The Center for Life Resources is proud to bring a new program for veterans in the Central Texas area. The groups will be led by Douglas Jester who is a combat veteran with 27 years of service in the Air Force and US Army as a helicopter pilot and by Charles Skipping who served in the United States Marine Corp and the Texas National Guard. Group facilitators are trained in the “In the Zone” curriculum.
Tony Cruz, LPC will provide clinical supervision to the program and will also provide counseling to individuals suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder along with Tammy McKelvy, LPC.
Kyndall Ross, Qualified Mental Health Professional, will provide individual services in connecting veterans and their families to resources in the community.
Veterans for veterans support group is for veterans from any era and their family members. Counseling designed for the needs of veterans with PTSD will also be available. Veterans with more specific needs, including housing, employment, and substance abuse, can meet with staff individually.
Current research shows that nearly one-third of the service members returning from OEF or OIF are affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression or traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Over there veterans had their battle buddies to their left and their right, they were trained, they had their mission and they knew what they had to do. Now they are home and a lot has changed. They have changed. It’s increasingly hard to adjust back to “the world” and it’s difficult to talk about what they have been through. A lot of people have good intentions, but they just don’t get where they are coming from.
Veterans need a safe place where they can feel comfortable and accepted in the company of other people with similar military experiences. It is a place where they can freely express themselves and be understood. Veterans may want to talk about the horrible things that they witnessed while down range. No one will judge them because everyone is there to find healing for themselves amongst other peers.
Stuffing memories to hold back feelings of pain and despair is not a good thing. People can only hold things inside for a short time before they begin to affect us negatively. Like physical wounds, emotional wounds need to be cleansed before they can heal. The way to cleanse these wounds is to let the hurt, anger, sorrow, terror and remorse out a little at a time in a safe environment.
Center for Life Resources provides services to an area that 3,322 veterans call home. Any veteran or family member in any of the following counties can receive services: Brown, Eastland, Comanche, Coleman, McCulloch, Mills and San Saba.
Vet to Vet Support Groups will be held at the National Guard Armory in Brownwood, Texas. We plan on expanding group services to all 7 counties. Individual services are immediately available.
The first meet-and-greet group will be June 22, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. Thereafter, groups will be weekly on Tuesdays at 6PM. The state grant that is funding theses services will expire on August 2011.
Contact Tony Cruz or Kyndall Witcher at 325-646-9574 for any questions about services.
Email : vetservices@ctmhmr.hhscn.org
Twitter: centraltxvets
Facebook: Vet to Vet Support in Central Texas
Pictured left to right: Doug Jester, Charles Skipping, Kyndall Ross and Tony Cruz.
