Resources for Troops & Veterans, Families, & Clinicians


Ken Pope, Ph.D., ABPP

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Resources for Troops & Veterans, Their Families, & Those Who Provide Services to Them

 

Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D., ABPP

 

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I collected the following resources to make them more easily available to military troops and veterans, their families, and those who work with them.

The resources I've gathered fall into 3 groups:

First, there are 43 citations of recent articles and books on such topics as combat trauma, resilience, deployment's impact on troops & their families, the challenges of returning home after discharge, bereavement, and providing clinical services to troops and their families. To maintain a focus on recent and emerging works, I've limited the publications in this section to those published in 2017-2020.

Second, there are links to 27 helpful organizations and programs, such as aid and assistance programs for each branch of the service, Operation Military Support, Military Spouse Career Center, Seamless Transition for Veterans returning from Iraq & Afghanistan, Disabled American Veterans, Veteran Employment site, legal information & resources for military personnel and their families, U.S. Defense & Veterans Brain Injury Center, National Military Family Association, Operation Family Fund, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, & Operation Paperback.

Third, 14 there are links to United States military organizations.

This collection is not meant to be comprehensive but rather a starting point, especially for those in remote geographic areas or otherwise without convenient access to these materials. Because there is such a vast literature in such broad areas as trauma, bereavement, disability, assessment, therapy, and rehabilitation, the resources below are limited to those that focus exclusively on the military troops, veterans, and their families.

43 Recent Articles & Books (published in 2017-2020)

  1. Anestis, J. C., Harrop, T. M., Green, B. A., & Anestis, M. D. (2017). Psychopathic personality traits as protective factors against the development of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in a sample of national guard combat veterans. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 39(2), 220-229. .

  2. Armstrong, Christina M., Ortigo, Kile M., Avery-Leaf, Sarah N., & Hoyt, Tim V. (2019). Cultural considerations in using mobile health in clinical care with military and veteran populations. Psychological Services, 16(2), 276-280.

  3. Bovin, Michelle J., Miller, Christopher J., Koenig, Christopher J., Lipschitz, Jessica M., Zamora, Kara A., Wright, Patricia B., Burgess Jr, James F. (2019). Veterans’ experiences initiating VA-based mental health care. Psychological Services, 16(4), 612-620

  4. Britton, P. C., Bohnert, K. M., Ilgen, M. A., Kane, C., Stephens, B., & Pigeon, W. R. (2017). Suicide mortality among male veterans discharged from Veterans Health Administration acute psychiatric units from 2005 to 2010. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 1-7.

  5. Bryan, J. L., Hogan, J., Martin, L. A., Boykin, D., McKinley, B., Day, S. C., et al. (2019). Engaging veteran stakeholders in creating veteran-centric direct-to-consumer marketing for disseminating a web-based treatment for military sexual trauma (Vol. 5, pp. 355-364). US: Educational Publishing Foundation.

  6. Carlson, M., Endlsey, M., Motley, D., Shawahin, L. N., & Williams, M. T. (2018). Addressing the impact of racism on veterans of color: A race-based stress and trauma intervention. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 748-762.

  7. Chen, Cory K., Nehrig, Nicole, Wash, Lauren, & Wang, Binhuan. (2020). The impact of brief dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT) on veteran depression and anxiety. Psychotherapy, 57(3), 464-468.

  8. Disner, S. G., Kramer, M. D., Nelson, N. W., Lipinski, A. J., Christensen, J. M., Polusny, M. A., et al. (2017). Predictors of postdeployment functioning in combat-exposed U.S. Military veterans. Clinical Psychological Science, 5(4), 650-663.

  9. Doherty, A. M., Mason, C., Fear, N. T., Rona, R., Greenberg, N., & Goodwin, L. (2017). Are brief alcohol interventions targeting alcohol use efficacious in military and veteran populations? A meta-analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 178, 571-578.

  10. Elnitsky, C. A., Blevins, C. L., Fisher, M. P., & Magruder, K. (2017). Military service member and veteran reintegration: A critical review and adapted ecological model (pp. 114-128): Educational Publishing Foundation.

