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

Stop Enabling Murderers and Rapists ANDERSON COOPER!

You have to murder, rape, or both to receive national media attention and, possibly, justice in this country. How many hundreds, thousands of hours do you and your peers waste every year providing prime nationwide television coverage to scumbags Anderson?

I recently lost my business, home, and most possessions BECAUSE I CHOSE TO DO THE RIGHT THING and report government fraud, waste, and abuse ... WASTE IN THE HUNDRED$ OF MILLION$!

I am just a retired military officer, disabled Veteran, and licensed professional counselor providing therapy to military and Vets (and their families) with PTSD. Do I have to kill someone, many, or myself to get attention and possibly justice in this country? Well, THAT DOG WON'T HUNT Anderson, ain't gonna happen because that is not the way I roll, NOT MY MO brother.

And we, American television viewers, citizens, wonder why middle-aged white men GO POSTAL? Many times it is because they were abused, bullied, discriminated or retaliated against, or otherwise harassed AND NOBODY GAVE A CRAP, NOBODY CARED BECAUSE STRAIGHT WHITE MEN HAVE NO RIGHTS. So the killer(s) feel as though they have no choice, other than taking extremely drastic measures, to receive (what they see as) JUSTICE.

As a middle-aged straight, white male who has experienced severe bullying, harassment, discrimination, and retaliation over the past 5 years and who has been completely ignored by my elected officials, government employees, lawyers, and the media, I can understand, intellectually, how some of those individuals felt. The only difference between me and them is that I have well defined personal values and the clarity of mind to know between right and wrong. Have I had fleeting thoughts of vigilante-type retribution? YOU BET! But I understand the difference between a short irrational thought and a course of action based on selflessness, loyalty, integrity, compassion, excellence, dignity and respect (my values). Those pushed to the brink of insanity cannot always make that distinction.

DO THE RIGHT THING ANDERSON! Stop prostituting yourself to Nielson Ratings and commercial advertisers, and tell the stories of real people, people struggling to serve their community, their country, leaving things better than they were before they arrived. Stop giving the narcissists, the sociopaths like Jodi Arias the attention they so desperately require and focus on telling the story of real Americans, those who deserve justice and cannot receive it unless something drastic happens ... DO SOMETHING DRASTIC ANDERSON ... TELL AMERICA HOW THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RUINED A MAN'S LIVELIHOOD FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN WANTING TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

Key Words: Anderson Cooper, Anderson, Cooper, enabler, enabling, murder, murderer, rape, rapist, justice, go postal, going, postal, values, harassment, bully, bullying, whistleblower, retaliation

Half Empty or Half Full?

The age old questions: Do you want the good news first or the bad ... Is the glass half empty or half full?

We were recently forced to put our beautiful lakefront home on the market because the Department of the Interior had my $50,000 contract cancelled in February THEN had the gaul to insist that the prime contractors BLACKLIST me, ruining my business.

They did that because I filed a complaint of fraud, waste, and abuse against the government contractor I have been subcontracting for since January 2012. The contractor is fraudulently wasting HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ... EVERY YEAR!  I tried to DO THE RIGHT THING and was punished severely for it. THAT MY FRIENDS IS CALLED WHISTLEBLOWER RETALIATION AND IT IS ILLEGAL!

Our house was just leased for three years by an Army lieutenant colonel at Fort Leavenworth, giving the market time to recover and, hopefully, sell our home in three years and NOT TAKE A $50,000 LOSS ON IT as we would have if we had sold instead of leasing.

I am a half-full kinda guy ... Everything works out for the best in the end.

As a Roman general, Lucius Sulla, said: "No friend ever served me, no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full".

After filing an inspector general complaint with the Department of the Interior in February, they are the folks who are supposed to protect citizens from unlawful retaliation, particularly whistleblower retaliation, they ignored my pleas for an update. I received a letter last week from the Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Interior Business Center, the boss of the woman who retaliated against me, stating that the Inspector General had turned the case over to him ... Can you say "fox watching the henhouse?" ... SURE YA CAN!

In his letter, he stated that MY complaint had no justification and that the reason my contract was cancelled was because of "substandard performance"!

Substandard performance?  Where is the justification for that? Why was I never informed about this substandard performance, particularly during a conversation with the contracting officer, the woman who I had complained to and responsible for cancelling my contract, when we spoke on the phone JUST FOUR DAYS PRIOR TO MY CONTRACT BEING CANCELED? Why did see not mention MY SUBSTANDARD PERFORMANCE DURING THAT CALL ...WHICH I RECORDED BY THE WAY (the recording of conversations is legal in the State of Virginia, where the contracting officer works, if one party gives consent, that party being ME)?

