Soldiers Project-Sacramento responds
to the ‘invisible wounds of war’
Hundreds of soldiers -- men and women, most of them young, of all races, colors and creeds --are coming home every day from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many are not coming home whole, ready to resume their lives within the family and in the workplace. Instead, they’re coming home in pieces, shattered by wartime experiences no other American troops have ever been forced to endure.
While the physical injuries may be horrific, the mental and emotional effects can be even longer lasting and more pervasive. They can take a toll not just on the soldier, but on his family members, friends and even the community at large, as well.
It’s these “invisible wounds of war” –including post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury -- thatthe volunteers at The Soldiers Project-Sacramento are determined to address.
The Soldiers Project-Sacramento, one of eight satellites affiliated with the primary Soldiers Project non-profit organization in Los Angeles, is dedicated to providing free, ongoing, confidential psychological therapy for active-duty military and veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as their family members and loved ones.
Launched in 2009, TSP-Sacramento serves a region that includes eight counties in Northern California. We are an all-volunteer force of about 40 licensed clinicians who have provided over 500 hours of free, one-on-one treatment to more than 100 soldier-patients since the beginning of 2011.
About a dozen non-clinical volunteers work in other capacities such as community and veteran outreach, peer programs, volunteer recruitment, marketing, publicity and grant writing.
Since psychiatrist Judith Broder established The Soldiers Project nucleus in L.A. about seven years ago, the organization has focused on providing one-on-one therapy, a type of treatment that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is not equipped to offer.
While that mission is still primary at TSP-Sacramento, earlier this year our steering committee recognized that an underserved community of military family members and loved ones existed. With that in mind, we introduced Family Ties, a free on-going treatment program that meets for six weekly sessions in a group setting. But Family Ties doesn’t just offer therapy – it also provides a support network for military kin who need help finding financial, educational and career resources.
Upon completion of the six-week Family Ties program, participants may opt to establish a peer-to-peer support group after receiving additional training. Together, Family Ties and its peer-to-peer offshoots hope to proliferate and positively impact the lives of military families, a growing constituency here in the Sacramento region.
Family Ties just completed its second six-week cycle and will begin its third session on Oct. 13. About a family members and returning veterans have completed the program.
Dirk Ellena is one of those veterans who went through six weeks of Family Ties counseling. The 29-year-old former Marine has also worked with a TSP-Sacramento therapist one-on-one for about a year and credits that treatment for making him whole again.
“I got remarried two weeks ago and I can absolutely, positively say that without The Soldiers Project (Sacramento) I wouldn’t have been able to maintain that relationship,” he stated.
As a medical corpsman in Iraq, Ellena saw some of his buddies badly injured and killed. Physically injured himself, he returned home in 2008 suffering from PTSD, panic attacks and nightmares brought on by a bad case of survivor’s guilt, he said. He was homeless and jobless and even ended up in an in-patient psychiatric ward a couple of times.
Ellena said his TSP-Sacramento therapist “helped me rework how I look at things and my place in that. She helped me understand the recurring theme of my dreams. Talking with her helped me come to peace about it.”
One of the most important aspects of Ellena’s therapy was setting up preventive maintenance plans “that help keep things in check,” he said. “I make sure I get a good night’s sleep, that I exercise every day and eat healthy and meditate.”
Another TSP-Sacramento client is even blunter about how one-on-one therapy made a difference personally.
“I wouldn’t be here today without The Soldiers Project,” said Mike Hensley, 28, who at one time seriously considered taking his own life.
At a point where he was seriously depressed and cared little about himself or other, Hensley hadn’t slept in four days. He called the suicide hotline and was put on hold for five minutes.
“Some people don’t have five minutes to wait on hold,” said Hensley, who served one tour in Iraq as a combat engineer. He mentioned the startling number of suicide attempts made by VA-treated veterans. “It makes me wonder how many would survive if they could have confidential one-on-one therapy like The Soldiers Project offers.”
While Hensley acknowledged that TSP-Sacramento doesn’t handle crisis interventions, he said the individual therapy “provides you with the resources to withstand stress and give yourself better self-care. I was better able to know what was going on” and not follow through on his suicidal thoughts, he said.
Ellena and Hensley are just two of several hundred soldier-clients who have felt the positive effects of one-on-one therapy through The Soldiers Project-Sacramento over the past two years. We expect to treat hundreds more like them over the next few years as thousands of soldiers come home suffering from the “invisible wounds of war.”
We want to continue making a difference in the lives of military families throughout the Sacramento region. With the help of the Joining Forces Community Challenge, we believe we can do just that.
10/1/11