  11. Evans, W. R., Stanley, M. A., Barrera, T. L., Exline, J. J., Pargament, K. I., & Teng, E. J. (2018). Morally injurious events and psychological distress among veterans: Examining the mediating role of religious and spiritual struggles. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10(3), 360-367.

  12. Fortney, J. C., Curran, G. M., Hunt, J. B., Lu, L., Eisenberg, D., & Valenstein, M. (2017). Mental health treatment seeking among veteran and civilian community college students. Psychiatric Services, 68(8), 851-855.

  13. Foynes, M. M., Makin-Byrd, K., Skidmore, W. C., King, M. W., Bell, M. E., & Karpenko, J. (2018). Developing systems that promote veterans' recovery from military sexual trauma: Recommendations from the veterans health administration national program implementation. Military Psychology, online in advance of print publication

  14. Fruhbauerova, M., DeCou, C. R., Crow, B. E., & Comtois, K. A. (2019). Borderline personality disorder and self-directed violence in a sample of suicidal army soldiers. Psychological Services, No Pagination Specified-No Pagination Specified. doi: 10.1037/ser0000369

  15. Goldstein, L. A., Dinh, J., Donalson, R., Hebenstreit, C. L., & Maguen, S. (2017). Impact of Military Trauma Exposures on Posttraumatic Stress and Depression in Female Veterans. Psychiatry Research.

  16. Goodin, C. A., Prendergast, D. M., Pruitt, L. D., Smolenski, D. J., Wilson, N. Y., Skopp, N., et al. (2019). Financial hardship and risk of suicide among U.S. Army personnel. Psychological Services, 16(2), 286-292. doi: 10.1037/ser0000201

  17. Gross, G. M., Cunningham, K. C., Moore, D. A., Naylor, J. C., Brancu, M., Wagner, H. R., ... & Kimbrel, N. A. (2019). Does deployment-related military sexual assault interact with combat exposure to predict posttraumatic stress disorder in female veterans?. Traumatology, 25(1), 66.

  18. Held, P., Boley, R. A., Karnik, N. S., Pollack, M. H., & Zalta, A. K. (2018). Characteristics of veterans and military service members who endorse causing harm, injury, or death to others in the military. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10(3), 352-359.

  19. Held, P., Klassen, B. J., Hall, J. M., Friese, T. R., Bertsch-Gout, M. M., Zalta, A. K., et al. (2018). "I knew it was wrong the moment I got the order": A narrative thematic analysis of moral injury in combat veterans. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, online in advance of print publication

  20. Hendin, H. (2017). Psychodynamic treatment of combat veterans with PTSD at risk for suicide. Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 45(2), 217-235.
    Hoge, C. W., Lee, D. J., & Castro, C. A. (2017). Refining Trauma-Focused Treatments for Servicemembers and Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Progress and Ongoing Challenges. Jama Psychiatry, 74(1), 13-14.

  21. Ingram, Paul B., Tarescavage, Anthony M., Ben-Porath, Yossef S., & Oehlert, Mary E. (2020). Patterns of MMPI-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) validity scale scores observed across Veteran Affairs settings. Psychological Services, 17(3), 355-362.

  22. Krauss, S. W., Russell, D. W., Kazman, J. B., Russell, C. A., Schuler, E. R., & Deuster, P. A. (2019). Longitudinal effects of deployment, recency of return, and hardiness on mental health symptoms in U.S. Army combat medics (Vol. 25, pp. 216-224). US: Educational Publishing Foundation.

  23. Mohatt, N. V., Billera, M., Demers, N., Monteith, L. L., & Bahraini, N. H. (2018). A menu of options: Resources for preventing veteran suicide in rural communities. Psychological Services, 15(3), 262-269.

  24. Morgan, J. K., & Desmarais, S. L. (2017). Associations Between Time Since Event and Posttraumatic Growth Among Military Veterans. Military Psychology.

