Resilience: Armor for Your Mind

Listen carefully to what I say, but don't believe a word of it. Language and rule-governed behavior have severe limitations, experience does not.

We can't change evolution's work, but we can alter what we pay attention to (mindfulness) and how we REACT to "perceived" threat (acceptance).

Resilience is key to mental health and is something you can enhance through acceptance of and willingness toward aversive events. Are you focusing on the content of your life (thoughts, sensations, emotions) or on the context (what's happening right now)? You do have a choice.

NOW, GET OFF YOUR BUT! Yes, it's spelled right. Replace the word "but" with "and" and accept responsibility for your behavior and your life. Try it, see how it feels.

StayPresent ... StayTheCourse ... BeResilient!

Title: Resilience: Armor for Your Mind

Key Words: anxiety, combatcounselor, depressed, depression, health, kccbt, mental, resilience, resilient, therapy, fear, armor, mind, PTSD, BeResilient, chronicle

StayPresent, StayTheCourse, and BeResilient are Trademarks Of CombatCounselor and 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC - All Rights Reserved

Reply To The VA Regarding The Hiring (Or Not) of Licensed Professional Counselors

I posted a tweet on Twitter (see below) about the sad state of affairs at the VA and their unwillingness to hire Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) even though OVER 8,000 VETS COMMIT SUICIDE EACH YEAR AND THE VA DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH CLINICIANS TO HELP PREVENT THOSE UNNECESSARY DEATHS.

I received a response from the VA, finally, and am posting my response sent to them via email today ...

In reference to my tweet and your reply:

CombatCounselor@CombatCounselor @vacareers Retired military officer, combat/disabled #Vet, expert in#CBT for #PTSD, 30+ years experience ... UNQUALIFIED TO WORK FOR VA? - 26 Aug VA Careers@vacareers  Follow @CombatCounselor Thank you for your service. Send your CV Re:Twitter toVHAAdvertising@va.gov and we can take a look. 08:03 PM - 26 Aug 14

I am not currently looking for full-time work due to an upcoming commitment (October 2014-February 2015), but am providing my resume as requested. 

The issue seems more to be the fact that, even though the VA has been mandated by Congress to hire Licensed Professional Counselor’s (LPC) and has reportedly had great difficulty hiring the many clinicians required to serve the many Vets unable to access care for several years, LPCs have been ignored. I have searched USA Jobs on numerous occasions, but have yet to see more than a handful of LPC slots a VA facilities nationwide and none in my area. The VA is missing out on hiring well trained, experienced, professionals by bowing to the demands of the professional associations protecting the “status quo” and the careers of psychologists and Licensed Clinical Social Workers, many of whom have inferior clinical skills to many LPCs. 

Veterans in the VA system and elsewhere need well trained, professional help with their depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues AND THEY ARE NOT CURRENTLY RECIEIVING THAT CARE! 22 Vets a day commit suicide and the VA cannot stand by and let another 8,030 Veterans die in the next year because you refuse to hire LPCs, particularly those with military backgrounds. 

I don’t expect the VA to ever hire me, even if I were looking for work currently, because it has been proven that retaliation against whistleblowers and others who tell the truth about the sad state of affairs at the VA is the norm, not the exception. I hope and pray that changes soon and that the VA puts the welfare of Veterans above those of the shortsighted gatekeepers insistent on maintaining the status quo instead of giving Vets the care the so desperately need and deserve after serving their country and PROTECTING YOUR FREEDOMS. 

You can read my article, The Stigma Killing American Heroes, published last year in De Oppresso Liber magazine on my blog, http://www.combatcounselor.com/2014/07/the-stigma-killing-american-heroes.html, where this email will also be posted. A copy will also be sent to my Congresswoman and Senator. 

Thank you for getting back to me. 

Sincerely, 

Chris Sorrentino 

LtCol, USAF (Ret) 

a.k.a. CombatCounselor 

MS, LPC, NCC

Do Vets and the VA a favor and CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE, telling them to "insist that the VA hire Licensed Professional Counselors and curtail the thousands of needless Veteran suicides each and every year!"

