Certain mottos stick with us from the moment we begin learning life skills. For me, one of the earliest was "be prepared," a principle I carried from my days as a Girl Scout into my military career. This motto emphasizes the importance of readiness and adaptability, key components of resilience.
At the beginning of my career as a mental health counselor, I worked primarily in school and community-based settings, focusing on the struggles and stressors experienced by military-connected students and their families. The work I did with young people was related to typical school-aged concerns, ranging from the mostly innocuous worries about an upcoming test or the severe struggles with bullying, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and grief and loss. While working in the school system as a Military-Connected Student Support Specialist under a Department of Defense Educational Activities (DoDEA) grant, I had the opportunity to attend the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) Annual Conference for several years.
There have been several points in my career where I was the sole (or sole pediatric) provider in a particular area. I remember those periods with a mixture of emotions: gratitude for the opportunity to serve those in need coupled with concern that I lacked geographically close colleagues or referral options for my patients. Consultation with colleagues (usually far away) was a lifeline and a way to ensure I offered the best evidence-based care I could, especially when patients were on long waitlists for referrals to other specialists who needed to be involved in their care. Nonetheless, at times I felt like I was operating within the echo chamber of my mind (pun intended).
In this blog, Jennifer Nevers, MSW, LCSW gives us a glimpse into her personal story of navigating family life during a drill weekend as an Army National Guard Soldier. She shares her experiences with logistical challenges, family-work life balance, expanding her support system, and finding connections through her lived experiences of military life.
In last week’s blog, my colleague April Thompson shared about military family well-being during the military-to-veteran transition. The military-to-veteran transition is just one of the many transitions that military families experience. Today I want to talk about another transition many active duty military families experience regularly, frequent moves, and how it impacts the education of military children. It feels like an appropriate focus given that April is the Month of the Military Child. I will also share several resources that I have found to be helpful as a psychologist, a military spouse, and a parent of a military child.