The God Factor: Exploring the Roles VHA Chaplains Bear in Providing Human (Spiritual) Services
Bob G. Stover
Southern Adventist University
The God Factor: Exploring the Roles VHA Chaplains Bear in Providing Human (Spiritual) Services
Within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), chaplains play many different roles. Chaplains are not only counselors who contend with the spiritual and religious needs of veterans and their families, they also aid with the emotional, mental, physical, and relational needs of veterans. Recognizing the aid and guidance chaplains give veterans is important in realizing the special utility they serve. In realizing the benefit to veterans and their families, the VA is integrating chaplains into mental health
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For many, this will entail more effectively integrating chaplaincy with mental health care services, an objective that is consistent with the mission of VA (Nieuwsma, & Rhodes 2013). Furthermore, it has been shown that chaplains can, if given the opportunity, play an integral role in the mitigating of mental health issues, and in the caring of veterans seeking help and services for emotional, relational, and mental health-related problems (Nieuwsma, & Rhodes p. 15 2013).
Suicide—a chaplains role. Nowhere are the services of chaplains needed more than in helping those veterans at-risk for suicide. The VA recognizes the important role of chaplains as front-line, mental-health providers for active-duty personnel and veterans, including the chaplain’s role in suicide prevention (Ramchand, Acosta, Burns, Jaycox, & Pernin, 2011). Recently, attention has been paid to the prevailing suicide rate of veterans. In order to combat these rates, the VA and public health professionals have dedicated considerable time and effort to designing and implementing suicide prevention initiatives targeting Veteran populations (Kopacz 2013).
The role that chaplains can play in helping veterans deal with suicidal ideations are immeasurable. Veterans can have a host of problems in relation to their military service that they don’t have the tools to deal with; guilt, hopelessness, shame, despair, and grief to name but a few. A chaplains
This paper is about counselors who choose to work with veterans or those who suffer from PTSD. The topics that will be discussed are the specific job descriptions, the salary one could look to receive, the certification requirements, and the future of this ever growing field.
There are an alarming number of veterans who suffer from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression. The suicide rate on returning veterans is on the rise. In California, service members were killing themselves and family members at an alarming rate. After an investigation, it was apparent that they do not have enough properly trained individuals to over see
Veteran suicide among our soldiers is a distressing and tragic reality. Per the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) http://www.va.gov/opa/docs/Suicide-Data-Report-2012-final.pdf a staggering 22 veterans take their own lives each day. That's a suicide every 65 minutes. This is a heartbreaking truth that has not adequately received the attention it deserves from the civilian world. To add insult to injury http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-0202-veteran-suicide-20150402-story.html tells us that there are two key high-risk groups of soldiers who typically are ineligible for psychiatric care: those forced out of the military for misconduct and those who enlisted but were quickly discharged for other problems. In each of those groups, an average of 46 of every 100,000 former service members committed suicide each
This pilot program is required to be implemented in not less than five Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs). The program includes community oriented veteran peer support networks that will provide peer-support training guidelines and the development of a network of veteran peer-support counselors that are trained and readily available to veterans. Also creation of community outreach team for each medical facility that will assist veterans transitioning into communities, establishment of an veteran transition advisory group to facilitate outreach activities, collaboration with community and government organization to help provide thorough services to veterans, and coordination with the VISNs to carry out an annual mental health summit to assess the veteran mental health programs an care and to develop new means to providing services (Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act, 2015). Evaluation of the community outreach pilot program is required 18 months after its initial inception and the final report is required 90 days before the dissolution. The pilot program is for a term of 3 years (Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act, 2015).