  25. Mota, Natalie P., Cook, Joan M., Smith, Noelle B., Tsai, Jack, Harpaz-Rotem, Ilan, Krystal, John H., . . . Pietrzak, Robert H. (2019). Posttraumatic stress symptom courses in U.S. military veterans: A seven-year, nationally representative, prospective cohort study. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 119, 23-31.

  26. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs mental health services. Washington, DC, US: National Academies Press.

  27. Nock, M. K., Han, G., Millner, A. J., Gutierrez, P. M., Joiner, T. E., Hwang, I., et al. (2018). Patterns and predictors of persistence of suicide ideation: Results from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127(7), 650-658.

  28. Nock, M. K., Millner, A. J., Joiner, T. E., Gutierrez, P. M., Han, G., Hwang, I., et al. (2018). Risk factors for the transition from suicide ideation to suicide attempt: Results from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127(2), 139-149.

  29. Nolan, J., Lindeman, S., & Varghese, F. P. (2019). Mobile app interventions for military and veteran families: Before, during, and after deployment. Psychological Services, 16(2), 208-212.

  30. O'Brien, C., Keith, J., & Shoemaker, L. (2015). Don't tell: Military culture and male rape. Psychological Services, 12(4), 357-365.
    Paige, L., Renshaw, K. D., Allen, E. S., & Litz, B. T. (2019). Deployment trauma and seeking treatment for PTSD in US soldiers. Military Psychology, 31(1), 26-34.

  31. Ritchie, E. C. (Ed.). (2017). Intimacy post-injury: Combat trauma and sexual health. New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.

  32. Shepardson, R. L., Johnson, E. M., Possemato, K., Arigo, D., & Funderburk, J. S. (2018). Perceived barriers and facilitators to implementation of peer support in Veterans Health Administration Primary Care-Mental Health Integration settings. Psychological Services.

  33. Shura, R. D., Nazem, S., Miskey, H. M., Hostetter, T. A., Rowland, J. A., Brenner, L. A., . . . Taber, K. H. (2018). Relationship between traumatic brain injury history and recent suicidal ideation in Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans. Psychological Services.

  34. Spiro, A. III, Settersten, R. A., Jr., & Aldwin, C. M. (Eds.). (2018). Long-term outcomes of military service: The health and well-being of aging veterans. Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.

  35. Street, Amy E., Shin, Marlena H., Marchany, Katelyn E., McCaughey, Virginia K., Bell, Margret E., & Hamilton, Alison B. (2019). Veterans’ perspectives on military sexual trauma-related communication with VHA providers. Psychological Services, publishedf online in advance of print publication.

  36. Sullivan, K. S., Hawkins, S. A., Gilreath, T. D., & Castro, C. A. (2020). Mental health outcomes associated with profiles of risk and resilience among U.S. Army spouses. Journal of Family Psychology, No Pagination Specified-No Pagination Specified. doi: 10.1037/fam0000702

  37. Tasso, A., Whitmarsh, L., & Ordway, A. (2016). Intimate Partner Violence Within Military Families Intervention Guidelines for Relational Aggressors. The Family Journal, 1066480716628622.

  38. Thomas, K. H., McDaniel, J. T., Haring, E. L., Albright, D. L., & Fletcher, K. L. (2018). Mental health needs of military and veteran women: An assessment conducted by the Service Women’s Action Network. Traumatology, 24(2), 104-112. doi: 10.1037/trm0000132
    .
  39. Ursano, R. J., Kessler, R. C., Naifeh, J. A., Mash, H. H., Fullerton, C. S., Ng, T. H. H., et al. (2017). Suicide attempts in U.S. Army combat arms, special forces and combat medics. BMC Psychiatry, 17.

  40. Waltman, Scott H., Landry, Julie M., Pujol, Lynette A., & Moore, Bret A. (2019). Delivering evidence-based practices via telepsychology: Illustrative case series from military treatment facilities. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, published online in advance of print publication

  41. Wessells, Michael G. (2017). Children and armed conflict: Interventions for supporting war-affected children. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Vol 23(1), 4-13

  42. Wisco, B. E., Marx, B. P., May, C. L., Martini, B., Krystal, J. H., Southwick, S. M., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2017). Moral injury in u.S. Combat veterans: Results from the national health and resilience in veterans study. Depression and Anxiety.

