“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” ― Brené Brown Like all other branches of the military, the Army has a number of core values. For us, it creates the mnemonic LDRSHIP: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Read more…
What you talk about you can control, influence and change – David Osborn As I was listening to an episode of the Follow Your Different podcast hosted by Christopher Lochhead, I was struck by this statement by his guest. In that context, entrepreneur David Osborn was talking about money. He Read more…
A friend of mine, Special Operations Soldier, once told me: “It’s one thing to think that fear is weak, that suicide is the coward’s way out. I thought the same way, once. It’s totally different when it happens to you, and you know that you’re not a coward.” When a service Read more…
There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is the same – Chinese Proverb As a young Staff Sergeant in Germany, I had a respected leader tell me: “I don’t care how you skin a rabbit, as long as I get something to eat.” I Read more…
With much of the work that I do with veterans, it’s like we’re still carrying the same loads that we did when we were in the military. The heavy rucksack, the duffle bag drag, the weight on our shoulders…and our mind, our souls. The burden of these weights can be Read more…
No way, pal. You won’t catch me going to the therapist. I’m going to avoid that crap so hard that it hurts. I’m so focused on holding it together that I don’t have time to yap at someone who’s only going to judge me anyway. No thanks, I’ll handle it Read more…
I hear you all ready: “Get out of here with that ‘therapy is about the future, not the past’ crap. Talking about my past is what therapy is all about.” Granted, when a veteran sits down to talk to a mental health professional, they are going to talk about the past. Read more…
It’s impossible to talk about Veteran Mental Health without addressing the elephant in the room: veteran suicide. The crisis surrounding veteran suicide is at epic proportions, and have been for quite a while. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin, has made combating veteran suicide the top clinical priority of Read more…
When talking about veteran mental health, I often talk about the need for balancing different aspects of their lives. I’ve written about finding balance before, specifically looking at how to find equilibrium in your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness. Another aspect of the need for balance is to be Read more…
It was recently announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs is going to start providing emergency mental health support for veterans regardless of discharge. This is a huge step in the right direction for getting all veterans the support they need. This service is going to be provided will be Read more…