This academic journal states the physiological effects on soldiers who are in the Veteran Affairs Department. This sources states that it is not the negligence of veteran care that causes veterans to commit suicide; however, it is their mental mindset that is driving them to do so. The source provides facts on how the VA works and treats the veterans in the facility. For example, the source provides
The mission statement of the VA Social Workers is to eliminate significant barriers to clients in need and offer interventions for veterans and families. It is accomplished by developing and maintaining integrated, in-depth programs in patient care, research, and education (Hoffer, Elizabeth. F., Dekle, Judith. Ward., & Sheets, Carol., 2014). Its proposed 11 percent to 20 percent of Iraq, Afghanistan veterans as well as 30 percent of Vietnam vets encounter (PTSD) posttraumatic stress disorder traumatic incidents like combat can lead to PTSD, military sexual trauma of military service member, and veterans may possibly deal with depression, anxiety in addition to other mental health concerns. Vets distress from these mental health and cognitive
Second, friends and family need to get their loved ones to a hospital and talking to someone who can professionally help them. Finally, the Veterans Affairs office must educate friends, family, employers, and institutions like colleges and community organizations, as to how best to recognize the signs and symptoms of suicide and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) so that they can get them help sooner rather than later. It is time to stop veteran suicides and to get people to understand that they are the first stepping stone to getting their loved ones the assistance they need. Friends, family, institutions and organizations must appreciate that they are capable of stopping their loved ones from committing suicide on account of the traumas inflicted upon them by military
In the essay, I will conduct a Bio-Psychosocial-Spiritual Assessment on a veteran I been working with that the Department of Veterans Affairs in Little Rock. I will also use the appropriate DSM-V diagnosis, the appropriate evidenced-based practice intervention to match the needs identified for the client. Also I will development of a phase-oriented, culturally responsive, research-informed practice plan that involves diverse practice modalities will also be included. Plus issues of diversity, gender, race, ethics and use of professional self will be explored.
Many veterans are unable to leave behind the trauma of Vietnam and psychologically return home. They struggle with a variety of extremely severe problems that neither they nor their families, friends, or communities knew how to understand
As a consequence of the stresses of war and inadequate job training, when they get out of the service many have fallen behind their contemporaries. If they are fortunate enough to become employed, many of them are unable to hold a job due to untreated PTSD and acquired addictions without services and counseling designed for them. These factors may place our returning veterans at a higher risk of suicide. In 2007, the US Army reported that there were 115 suicides among OIF/OEF veterans. This was the highest number of suicides reported since the Army started keeping track about 30 years ago. In general, the risk for suicide among these veterans was not higher than that found in the U.S. population (Tull). However, there are several programs and 24 hour suicide hotlines available for those that may contemplate committing suicide as an option.
The Air Force lost 38 airmen to suicide in 2008, a rate of 11.5 suicides per 100,000 airmen. The average over the past five years — since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom — was 11 deaths per 100,000 annually. Of the airmen lost in 2008, 95 percent were men and 89 percent were enlisted. Young enlisted men with a rank of E1 to E4 and between the ages of 21 and 25 have the highest risk of suicide. Recently released data indicates that active duty males carry, for the first time in known history, a suicide risk greater than that of comparable males in the general population (Psychotherapy Brown Bag, 2009). This is particularly noteworthy considering that the military entrance process screens out serious mental illness prior to entry onto active duty, and that the rate of suicide in military males has historically been significantly lower than comparable civilian populations. To help
The core mission of the VA’s mental health department is to focus on recovery, this means helping the veteran take charge of their treatment in order to help them live a meaningful
A service member’s emotional and psychological issues are not like malfunctions of a piece of equipment and must not be treated as a troubleshooting problem in a technical manual. And yet this seems to be the only way the military, as a whole, knows how to address the issue of a service members mental health. It requires a holistic approach that is not currently embraced by the military. Historically, the military has been ill-equipped to handle the shifting nature of the psychological issues created by introducing a service member to the battlefield.
Depression is another mental condition that many veterans struggle with. Veterans struggle with depression for a variety of reasons. Some lost close friends, or sometimes even family while fighting. For others, depression is caused by the events that happen after they come home from war. Veterans who have a hard time readjusting to civilian life or struggle with recovering from mental or physical damages often feel a lack of purpose. Albert Gomez, an official at a small vet center in Farmington NM said, “A lot of Veterans long to be back in service even though it is not reasonable because they feel they don’t have a purpose.” Mr. Gomez realizes that this lack of purpose found among veterans is one of the major causes of depression found
After returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are allowed 2 free years of mental health treatment. A survey of the population showed that 31% of 103,788 seen at the Veterans Affairs, VA, Hospital were diagnosed with a mental health or psychosocial disorder of the 31% over half had 2 or more distinct diagnoses. The dropout rates prove that the programs offered are ineffective and have very little strength (Seal, Bertenthal, Miner, Sen, & Marmar, 2007). One community asset that has provided outstanding programs and care to veterans for the past year is Wounded Warrior Project (WWP).