Blog posts with the tag "Service Members"

Research at CDP: 2025 USU Research Day

Members of the CDP Research Team, including Jaime Rodden, Sebastian Preilipper, Ariana Bazzi, and Dr. Maegan Willing enjoyed participating in the 2025 USU Research Day. This annual event at the Uniformed Services University serves as a vital platform to promote and highlight the diverse research conducted by students, postdoctoral fellows, and research associates across USU and its affiliate institutions.

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. 

Staff Perspective: Military Families with Children Who Have Special Needs

Dr. Jessica Strong

As a military spouse, mother of three extraordinary military children, and researcher on military families, I know military families and children are resilient. Like many other military families, our story includes cross-country and global moves, navigating the emotional terrain of multiple deployments, making friends and moving away from them, and growing through it all. However, personally and through my research, I also know that resilience isn't an innate characteristic; it's a dynamic quality that is carefully cultivated.

Staff Perspective: Couples Counseling as Preventative Care - A Transitive Model

Dr. Adria Williams

Quick question for my military couples: “How did you make it through the pandemic?” Answers range from “It brought us closer” to “We didn’t.” For me and my husband, the answer was couples counseling. As a therapist, I wish I could say that I share this response with pride. I do say it openly—to model healthy behavior for clients, friends, family, and the public—but inside, I’ve felt a twinge of discomfort. Call it fear (of judgment), doubt (about whether it’ll work for us), or embarrassment (about exposing marital imperfections).

Staff Perspective: Private Sector Providers and Readiness

As a continuation of last week's blog about readiness assessments, we now attempt to answer questions about the civilian providers' role within these assessments. For example, do civilian providers need to make a readiness determination? What does it mean if a civilian provider does make a readiness determination? What if a civilian provider doesn’t want to provide readiness feedback?!

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