thedrifter
08-10-08, 05:30 AM
Navy families to get help dealing with deployment
UCLA teams with military to provide support services
By Rachel McGrath
Correspondent
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Military families stationed at Naval Base Ventura County will be given more support services to deal with the emotional and psychological effects of long-term deployment and combat readiness, officials said.
Beginning in September, a three-person team specializing in "resiliency-building" will be based at the chaplains' offices at Port Hueneme in what officials describe as "a unique partnership" between academics at UCLA and the military.
"We started getting lots of questions from military mental health leadership and the then-director of psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2003," said Dr. Patricia Lester, director of the FOCUS project which is based at the Semel Institute at UCLA. "It was thought that some lessons we'd learned in other contexts could help inform the military experience."
Lester, a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, developed a customized program in response to the unique deployment experiences of military personnel since the start of the war on terror, and the program was piloted at Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps base, during 2004 and 2005.
"We want to give families the tools early on, when the stress is moderate, to be able to address specific questions, such as how to prepare for a parent's deployment and how to deal with a parent who has post-traumatic stress issues," Lester said.
For example, Lester said, the FOCUS program, which stands for Families OverComing Under Stress, is designed to help children understand and cope with a parent who has returned from active duty and has problems readjusting to family life, and help family members communicate with each other about why a parent is very sad or jumpy or afraid of loud noises and how to deal with that.
Such simple suggestions as explaining to a child not to run up at dad from behind or jump on him because he is still in war mode and wary, can help the family readjust, Lester said.
Private money supported the early years of the FOCUS project. But last year, the Department of Defense decided to fund the program on a larger scale in response to demands to provide greater support for military personnel suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and for their families.
In March, the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery made funding available for the program at six Marine and Navy installations, including the Seabee base at Gulfport, Miss.
In July, it was decided to increase the funding to allow the program to be established for Seabees stationed at Port Hueneme and for Marines at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms.
Navy Capt. David Fleisch, chief staff officer at Naval Base Ventura County, said that unlike Army personnel, Seabees have always faced regular deployments because of what they do.
"The only thing that's really changed for us is where they are deploying to," he said. "It's one thing to deploy to Japan. It's another to be in a convoy for up to six months being shot at."
Fleisch said the services offered by the FOCUS project staff will add a dimension to the already very active family support programs available on the base.
He said he welcomes the addition of new resources, which serve to reinforce the idea that it is OK for military personnel and their families to seek support and counseling.
"When it's understood that it's acceptable and common, it's easier for people to ask and to get the help they need," he said.
About 40 percent of U.S. service members are parents, according to official estimates, and the FOCUS project is aimed specifically at families.
The new service is expected to begin at Port Hueneme in September and will offer free counseling sessions for parents and children during a six- to eight-week period.
"I think there really is a big sea change within the military and they are starting to see that the health and readiness of members is embedded in the health and readiness of the family," she said. "These are challenges that they haven't had to deal with before."
Ellie
UCLA teams with military to provide support services
By Rachel McGrath
Correspondent
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Military families stationed at Naval Base Ventura County will be given more support services to deal with the emotional and psychological effects of long-term deployment and combat readiness, officials said.
Beginning in September, a three-person team specializing in "resiliency-building" will be based at the chaplains' offices at Port Hueneme in what officials describe as "a unique partnership" between academics at UCLA and the military.
"We started getting lots of questions from military mental health leadership and the then-director of psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2003," said Dr. Patricia Lester, director of the FOCUS project which is based at the Semel Institute at UCLA. "It was thought that some lessons we'd learned in other contexts could help inform the military experience."
Lester, a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, developed a customized program in response to the unique deployment experiences of military personnel since the start of the war on terror, and the program was piloted at Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps base, during 2004 and 2005.
"We want to give families the tools early on, when the stress is moderate, to be able to address specific questions, such as how to prepare for a parent's deployment and how to deal with a parent who has post-traumatic stress issues," Lester said.
For example, Lester said, the FOCUS program, which stands for Families OverComing Under Stress, is designed to help children understand and cope with a parent who has returned from active duty and has problems readjusting to family life, and help family members communicate with each other about why a parent is very sad or jumpy or afraid of loud noises and how to deal with that.
Such simple suggestions as explaining to a child not to run up at dad from behind or jump on him because he is still in war mode and wary, can help the family readjust, Lester said.
Private money supported the early years of the FOCUS project. But last year, the Department of Defense decided to fund the program on a larger scale in response to demands to provide greater support for military personnel suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and for their families.
In March, the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery made funding available for the program at six Marine and Navy installations, including the Seabee base at Gulfport, Miss.
In July, it was decided to increase the funding to allow the program to be established for Seabees stationed at Port Hueneme and for Marines at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms.
Navy Capt. David Fleisch, chief staff officer at Naval Base Ventura County, said that unlike Army personnel, Seabees have always faced regular deployments because of what they do.
"The only thing that's really changed for us is where they are deploying to," he said. "It's one thing to deploy to Japan. It's another to be in a convoy for up to six months being shot at."
Fleisch said the services offered by the FOCUS project staff will add a dimension to the already very active family support programs available on the base.
He said he welcomes the addition of new resources, which serve to reinforce the idea that it is OK for military personnel and their families to seek support and counseling.
"When it's understood that it's acceptable and common, it's easier for people to ask and to get the help they need," he said.
About 40 percent of U.S. service members are parents, according to official estimates, and the FOCUS project is aimed specifically at families.
The new service is expected to begin at Port Hueneme in September and will offer free counseling sessions for parents and children during a six- to eight-week period.
"I think there really is a big sea change within the military and they are starting to see that the health and readiness of members is embedded in the health and readiness of the family," she said. "These are challenges that they haven't had to deal with before."
Ellie