of Prescribed Cannabis Use and the Potential Effect on Trauma and Stressor-Related Treatment, I closed by saying that while research is being conducted currently on this issue, there is no study of marijuana use in the Veteran population. I am happy to report that research with 76 Veteran participants who have treatment-resistant PTSD was approved by the DEA and is underway.
Most military couples would agree that military life offers a fair number of challenges. I reached out to some “real life” experts – military couples who have been around the block a time or two – to learn from their wealth of experience. Their marriages have collectively seen hundreds of deployments, PCSs, TDYs, and other major military family events – they have experienced ups, downs, and in-betweens – and they have some amazing stories to tell. I asked them to share the greatest challenges they have faced as military couples and the survival strategies that have kept them going.