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Being Part of the Solution


HOME Practitioner Directory For Veterans For Practitioners About Us Contact Us Additional Resources -------------------------------------- Washington Post Investigates Troops' Mental Health Care Saturday, 16 June 2007 In a series of articles beginning June 16, 2007, Washington Post reporters have written in-depth stories and a special report on mental health care among returning troops. The first article, entitled "Pentagon Report Criticizes Troops' Mental-Health Care," may be found here (www.washingtonpost.com). The special report, the product of an ongoing investigation, describes how troops are returning from the battlefield with psychological wounds but encountering a mental health system, specifically at Walter Reed Hospital, that makes healing difficult. Click here for the full report. The latest story reports that top officials in the Bush administration are calling for the federal government to revamp the nation's system for identifying and caring for military personnel with the invisible wounds of mental illness. Click here for the complete article.	About Us We are an eclectic group of mind/body practitioners concerned about the welfare of our US veterans and families. It is not our intention to debate the correctness of the wars that affect our troops and their families. We care about the human beings involved. From front-line troops to support element troops to their husbands and wifes to the children left at home, we care about them all. It doesn't matter to us if you are a general or a private putting your life on the line thousands of miles away from home and loved ones. It doesn't matter to us if you are the husband or wife of a sailor or a soldier or a marine or an airman. Bullets and shrapnel don't care if you are a nice guy/girl or that you are brave and courageous. And we don't either. Recent reports of soldiers and sailors, marines and airmen receiving less than appropriate care for their psychological injuries prompted us to rise to the occasion and offer these fellow countrymen and women the finest we could give them - at no cost to them. These sessions with professional healers are not introductory sessions - they are real, complete, life-changing sessions. Some of our practitioners will offer veterans and their family members complete packages of sessions free of charge - or at substantially reduced prices from their normal session fees (veterans and family members will have to make such arrangements with the individual practitioner with whom they work). It is a common belief in the mind/body healing community that monetary investment in a client's healing is part of the treatment. It is a proven psychological verity that clients heal faster when they invest in their own healing. Money simply represents a flow of psychic energy. In this case we encourage our practitioners to suggest ways in which veterans and their family members receiving sessions can donate their time and expertise to their communities as a way of exercising the psychological exchange of energy - and thus investing in their own healing process. Who Are We? We offer many years of experience in the mind/body holistic healing arena. Literally millions of people have benefitted from the services of our member practitioners. Billions of dollars are spent each year for "alternative" and "complementary" healing services known as mind/body healing. The reason: it's effective! Because we believe in a holistic approach to healing, we seek to treat the whole person and the systems in which they operate - their environments. That means families. For many, the war continues to rage within them long after the conflict is over. It is our intent to spread peace through healing. Maybe NOW is the time to declare PEACE throughout the land. We seek to be part of that solution. Joseph Bennette, MRET, CHt, SFC, USA (ret.)	Healing Warriors Almost a Third of Frontline Soldiers Suffer Mental Wounds A RECENTLY released Pentagon survey found that 30 percent of soldiers who have experienced heavy combat in Iraq also experienced mental health problems. The fraction is lower, but still high, for soldiers serving outside high combat areas -- 20 percent. Lengthy deployments and inadequate time for rest and relaxation magnify the intensity of the conflict. And those who serve multiple tours are yet more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental ailments. Yet soldiers who return from grinding combat in Iraq or Afghanistan with sometimes debilitating mental illnesses often have to contend with outdated rules and bureaucratic hassles to get the compensation and treatment that they deserve -- and sometimes do not get either. Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) offered one way to better the system last week. The legislators introduced a bill that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer outreach and support to returned soldiers. To ensure that these services are widely available, the VA would contract with local health centers to provide services to veterans in areas far from VA facilities. It would also organize groups of veterans to conduct peer outreach to minimize the stigma some attach to mental health treatment. More reforms are necessary. The Institute of Medicine, an advisory group that the VA asked to assess its treatment and benefits policies for PTSD, reports that the government's system for assessing disability benefits for those suffering from mental disorders is inconsistent and dated and may even discourage patients from getting the help they need. In particular, the institute stresses, the assessment of benefits for those suffering from PTSD is tied to whether a patient has a job. This probably discourages PTSD sufferers from seeking employment -- an important part of returning to normal life -- while preventing those who work from getting care they need. The Pentagon should improve NCO training and mental health surveillance in the field. The VA's benefits adjudication system, meanwhile, must consider more than just a PTSD patient's fitness for work, hardly the only indicator of mental fitness, and gear the system to encourage veterans to get the help they need.
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Honor-a-veteran.org is TOTALLY free of charge. It is not a 501(c) non-profit organization or a religious group of any kind. It is offered as a service to humanity by Joseph Bennette, SFC (USA, Ret.), MRET, CHt, and as an example of what people can do when their hearts and minds are set on peace and goodwill.