Formerly entitled: Therapy Tools for Successful Reintegration for Veterans and Their Families

Friday, April 18, 2014 from 9:00 am –4:30 pm at MSPP

Coordinator: Robert Dingman, EdD, Director, Military and Veterans Psychology, MSPP

This training event will showcase emerging perspectives and strategies for meeting the mental health needs of veterans and their family members.  Following introductory remarks by President Nicholas Covino, the program will feature our morning keynote address by John Bradley, MD, who will speak for one hour about trends and practices in treatment at VA facilities, and also about suicide prevention.  Following will be five morning break-out panel presentation/discussion groups, each with four panelists and one MSPP faculty facilitator.  

Panels will focus on the following topics:

1) Working with Severe Symptoms (trauma, substance abuse, suicidal risk)

2) Working with Women Veterans

3) Veterans' Recovery and Peer Interventions

4) Legal Problems Impacting Veterans’ Mental Health, and

5) Working with Children and Families of Veterans

Area experts working in Veteran Hospitals, Veteran Centers, and non-profits will sit on these panels.  Panels will have experts on topics as diverse as suicide prevention, veteran homelessness, military sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, family bereavement, veteran peer counseling, and traumatic brain injury.  Each panelist will have 15 to 20 minutes to present their work.  This will be followed by prepared questions for the panel by the facilitator.  The last 30-45 minutes of the session will be include audience participation and Q&A.  

Morning panels will be followed by a 90-minute lunch break.  This break will include the option for all attendees to witness a panel discussion among four MSPP student veterans.  This panel, facilitated by our student veteran leader, Rob Chester, will highlight the personal experience of our veteran students in reintegrating into civilian and academic life.  There will be time in this part of the day for audience interaction with the veterans as well. 

In order to maximize attendee learning, the afternoon session will offer, for a second time, the panels outlined above. A brief, 30-minute wrap-up with all attendees and panelists will end the day, facilitated by MSPP faculty. S

Specific learning objectives:

1.     To increase attendees cultural competence when working with veterans and their families.

2.     To raise awareness in attendees of emerging paradigms and interventions in responding to trauma, substance abuse, military sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, and family distress associated with deployment and return to civilian life.

3.     To inform attendees of legal issues facing many veterans that complicates or compromises their mental health.

4.     To sensitize attendees to risks, challenges, and rewards of engaging therapeutically with veterans and their families.

Program Code: CH14
6 CE Credits | $135