title: No one leaves unchanged: insights for civilian mental health care professionals into the military experience and culture.
abstract: This article aims to elucidate an understanding of military culture and experience, so as to better frame the services offered by civilian clinicians. Service members indoctrinated into such an influential culture can experience adjustment problems upon reentry into the larger society, and thus professional counselors and social workers must be ready to address the reintegration process with veteran clients. Furthermore, this article highlights a few of the major mental health concerns that are prevalent in combat veterans, especially for those returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), and presents a brief overview of treatment modalities implemented both within and outside of the military. Practical therapeutic suggestions for clinicians with little or no knowledge of the military are discussed. The objective is to educate and prepare civilian mental health practitioners to administer culturally sensitive prevention and intervention services to meet the unique needs of this population.
authors.affiliation: School of Education and Social Services, Saint Leo University, Florida, USA. Coll@usc.edu
authors.forename: Jose E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Coll
authors.forename: Eugenia L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Yarvis
mesh_terms: D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D012947:Social Work / Q000379:methods*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology