Blog posts with the tag "Clinical Skills"

Staff Perspective: The Lingering Why

By Kristyn Heins  on 20.08.2025 10:35 am
Dr. Kristyn Heins

Any parent would tell you the “why” questions start when we are young, usually around two- or three-years-old. The constant need to know the reason behind function, choices, and existence is inherent in us. We want to understand, and maybe if we can understand something, we feel more comfortable with it. The question of “why” helps us understand our surroundings, and this curiosity keeps us learning and growing.

Staff Perspective: Sleep is for the Strong - Empowering Service Members Through Shared Decision Making

By Jaime Rodden  on 13.08.2025 11:52 am

Sleep isn’t just a personal health issue for service members; it’s a mission-critical factor that affects unit cohesion, operational performance, and overall force readiness. Yet for years, military culture sent a different message. Pushing through exhaustion was worn like a badge of honor, and phrases like “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” were all too common. Sleep deprivation was seen as a sign of toughness rather than a threat to mission success. Thankfully, the conversation is shifting.

Staff Perspective: Through SPC Jones’ Eyes - How Stigma Disrupts Mental Health Support for Service Members

By Adria Williams  on 30.07.2025 10:02 am
Dr. Adria Williams

Mental health stigma remains one of the most persistent barriers to care for service members. It operates at multiple levels—internally, socially, and institutionally—limiting help-seeking behavior and impacting readiness and relationships. This four-part fictional vignette follows a day in the life of a junior enlisted soldier. After each act, we explore how different forms of stigma shape the individual’s behavior, relationships, and access to care.

Staff Perspective: Language that Heals, Not Harms

By Annie layden  on 23.07.2025 10:28 am
Annie Layden, LILCSW

Behavioral health providers are crucial in combating the stigma that prevents service members from seeking mental health care. However, providers can inadvertently perpetuate this stigma through their language and tone. Phrases such as “depressed people,” “suffering from,” “mental illness,” or even casual remarks that minimize symptoms can alienate military clients who are already reluctant to engage.

Staff Perspective: Practice makes … improvement … if we are deliberate!

By Jeffrey Mann  on 09.07.2025 9:51 am
Dr. Jeff Mann

Over the last year, I’ve been involved in a research project that looks at the effect of regular consultation on a therapists skill in delivering treatments like Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). Through the course of this project I’ve been thinking a lot about how we as therapists can improve in our craft over time. There is value in general experience, but experience alone is often insufficient to really improve.

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