Key Words: VA, veterans, administration, affairs, department, government, whistleblower, retaliation, suicide, veterans, vet, vets, death, depression, PTSD, anxiety, die, dead, mental, health, stigma, CombatCounselor

Letter to the Editor: Air Force Times ... Preferential Treatment and Mixed Martial Arts as Treatment for PTSD?

After reading the August 12, 2013 issue of Air Force Times, I had to respond to two columns: Volunteerism and TransitioningVeteran.com and mixed martial arts (MMA) as an alternative treatment for PTSD (Bret Moore).

Volunteerism is an important topic and I applaud Air Force Times and the author for bringing this to the attention of your readers. What I do not understand is why one individual and his "pet project" received preferential treatment and outstanding (gratis) advertising when many other very deserving organizations, non-profits serving military and Veterans for example, are routinely overlooked.

As leader of a struggling non-profit serving military and Veterans with PTSD, I have submitted numerous letters and articles to your publication (several letters having been published), but was never offered an opportunity to showcase our non-profit ... Help4VetsPTSD (http://www.Help4VetsPTSD.org). I have published numerous articles related to military and Veteran mental health, the most recent in January's De Oppresso Liber magazine entitled "The Stigma Killing American Heroes", but have never been invited to be highlighted in your publication.

Why does TransitioningVeteran.com, an apparent for-profit enterprise, receive preferential treatment? This is not the first time I have seen private organizations given special treatment in your publication and it will likely not be the last.

In regard to Dr. Moore's column touting mixed martial arts and yoga as therapeutic alternatives, providing "substantial dividends" for PTSD sufferers, I have to raise the BS flag.

Yoga has been studied in empirically supported research studies and has been shown to provide positive dividends for those suffering from PTSD and other anxiety disorders. Yoga and other meditative states are beneficial (statistically), lowering cortisol levels and improving other stress-related symptoms when compared to no treatment.

Dr. Moore provided no reference to empirically supported, published research studies for either yoga or MMA and I do not recall ever having read anything about MMA being an effective alternative treatment for ANY chronic psychiatric condition, particularly PTSD.

I believe it is irresponsible for an individual, much less such a publication with a primarily military and Veteran audience as Military Times, to claim that a sport in which people beat each other to within an inch of their lives as therapeutic. There may very well be positive physical and mental benefits to both yoga and MMA, but it is irresponsible and unprofessional to claim that either deserves such prominence in your publication without adequate supporting research or, at the very least, a reference to a published study that provides empirically supported evidence of such a benefit.

Finally, Dr. Moore clearly does not understand the processes involved in yoga/meditation and their effects on lowering anxiety. He claims that yoga helps PTSD sufferers "fend off distressing thoughts", another form of avoidance and something any reasonable clinician would NOT want to promote in our clients. Yoga, meditation, and other Buddhist practices and beliefs DO NOT promote avoiding distressing thoughts, they DO promote simply accepting those thoughts in the present moment, thereby making them less threatening and increasing the individual's tolerance to experience the thoughts and associated emotions rather than avoiding them. Do your homework or leave it to the experts next time, giving your readers the accurate, objective information we deserve.

Chris Sorrentino, LtCol, USAF (Ret)
aka CombatCounselor
Executive Director, Help4VetsPTSD
Kansas City, MO

Tuition Assistance (TA) Suspension Versus Military Suicides...Let's Get Our Priorities Straight!