She also informed the contractors, the people who do or do not subcontract work to me and my service-disabled veteran-owned small business, of my alleged "substandard performance", ensuring that I receive no additional contracts in the future ... ALL WITHOUT A SHRED OF EVIDENCE, ANY FACTS, AND WITHOUT DUE PROCESS!

I fought for our freedom, the freedom of the pencil pushers who now retaliate against me, and now MY GOVERNMENT slanders and defames me, ruining the business I have built from scratch and pays our bills? Really? Can that happen in the United States of America? I am telling you as someone who is experiencing it directly, IT CAN AND IT DOES!

As I described in my last post, the vast majority of lawyers only care about one thing ... MONEY!  Most likely, the only way I will get justice is by receiving national media attention. Then, and only then, will a "selfless" attorney step forward to represent me "pro bono" ... How unselfish and magnanimous they will appear, even though the only reason they would do it is to get 20 minutes of national media exposure when 60 Minutes calls for an interview.

I sent my response to the defamatory letter from the Department of Interior yesterday, certified US Mail, with certified copies going to President Obama, Congressman Sam Graves, the Secretary of the Interior, and the author's boss, Mr. O'Neill. Do I expect a response, assistance, or justice? Honestly, no. The only reason I spent $30 I cannot afford is so that when this DOES all come out eventually, I will have the documentation to prove what these people, these protectors of the Constitution, DID OR DID NOT DO when confronted with evidence of illegal, immoral, and unethical behavior by a government contractor and government employees. And I do ... HAVE HUNDREDS OF PAGES OF EVIDENCE, DOCUMENTATION, PROVING WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT WHAT I AM CLAIMING IS THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH!

Let's face it, I am a 50-something white man, so there is likely little, if any, chance that I will receive national media attention (there is no sex or murder involved), legal representation (I am broke), or justice. Justice you say? What a concept ... what a country ... WHAT A SHAME!

CombatCounselor ... OUT!

The Tragedy at Sandy Hook: Goin' Postal in America - A Phenomenon Dominated by White Males

U.S. Mass Shootings since Columbine:

1. April 1999 - Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado
2. July 1999 -Atlanta, Georgia
3. September 1999 - Fort Worth, Texas
4. October 2002 - Washington DC
5. August 2003 - Chicago, Illinois
6. November 2004 - Birchwood, Wisconsin
7. March 2005 - Brookfield, Wisconsin
8. October 2006 - Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania
9. April 2007 - Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, Virginia
10. August 2007 - Delaware State University - Dover, Delaware
11. September 2007 - Delaware State University - Dover, Delaware
12. December 2007 -  Omaha, Nebraska
13. December 2007 - Carnation, Washington
14. February 2008 - Chicago, Illinois 
15. February 2008 - Northern Illinois University - DeKalb, Illinois
16. July 2008 – South Mountain Community College - Phoenix, Arizona
17. September 2008 - Alger, Washington
18. October 2008 - University of Central Arkansas - Conway, Arkansas
19. December 2008 - Covina, California 
20. March 2009 - Several towns in Alabama
21. March 2009 - North Carolina
22. March 2009 - Santa Clara, California
23. April 2009 – Hampton University, Virginia
24. April 2009 - Binghamton, New York
25. July 2009 - Texas Southern University - Houston, Texas
26. November 2009 - Fort Hood - Killeen, Texas
27. February 2010 – University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa, Alabama
28. January 2011 - Tucson, Arizona (Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords)
29. July 2012 - Aurora, Colorado
30. August 2012 - Oak Creek, Wisconsin
31. December 2012 - Sandy Hook Elementary - Newtown, Connecticut

A friend of mine, who happens to be Italian, reminded me that mass murder seems to be an “American” phenomenon. Terrorism is rampant in other parts of the world while the U.S. remains, fortunately and relatively, untouched. Mass shootings like the one yesterday in Connecticut appear to be primarily an American phenomenon.  Incidents like the horrible one that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary are not strictly an American problem, but the majority of mass murderers HAVE BEEN AMERICAN, WHITE-MALE AMERICANS. 

Why do mass murders happen and why have there been so many recently? Murder, in which a single person is usually killed, is normally executed by someone the victim knows and based on emotion, routinely hate, revenge, or anger.  Mass murder is a different animal and, compared to murder, which is on the decline, is on the rise in the United States. White, middle-class, males are also reported to be the most frequent perpetrators demographically speaking. However, why are the vast majority of perpetrators white males? 