  43. Zuromski, K. L., Dempsey, C. L., Ng, T. H. H., Riggs-Donovan, C. A., Brent, D. A., Heeringa, S. G., et al. (2019). Utilization of and barriers to treatment among suicide decedents: Results from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience Among Servicemembers (Army STARRS). Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 87(8), 671-683. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000400

27 Helpful Organizations & Programs:

Air Force Aid Society: "The Air Force Aid Society (AFAS) is the official charity of the United States Air Force incorporated in 1942 as a non-profit organization whose mission is to help relieve financial distress of Air Force members and their families and to assist them in financing their higher education goals."

American Red Cross: Among its services: "Using the latest in computer and telecommunications technology, the Red Cross allows military members stationed all over the world to send messages to loved ones back home during an emergency or other important events. These communications are delivered around-the-clock, seven days a week, 365 days a year." In addition: "Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services personnel serve in nearly 1,000 chapters in the United States, on 109 military installations around the world and alongside our troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Kosovo and Afghanistan."

Defense & Veterans Brain Injury Center: "DVBIC was founded in 1992, largely in response to the first Persian Gulf War, under the name Defense and Veterans Head Injury Program. At that time, its goal was to integrate specialized TBI care, research and education across military and veteran medical care systems. DVBIC now supports a network of 22 sites, operating out of 18 military treatment facilities and five Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. The specific activities vary at each site and can include conducting research; providing clinical support and care to service members; assisting service members, veterans and their families locate support services; conducting educational and outreach activities; and assessing TBI injury data."

Fisher House: "Supporting America's military in their time of need, we provide "a home away from home" that enables family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful time -- during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury."

Veterans Benefits Administration: This U.S. Defense Department web site provides comprehensive information about tsevices available to veterans.

Give An Hour: "dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of the troops and families affected by the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We provide counseling to individuals, couples and families, and children and adolescents. We offer treatment for anxiety, depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, sexual health and intimacy concerns, and loss and grieving.... The mental health professionals who join us are giving an hour of their time each week to provide free mental health services to military personnel and their families."

Legal Information & Resources for Military Personnel and their Families: The Judge Advocate General's Corps provides online legal information and resources in such areas as family matters, financial issues (including taxes), insurance, immigration, housing (including landlord-tenant issues), estates, the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act, and consumer and contract issues.

Coming Home Project: "The Coming Home Project is a non-profit organization devoted to providing compassionate care, support and stress management tools for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families. We are a group of veterans, psychotherapists and interfaith leaders committed to helping transform the wounds of war. We help veterans and family members rebuild the connectivity of mind, heart, body and spirit that combat trauma can unravel; renew their relationships with loved ones; and create new support networks.... The Coming Home Project offers a range of free services: workshops and retreats; psychological counseling; training for care providers; and community forums. Our programs address the mental, emotional, spiritual and relationship challenges faced by veterans and families before, during and after deployment."

Military Kids Connect: "An initiative of the National Center for Telehealth & Technology (T2), the Department of Defense agency formed in 2008 to test, evaluate and leverage available and emerging software and hardware in support of psychological health and traumatic brain injury in the broad military community," Military Kids Connect is, according to its website, "an online community of military children (ages 6-17 yr old) that provides access to age-appropriate resources to support children from pre-deployment, through a parent's or caregiver's return. MKC offers informative activities, fun games, helpful videos, and interesting user surveys that can guild and reinforce understanding, resilience, and coping skills in military children and their peers."

Military Spouse Career Center: A site that helps military spouses find jobs.

National Center for PTSD: The mission of this program, which is within the Department of Veteran Affairs, is "to advance the clinical care and social welfare of America's veterans through research, education, and training in the science, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD and stress-related disorders."

