Supporting the nation’s transitioning veterans: Narrative review of practices and recommendations for psychotherapy and counseling of veterans separating from military service.

Abstract

Each year, approximately 200,000 service members transition out of military service and return to civilian life. For many, the stresses of this military-to-civilian transition are vast and include instabilities in mental health, relationships, employment, education, and housing. Given their unique training, mental health professionals often find themselves on the front lines of efforts to support this population. However, to date, literature to guide work with this population has been scant and disorganized. This narrative review provides practitioners both within and outside the Veterans Health Administration with an overview of relevant literature in this area and offers concrete, practical recommendations for how to best support transitioning Veterans through psychotherapy and counseling. Three major themes are reviewed: (a) Engagement strategies, including clinical style, mitigation of privacy concerns, and consideration of broader psychosocial issues; (b) contextual considerations, including challenges of the "Thank You for Your Service" phenomenon, identity considerations, and circumstances of discharge; and (c) information about available services. Impact StatementMental health professionals are uniquely trained to provide psychosocial supports to service members and veterans struggling to navigate the transition from military service to civilian life. However, the empirical literature to guide provision of such support has been scant and disorganized. Through a narrative review, this article offers recommendations around engagement strategies, contextual considerations, and available services to consider in service of this population.

Understanding Differences Between Veterans and Civilians on a Range of Biopsychological Domains: Descriptive Report from the MIDUS II Study

“…A recent review detailed clinical considerations for healthcare professionals working with veterans who are transitioning or re-integrating. As this body of research grows, we can improve matching available services to those most likely to benefit from them (Edwards et al, 2022).…”

Situational stress and suicide attempt behavior in Army soldiers and veterans: Insights from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers‐Longitudinal Study

“…Research in this area also tends to sample either exclusively veterans or exclusively service members, limiting direct comparison across these military personnel subgroups (e.g., Bryan & Rudd, 2012; Gromatsky et al, 2022; Pruitt et al, 2019). Service members often have access to a range of supports (e.g., healthcare, mentorship, job security) to mitigate the potential impact of situational stressors, whereas accessibility of such supports may be more limited for veterans (Aronson et al, 2019; Edwards et al, 2022). As such, associations between situational stress and suicide‐related outcomes may vary substantially across these two subgroups.…”