Our Motivation
Research shows that member-run, mutual support groups are as effective as professionally run psychoanalytic groups, and sometimes even exceed the positive effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Peer support groups help consumers better understand and cope with trauma they experienced and the effect(s) it has on them and their families. Our peer support group promotes psychosocial processes that enable an individual to become more aware of his or her interactions within his or her own environment. Inner-focused group processes help members learn relaxation and anger control skills among other things and consumers identify and learn to deal with guilt, shame, and other feelings about bad events. We offer Mary Ellen Copeland's Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) for Veterans and Active Military to individual consumers as a voluntary exercise toward wellness and recovery. Through WRAP, members can focus on understanding and changing how they react to their own symptoms. Another mechanism of our peer-support group is that we also (as indicated) refer veterans to other existing helping professionals that can help them too-all of these components are brought together in our group and help participants feel better than veterans that go untreated.

If a soldier has been sent into harms way and was subsequently injured either physically or emotionally in the process, then he or she has the right to file a claim with the Veterans Administration (VA) for compensation and/or appropriate medical care. Besides learning to talk about traumatic events, a second result of this type of group intervention is that assistance filing claims is provided through referrals to Nationally Accredited County Veterans Service Officers (NACVSO) and individuals affected by injuries such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can support each other through the process.

Often, veterans do not file claims with the VA because the wounds they suffer from are invisible such as PTSD and TBI. Another reason they often do not seek help is because of the perceived stigma attached to seeking mental health care. Because affected veterans sometimes just want to forget the memories and feelings they experienced, they may bury them deep in their own psyche and (sometimes successfully) just stop thinking about them altogether. A result of the denial of bad events is to go untreated. This is an approach that can devastate an individual and leave him or her totally disabled.

Our government has acknowledged its responsibility to those who served in the armed forces by creating the bureaucratic institution we call the VA. Sadly, it often takes a year or longer for decisions that may have life and death implications for claimants to be rendered. It is a cold and unfeeling institution that can seem daunting to consumers. The claims process is typical of what you would expect from such a huge organization- little is done electronically and a myriad of official forms used daily can only be filed on paper and (literally) in triplicate; client records are cumbersome and redundant with copies traveling by courier between offices, and they are stored in complex archives. As a result paperwork is often misfiled or mislabeled and veteran's claims are sometimes lost in the process. It is an inefficient system that is slow to change and seemingly difficult for consumers to navigate on their own. Our group provides a starting point for Atlantic County veterans to deal with the VA.

The average veteran that is afflicted with PTSD may not be too eager to re-kindle bad memories of war experiences with others they feel will not understand, and many veterans do not have the know-how to enter into the VA system on their own to file an effective claim for health care or compensation. However, PTSD affects more than just the veteran alone. It touches the lives of husbands and wives, friends, employers, moms, dads, sons and daughters. Often, family and friends see the outward signs of combat operations stress before the veteran realizes that he or she has a real problem. Family and friends of veteran's suffering from PTSD may be able to influence and support them enough to seek help at a veterans-for-veterans group such as ours.

The veteran needs to know that it is ok to have strong feelings both good and bad about their time in the service and it is not unusual for them to feel like their life is different now that they are home again. It may help them to know that these intense feelings are to be expected and it will help them to talk with others facing the same challenges.

We believe that consumers respond favorably speaking with other like-minded veterans borne of their own military culture. In a group like this, the ecology of the veteran population and their consequent general distrust of the VA system resultant from their military service experiences are taken into account. Regarding veterans obtaining basic human services, credibility and trust are important advantages that non-profit organizations such as MHAAC Veterans Network has over federal or state agencies in offering consumers links and referrals to veteran's services.

This self-help, member-run group is offered to consumers as a veteran's network where we will also provide advocacy, education and support. It is marketed as a veteran's network so as to not mislead potential consumers of professionally run psychotherapy or "talk therapy" counseling with a professional therapist, where clients recollect the traumatic events in a safe way and learn to deal with them without experiencing stress. However, we do offer Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) as described by Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD in her book Wellness Recovery Action Plan For Veterans and People in the Military to consumers as a voluntary self-management and recovery system. This plan focuses on client strengths and wellness and offers a direction that is consistent with a social work strengths perspective.

The goal of this intervention with the Atlantic County veteran population is to make them appreciate the fact that the feelings and emotions they are having upon coming home are not abnormal. They should understand that there are like-minded individuals always available who can help them feel better. If they talk about their own feelings and experiences with others and participate in a group healing process they will feel better. Also, they may be eligible for VA health benefits and/or compensation for injuries sustained such as PTSD or TBI if they file a claim with the VA through a veteran's service officer. The ultimate objective of our group is to help veterans help themselves so they can lead lives unhindered by bad memories and feelings they do not understand.