by
C.T. Sorrentino, LtCol, USAF (Ret)
aka CombatCounselor
Air Force Tuition Assistance (TA) suspension is a TEMPORARY SOLUTION to a short-term problem ... SUICIDE is a PERMANENT SOLUTION to a temporary problem.  TA is a very popular program, recruiting and retention tool, and valuable entitlement to our military men and women.
With sequestration comes program cuts, usually "soft" programs like TA over weapon system programs like to beleaguered F-35 program. So the temporary "suspension" of TA has troops up in arms and rightfully so. The White House Petition asking the president to save the TA program has garnered over 80,000 of the 100,000 required signatures to force Obama to address the issue. I started a White House Petition several months back when the criteria for presidential action was just 10,000 signatures and few petitions came close to that mark, so 80,000+ signatures is quite a milestone...congratulations!
My previous petition was similar to the one I recently started and even though tens of thousands saw my pleas for action, we received only 71 of the required 150 signatures to even get the petition viewable on the website, and WAY SHORT of the 10,000 signature requirement. What does that tell you about the priorities of our citizens? 71 signatures out of 25,000+ possible ... NOT A VERY GOOD CONVERSION RATE.
More men and women in uniform COMMITTED SUICIDE last year than were KILLED IN COMBAT! 6,900+ Military and Veterans die by their own hand each year and the negative stigmas against anxiety, depression, PTSD, and mental health treatment in the military are the cause.
We (military men and women and Veterans) learn NOT TO ASK FOR HELP for these very real and debilitating psychological problems because we fear being ostracized by superiors and peers, losing our security clearances, and/or possibly losing our careers.  Until military men and women are GIVEN CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT and the IGNORANCE OF OUR LEADERS are addressed, our heroes will continue to take their own lives!
Please read my articles on these stigmas, one of which (THE STIGMA KILLING AMERICAN HEROES) was recently published in De Oppresso Liber magazine. There is also a recent post on our WHITE HOUSE PETITION, asking President Obama to address this extremely important issue and allow our troops to receive CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT, thereby reducing the stigmas, I have discussed very briefly here, over time.
Please sign our WHITE HOUSE PETITION and read more about the issue elsewhere in this blog: http://www.CombatCounselor.blogspot.com
Tuition Assistance WILL RETURN ... LAST YEAR'S 7,000 DEAD HEROES WILL NOT!  Be selfless, THINK ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE FOR A CHANGE, PUTTING ANY SELFISH CONCERNS TO THE SIDE FOR NOW.
If our military men and women put as much effort into saving 7,000 lives each year as they do trying  save an ENTITLEMENT that will only benefit them personally, our petition would succeed in record time. It is time to start thinking about someone other than yourselves, character traits like "empathy" (being able to put yourself in sometime else's shoes, feeling their pain, etc) and "selflessness", which is one of the Air Force Core Values by the way, and put your effort into more critical activities.  It is time to be selfless and end these absurd yet deadly stigmas, empathizing with those afflicted by painful memories and emotions instead of ensuring that YOU have that AA Degree by the time you jump ship for the private sector.
BLESS YOU ALL AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOYAL SERVICE!
Key Words: PTSD,suicide,military,stigma,stigmas,troops,co confidentiality,confidential,mental,health,treatment,ignorance,career,security,clearance,CombatCounselor

Help end military suicides and the negative stigmas surrounding PTSD and mental health treatment in the military

More of our men and women in uniform die by their own hand than are killed in combat! Nineteen (19) military/veterans commit suicide each day and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a factor in many of those deaths. Miltary men and women DO NOT HAVE THE CONFIDENTIALITY available in the private sector when seeking treatment for their problems (e.g. PTSD, depression, anxiety), causing negative PTSD and mental health treatment stigmas. Because troops fear losing their career or security clearance, they REFUSE TO SEEK TREATMENT, many killing themselves instead. END THE STIGMAS NOW, today, by giving confidentiality to our military, before one more hero dies by his or her own hand! 

Read more in The CombatCounselor Chronicle:  http://combatcounselor.blogspot.com/2012/12/article-stigmas-killing-american-heroes.html




To put things in perpective and give you an idea of how lost our citizens are, how apathetic Americans have become, how ignorant some can be, read this:

Movie studio Warner Brothers Pictures +WBPictures ID has generated nearly $4,000,000 in donations from thousands of Veronica Lake fans through Kickstarter to fund a movie based on the popular series.  "The Veronica Mars Movie Project", launched on March 13, 2013, has attracted 59,209 contributors in less than 2 weeks and has generated $3,855,258 in funds FOR WARNER BROTHERS STUDIOS!

March 25th, 2013 

What does this say about our priorities as a nation, our values (or lack thereof), when over 59,000 people donate their hard earned money and valuable time, to visit the Kickstarter website and donate $4 million, that is $4,000,000, to a movie studio just so they can see a stupid TV show on the big screen ... give me a break!  

In the time it took for Warner Brothers to generate $4 million from 59,000 Veronica Mars fans to fund a movie, over 275 military and Veterans have committed suicide. Would you not think that signing a petition to end suicide in the military would garner more support than a movie?  We are not even asking for money, just a signature to bring this tragic cause to the attention of our president, a man not well known for his concern for our military or Veterans. 