The individuals committing these horrific crimes, those who "go postal" and arbitrarily, it may seem, kill many individuals in a single incident, are sometimes "psychotic", delusional, believing the people they pursue are "out to get them". But many times, the shooter, the weapon of choice being large caliber, automatic or semi-automatic weapons, is described to be "a nice guy", "someone I would never believe could do something like this", or other after-the-fact perception by family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. What could drive a seemly nice, normal, individual to kill indiscriminately as was apparently the case on December 14th, 2012? 

I believe, as does my friend, that it has to do, at least partially, with the culturally ingrained inability to show or channel emotions in a healthy manner. Many men in this country are taught from an early age "big boys don't cry" and told "shut up or I'll give you something to cry about". Sound familiar guys? 

The proliferation of and addiction to violent video games and movies most likely contribute to the problem.  When a boy grows up watching violent movies and playing games where they indiscriminately "blow people away" with high-powered automatic weapons surely desensitizes those vulnerable young minds.  I was interviewed by Kansas City's ABC News affiliate KMBC's Diane Cho last year on the subject of video game and computer addictions, telling her that ten percent of those individuals will become addicted.  When an individual spends hours upon hours, day after day, in an alternate universe where people are targets and the value of life meaningless, what else could it lead to in an already vulnerable mind?

Another problem we are seeing has to do with the fact the white, American, males are many times not taken seriously, unprotected against harassment, bigotry, racism, discrimination, and retaliation. There is a name for that phenomena and it is called "reverse discrimination".  When a person has been exposed to injustice, be it at school, in the workplace, on the internet, and elsewhere, and NOBODY CARES - MUCH LESS LISTENS, the frustration builds and builds until, unless they are extremely RESILIENT, they almost literally explode, sometimes killing themselves and, on rare occasions, others, sometimes many others. 

Oddly enough, I can relate to how these individuals, mass murderers, feel, having recently experienced multiple aversive events in my own life. Having pleaded for help from administrators, state and federal regulatory agencies, state and national-level elected officials, and dozens of attorneys, not a single one cared enough to sit down with me to find out what actually happened.  Sadly enough, if I was not white and male, and was a minority instead - a woman, Muslim, person from another country, homosexual, or other more well known "protected categories", I would likely have had officials and lawyers rushing to my aid.  However, because I am only a disabled-veteran (both protected categories at the institution where the incidents took place) and a white male in particular, I have been ignored.  You cannot imagine how demeaning and frustrating it is to not just lose a career, but to know that not a single person cares enough to assist me, likely because I happen to be both Caucasian and male.

Fortunately, I am able to separate the all too common thoughts of retribution synonymous with victimization as anomalies rather than guideposts, thanks to the resilience skills I have been able to build and maintain over the years. I am human and have suffered severely at the hands of others over the past few years, and have even had fleeting bizarre thoughts involving those who have done me harm. That is normal. What is not normal is for a person to believe that thoughts such as those are true and to be acted upon. The ability to see a thought as a thought and not a directive, is a skill that a "less resilient " individual unfortunately has not developed. 

What it boils down to is resilience, skills inherited to a certain extent, but mostly learned over the course of life. If you have built resilience skills, the ability to see right from wrong in difficult situations, acting in accordance with societal standards, values, mores and the like instead of aggressively, you are in the majority. Rather than believing the thought "I have been wronged, I need to take action against that person", a resilient person can see the thought as just a thought and can choose to act in accordance with their and/or society's values instead. 

I have talked and written about resilience and values at length recently on The CombatCounselor Channel, www.YouTube.com/CombatCounselor, and elsewhere in this blog, The CombatCounselor Chronicle. Resilience skills and well-defined, positive values are core to a healthy personality and frame of mind, skills obviously lacking in many people, particularly people like the young man who killed 20 innocent children and several adult strangers yesterday in Newtown, Connecticut

I am currently researching a book on this phenomenon, a book that will follow the life of one individual as he struggles with abuse, harassment, humiliation, discrimination, and retaliation, leading to a conclusion that will surprise many readers, being fiction and based on real events. I do not want to spoil the ending, but I can tell you that I will be interviewing one or more of the very few white, male, mass murderers who have remained alive to tell their story. 

My thoughts and prayers are with the community, families, and friends of the victims of this senseless tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. I wish I could tell you something of this nature will never happen again, but unfortunately, the stresses we are facing as a nation and as individuals makes a recurrence of events like the one at Sandy Hook inevitable.

There have been 40 mass shootings since the Columbine tragedy on April 20, 1999, 31 in the United States, that is an average of nearly 3 each year.

There have been 13 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2012 alone!


StayPresent - BeResilient - StayTheCourse

CombatCounselor ... OUT!