“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” One of the things that I’ve noticed when working with veterans, and something I’ve experienced myself, is the tendency to feel like we’re about to be discovered as a fraud or a phony. It’s like we’re the Great Oz, building this Read more…
There are some movies that are helpful when trying to explain combat and the impact of experiencing combat to those who haven’t been there. I’m not talking about Hollywood, although I do have a love-hate relationship with war movies. I don’t have the experience of Vietnam, but something tells me Read more…
This post was originally posted as part of the American Counseling Association Blog Project. Original post can be located HERE Consider what it was like when you first realized that you were part of something bigger than yourself. Maybe it was a team in school, or arriving for your first day Read more…
Skip wasn’t the same when he came back from the war. By many accounts, including his own, he was a pretty “good boy” growing up, active in his community, doing well in school. It wasn’t easy growing up in Detroit, he didn’t know his biological father, but he and his Read more…
This post was originally posted as part of the American Counseling Association Blog Project. Original post can be located HERE In a continued effort to expand the topic of veteran mental health beyond PTSD and TBI, I thought that I’d give a deeper look into the mindset of the former military Read more…
Veterans are good at blowing stuff up. For most veterans, blowing stuff up is a skill that is taught in basic training. How to throw a grenade. How to place a Claymore mine. How to fire an AT4, a shoulder-mounted rocket. For some veterans, their occupational specialty taught them how Read more…
This post was originally posted as part of the American Counseling Association Blog Project. Original post can be located HERE As part of this series of articles that explores the psychological impact of a veteran’s military service that goes beyond PTSD and TBI, the concept of Learned Helplessness is a significant factor Read more…
Have you ever experienced the rush of thrill that comes from rapid acceleration? There’s something about going from zero to sixty in less than eight seconds that brings a smile to my face. Hundreds of experiences attempt to capitalize on our human desire for rapid acceleration: roller coasters, skydiving, motorcycles. Read more…
The following post is a collaborative effort by veterans Carl Bishop and Duane France regarding a type of “forgotten veteran” identified in one of Duane’s previous posts, the Reservist and National Guardsman. We hope you enjoy it. In a previous post, I wrote about those veterans who seem to have Read more…
“Man, you just don’t know. A part of me died in that city. I walked in there thinking I was Captain America, and walked out feeling like Doctor Doom.” The changes that happen in people can be stark and startling. Have you ever met someone after a long absence, and Read more…