Understanding Post-Deployment Stress Symptoms: Helping Your Loved Ones

American Psychological Association (APA)/Discovery Health Channel The Road to Resilience

Helping Kids Cope with Deployment

TBI/PTSD Quick Facts

Counseling Services provides mental health services to the active duty and retired population and their family. Counseling Services is staffed with licensed therapists who provide counseling services on topics that include, but are not limited to: Individual/Personal Problems, Substance Abuse, Marital/Family problems, Step Family issues, Parenting/Single Parenting, Separation/Divorce, Anger Management, Child Behavior problems, Stress Management, Sexual Abuse, Challenges of Adolescence, Pre/Post Deployment Issues, and classes on PTSD and Combat Stress. The Community Counseling Center also provides services linked with the Family Advocacy Program, for domestic violence and child abuse issues. Group and individual treatment is available for men and women who have been victims or offenders of violence in their relationships. Trained Victim Advocates provide a variety of confidential services for men and women who find themselves victims of violence.

The following is the LEAD (Lifestyle Enrichment And Development Program) and the six Core Groups (assignment to these groups will be determined by the Community Counseling Center Clinicians):

Camp Lejeune’s Lifestyle Enrichment and Development (L.E.A.D.) program is a series of counseling services designed to help Marines, Sailors, and their families aboard Camp Lejeune improve their own lives and enhance their family and professional relationships.  In addition to the following groups, individual, couples, and family counseling services are available from licensed clinical social workers and marriage and family therapists.  All services are offered at no cost to Marines, Sailors, and their families. 

A six-session series (2 hrs. each session).   Have you ever wondered who is in control-you or someone else?  Do you find yourself in a vicious negative cycle in your relationship?  Are you getting into power    struggles with some you care about to the point your are doing the same things over and over even though  it is not working?  Are wandering what to do about it Are you in control of your emotions  or do your emotions control you?  What does my thinking have to do with anything?  How can my family of origin affect me now?
You are powerful in creating your experiences and in making changes in your life (locus of control).  Real power is acting in your long term best interest.   If you want to make some changes in this area of your life this may be the group for you.   While the series is open to all clients, generally, it is an Incident Determination Committee prerequisite for other group interventions.  It is open to men and women, civilian, active duty personnel.  While it may be appropriate for both husband and wife, the couple must schedule separate sessions at different times.  They cannot attend together.  The focus is on you in the relationship.

This is a single session group (3 hrs). You ever heard the statement if you want to show your children you love them, love their mother (parent). Does my relationship with my spouse affect our children? If so how? Participants will learn about the concerns and impact on children living with domestic conflict and abuse. It is open to men and women, civilian and active duty. Couples may attend together.

Four stand-alone sessions (2 hrs. each) Do your spouse/partner tell you that your not listening? Are you having a hard time expressing feeling. Are you engaging in stinking thinking? Do you have a hard time solving problems. Are you are your  partner always angry? If so, this may be the group for you. It is open to active duty and civilian personnel, married and singles. Couples may attend together.

This is a four-week (2 hrs. each session) intensive process group for males, which will address power and control tactics through an exploration of internalized family and cultural practices and beliefs.
Call Counseling Services for locations and times. 910-451-2864.

The United States Marine Corps Combat Operational Stress Control (COSC) program encompasses all policies and programs to prevent, identify, and holistically treat mental injuries caused by combat or other operations. COSC is one of the priorities of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, to ensure that all Marines and family members who bear the invisible wounds caused by stress receive the best help possible, and that they are afforded the same respect given to the physically injured. The two goals of COSC are to maintain a ready fighting force, and to protect and restore the health of Marines and their family members.  The COSC web-site provides info and resources to assist Marines, Sailors and their families.

The TriWest Health Care Alliance (TriCare West) has a Behavioral Health Portal on their Beneficiary Services web-site.  The “I am a service/family member” link leads to a Welcome page that has the following main links across the top of the frame:  Emotional Well-Being; Deployment; Addiction Recovery; and Child/Adolescent. An in-depth exploration of each of those links uncovers a wealth of information and resources on a wide variety of topics.

The National Resource Directory (NRD) is a one-stop Web resource for wounded, ill and injured Service Members and Veterans, their families, and those who support them. The NRD provides access to more than 11,000 services and resources at the national and state level to support recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration into the community.  It is maintained by the Departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs. The information in the NRD is from federal, state and local governmental agencies; Veteran service and benefit organizations; non-profit and community-based organizations; academic institutions, professional associations and philanthropic organizations.

The Mental Health Self-Assessment Program® (MHSAP) offers service personnel and their families the opportunity to take anonymous, mental health and alcohol use self-assessments online, via the phone, and through special events held at installations. The self-assessments are a brief series of questions that, when linked together, help create a picture of how an individual is feeling.  The program is designed to help individuals identify their own symptoms and access assistance before a problem becomes serious. The self-assessments address posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, generalized anxiety disorder, alcohol use, and bipolar disorder. After completing a self-assessment, individuals receive referral information including services provided by TRICARE, Military OneSource and Vet Centers.  The program, part of the Department of Defense continuum of care, is fully funded by Force Health Protection and Readiness, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Health Affairs.  To take a free, anonymous self-assessment, visit www.MilitaryMentalHealth.org or call 1-877-877-3647.

The Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain Injury web-site has a comprehensive list of web-linked resources on a number of topics.

A number of DoD and VA behavioral health experts created a web-site called AFTERDEPLOYMENT.  Congress mandated that the site focus on the concerns and problems experienced during the initial months following a deployment, and it provides information and exercises to assist the entire military community with common post-deployment problems, such as stress, anger, depression, and relationship issues. While the site does contain a wide variety of reading materials, the developers have strived to build a fully interactive site. There are quizzes, activity vignettes, testimonials, and workshops.

The DoD Deployment Health Clinical Center web-site has a page devoted to Combat Operational Stress that contains a variety of information and resources links, including a link to a video entitled “A Different Kind of Courage” (which can also be found at www.militarymentalhealth.org.)

Military One Source heralds itself as “a 24/7 resource for Military Members, Spouses and Families.”  Users must create a userid and password to unlock the door to a vast array of info, tools and all sorts of resources.

The Leaders Guide for Managing Marines in Distress is designed to provide guidance and tools to leaders on what to look for, what to do and specific resources for helping Marines who are in distress.  It is a quick reference, designed to help leaders at all levels take care of Marines within the unit who are in distress because of their situation or behavior. It covers approximately 40 different problems Marines may face, including sections on Combat Operational Stress, Mental Health Problems and Suicidal Behavior.

The award-winning PBS documentary FRONTLINE report The Soldier’s Heart web-page contains extensive information on combat stress trauma, including full-length videos. Very compelling.

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