National Coalition for Homeless Veterans: "The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV)...is the resource and technical assistance center for a national network of community-based service providers and local, state and federal agencies that provide emergency and supportive housing, food, health services, job training and placement assistance, legal aid and case management support for hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans each year."

National Military Family Association: Among this organization's primary purposes is "to educate military families concerning their rights, benefits and services available to them and to inform them regarding the issues that affect their lives."

National Personnel Records Center--Military Personnel Records: "This site is provided for those seeking information regarding military personnel, health and medical records stored at NPRC (MPR). If you are a veteran or next-of-kin of a deceased veteran, you may now use vetrecs.archives.gov to order a copy of your military records. For all others, your request is best made using a Standard Form 180. It includes complete instructions for preparing and submitting requests."

Office of Military Community Outreach—Military One Source: "This portal provides quick access to MC&FP websites, publications and staff services."

Operation Family Fund: This program provides "financial grants for immediate or long-term needs to the Families of soldiers who have been killed or severely disabled as part of the world wide war on terrorism."

Operation Paperback: "Operation Paperback is a national, non-profit organization, whose volunteers collect gently-used books and send them to American troops overseas, as well as veterans and military families here at home. Since 1999, we have shipped over 2.2 million books to all of the orange countries on the adjacent map"

Project Welcome Home Troops: This project "aims to address the intense distress some returning veterans experience.... A resilience-building program specifically designed to address the needs of returning combat veterans."

Returning Veterans Project: Their website notes that "Returning Veterans Project is a nonprofit organization comprised of politically unaffiliated and independent health care practitioners who offer free and confidential services to returning veterans and service members of the current Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns and their families. Services are available in Oregon and Southwest Washington."

Soldiers Project: "The Soldiers Project is a private, non-profit, independent group of volunteer licensed mental health professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, registered nurses and marriage and family therapists. We provide free counseling and support to military service members who have served or who expect to serve in the Iraq and/or Afghanistan conflicts and to veterans of those conflicts. We see active duty as well as members of activated Reserve or Guard units. In addition, our services are available to the families and other loved ones of service members. We provide help to service members and families struggling with issues related to the overwhelming trauma of war including the cycle from pre-deployment to deployment to homecoming and re-entry to civilian life. Our services are readily accessible and entirely free of charge. We do not report to any government agency."

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors: "a national non-profit organization made up of, and providing services to, all those who have lost a loved one while serving in the Armed Forces. The heart of TAPS is our national military survivor peer support network. We also offer grief counseling referral, case worker assistance and crisis information, all available to help families and military personnel cope and recover. We provide these services 24 hours a day free of charge."

Triwest Healthcare Alliance Behavioral Health Resources [at the site, choose "Behavioral Health"]: This site offers "practice guidelines, assessment tools, and a number of other resources to help you assist patients experiencing depression, stress, PTSD, substance use disorders and more. From locating a specialty provider to supporting a family managing a diagnosis..."

U.S. Army Suicide Prevention Program: This U.S. Army site provides a wide variety of information and resources for suicide prevention.

Veterans Law Library: "A Comprehensive Collection of Materials Relating to the Veterans Benefits Adjudication Process."

Vets4Vets: "Our primary goal is to help Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans understand the value of peer support and to regularly use peer support to express their emotions, manage their challenges and ease their reintegration into society. Our vision is that anytime a veteran needs to talk with someone who really understands, a local Vets4Vets peer support group is available at no cost. We envision Vets4Vets being a common name in the minds of all veterans as a place where they, and their comrades, can go to heal."

Warrior Canine Connection:  This program "serves four vital military missions: (1) Provide Service Members and Veterans with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) the opportunity to be part of a critical military-support mission helping fellow Wounded Warriors. (2) Offer a safe, effective, and inexpensive non-pharmaceutical therapeutic intervention for the treatment of PTSD. (3) Provide highly skilled service dogs that will provide years of mobility and social support to Veterans with disabilities. (4) Strengthen the bonds and relieve stress in military families."

United States Military Organizations:

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