Unfortunately, our recent White House Petition came 99,937 signatories short of the 100,000 required to get presidential visibility, but WE WILL NOT GIVE UP! Stay tuned for more updates, more activism, AND MORE PETITIONS! 

Bless all of you who signed and campaigned so hard for our cause ... ESPECIALLY YOU HUNTER! 

StayTheCourse!

PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA - END THE NEGATIVE STIGMAS AGAINST PTSD AND MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT IN THE MILITARY BEFORE ONE MORE HERO COMMITS SUICIDE!

PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA - END THE NEGATIVE STIGMAS AGAINST PTSD AND MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT IN THE MILITARY BEFORE ONE MORE HERO COMMITS SUICIDE!

You can read my recent article on this issue elsewhere in The CombatCounselor Chronicle if you require additional information:

http://combatcounselor.blogspot.com/2012/12/article-stigmas-killing-american-heroes.html

PLEASE SIGN MY PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT! We need 150 signatures JUST TO GET THE PETITION SEEN ON THE WHITE HOUSE WEBSITE and 25,000 signatures before January 10th, 2013 ... THAT'S ONLY 30 DAYS ... in order for President Obama to take action.

PLEASE CLICK THE LINK AND CREATE AN ACCOUNT (It's easy - only email address, first and last name), then return to The White House site and SIGN THIS PETITION!

Petition:

"On average, 1 military member and 18 Veterans commit suicide each day and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant factor in many of those deaths. The negative stigma surrounding PTSD and military mental health treatment exist because military members are hesitant to seek treatment from military practitioners, fearing the loss of their career and/or security clearance. We need leaders who are willing to give our men and women in uniform the confidentiality they need when seeking treatment for their problems, be it PTSD, depression, anxiety, or other disorder. We need leaders who are going to do the right thing and end the negative stigmas against PTSD and seeking mental health treatment in the military now, today, before one more American hero dies by his or her own hand!"

PLEASE SEND TO EVERY VETERAN, MILITARY MEMBER, AND AMERICAN PATRIOT YOU KNOW ... 25,000 SIGNATURES IN 30 DAYS ... LET'S DO IT!

Please click on this link and SIGN THE PETITION NOW!

White House Petition - End The Stigmas!

Anxiety: Change the Context, Not the Content

Tweet from @CombatCounselor:

"You cannot make #anxiety go away. You can change your relationship to it and #embrace, rather than #avoid it.#StayPresent, #BeResilient"

http://twitter.com/CombatCounselor/status/141986877350752257

What I mean is that if you TRY to eliminate anxiety by avoiding it, it only makes things worse. By avoiding, it may be very rewarding in the short-term, but you don't learn that anxiety naturally goes away on its own. This process is called HABITUATION.

If you fear anxiety, you'll avoid it and make it your enemy. If you change the way you relate to it, embracing anxiety instead, you can experience it on your terms, making it less threatening.

Changing the CONTEXT, the way you perceive anxious thoughts, sensations, and memories, rather then trying to change the CONTENT (e.g. positive thinking), allows you to control the situation. Because you can't control anxiety, control.the way you react to it.

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Resilience: Armor for Your Mind

Listen carefully to what I say, but don't believe a word of it. Language and rule-governed behavior have severe limitations, experience does not.

We can't change evolution's work, but we can alter what we pay attention to (mindfulness) and how we REACT to "perceived" threat (acceptance).

Resilience is key to mental health and is something you can enhance through acceptance of and willingness toward aversive events. Are you focusing on the content of your life (thoughts, sensations, emotions) or on the context (what's happening right now)? You do have a choice.

NOW, GET OFF YOUR BUT! Yes, it's spelled right. Replace the word "but" with "and" and accept responsibility for your behavior and your life. Try it, see how it feels.

StayTheCourse ... BeResilient!

Title: Resilience: Armor for Your Mind

Key Words: anxiety, combatcounselor, depressed, depression, health, kccbt, mental, resilience, resilient, therapy, fear, armor, mind, PTSD, BeResilient, chronicle