Healing Our Troops

Current Status:

  • 240+ professionals working with Active Duty, National Guard, Reserves, Veterans and Military Families trained to date
  • Weekly Clinical Supervision groups held for trained Military Health and Mental Health professionals
  • The Defense Center of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Heatlh & Traumatic Brain Injury awarded the Center a $400,000 research grant to study our trauma healing model with veterans returning from Iraq & Afghanistan
  • Certification program with US Navy, Army and Veteran’s Affairs

 

There is a crisis in the mental health of US troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the families to which they return. Suicide and murder rates have risen, as have diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression—now approaching 20%. Higher statistics for abuse, divorce and disturbance among family members show that spouses, significant others and children suffer as well.

Since 2007, the Center has begun bringing the population-wide healing model that has worked so well in traumatized regions overseas to these troops, veterans and their families, by:

  • Training over 240 Military and civilian health providers working with Active Duty Military, Reservists, National Guard and Veterans and their families in mind-body medicine
  • Providing ongoing supervision by Senior Clinical Faculty as training graduates begin facilitating mind-body skills groups in their institutions and communities
     

 

Partnerships with our program include:

Department of Defense (DoD)
Defense Centers of Excellence for Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Healing (DCoE)
National Intrepid Centers of Excellence (NICoE)
The Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED)
US Army Office of the Surgeon General
Office of Psychological health for Navy Medicine
Veterans Integrated Service Network(s) (VISN)

The Center is now listed as a resource in the National Resource Directory, a federal government Web site for wounded, ill and injured Service Members, Veterans, their families, and those who support them.

 
For further information, contact: gtr@cmbm.org

 


 

Mind-Body medicine is specifically geared to help individuals self-regulate the adverse affects of trauma in war.

- Captain Robert Koffman, Director of Psychological Health, US Navy
 

Data collected at the 2008 Initial Training on 72 Military participants revealed improvement in mood, including highly significant decreases in scores for depression, fatigue, anxiety and anger and a significant improvement in vigor.

 
My experience with this training has given me a gut-level belief in the strengths and resources within each of my patients. And, thanks to their experience in the group, my patients are learning to believe in these strengths as well! I only wish everyone could have access to this training.

- Chanel Helgason, MD, Psychiatrist, VA Nebraska Western Iowa Health Care System