Welcome to Joining Forces America
Every day, in communities across the country, servicemembers are returning home after serving in combat. As family members, friends, and neighbors, you want to show your support – but aren’t sure what would be most helpful. That’s why Capella University created Joining Forces America – to share the best ideas for supporting our returning servicemembers. Capella recently surveyed our adult students who were either connected to the military or studying a mental health profession, as well as a group of mental health professionals. Here are some ideas that came out of that study:
Top 5 ways for neighbors to help a returning servicemember – according to servicemembers
- Offer support & encouragement (sometimes it helps to just listen)
- Respect my privacy (don’t push me to share my time or information if I’m not ready)
- Just say thanks
- Help me reconnect with my family and community (offer invitations, help with chores)
- Act normally (don’t treat me too differently)
Now we want to hear from you!
If you’re a servicemember who has returned to your community after combat duty, what gestures of support were most helpful to you or your family? If you’re a family member, friend, coworker or neighbor, what are your best ideas for helping servicemembers’ re-entry to their home communities be as smooth as possible?
Share your ideas
Your ideas
Resources
Next steps for this site
August 22nd, 2008
What is the next step in making this site useful and valuable to potential “helpers”, vets, and folks who could provide training?
Need your ideas.
Can’t let this just sit here.
Will
Structured Decompression
July 28th, 2008
Four years ago I had the opportunity to work with re-deploys in a structured decompression session. The sessions were run through the office of the Chaplain. At the time, my brother-in-law was Chaplain Colonel, and used this research based program to help re-deploys return to their families.
Decompressions were held within the Office of the Chaplains, so that information shared would remain confidential. The decompressions were voluntary, and lasted 2-4 hours each. Each was structured, to give the most possible comfort to the re-deploys.
There were 4 parts - introduction to the decompression techniques (including research overview), discussion from the soldier aobut his assignments, discussion about the soldier’s disappointments, and then discussion about the soldier’s accomplishments. The time ended with further strategies and resources, and specific ideas how to deal with family, friends, and ignorant people.
When my bro-in-law retired, the program did as well. There were many successes - as evidenced by continued contacts with the Chaplains. Family members would also offer success stories - by using strategies taught at a large homecoming celebration.
Retired
July 22nd, 2008
1) Don’t try to understand. Unless it was experienced, it cannot be understood. After a very traumatic and terrifying experience a good friend of mine looked at me and said, “How do we even describe the gravity of the situation to someone?”. All too often you can’t.
2) The experiences are not table talk with family members and often times, not even appropriate for discussion in public. Quite frankly, most of the public cannot handle it. Its not the sawed down edited version that needs to come out. It is the felt and witnessed truth that needs to come out. I never wanted my friends and family to ever know as no human should ever be witness to the horror of death and descruction.
3)If a conversation does began with someone trying to communicate their experiences, simply saying “I am listening” is often times all that is needed. Anything else could shut the conversation down or start an arguement.
4) Be prepared for horrific details and remember silence is Golden. Use judgement if you want to ask a question.
5) Any thanks, praise, hugs (when and where appropriate), “I Love You”, and support in general are always appreciated and helpful as they made me feel I always did the right thing.
Need Help
July 17th, 2008
As I have the great opportunity to talk on TV and radio about these issues, many people want to know if the Veteran Affairs services are working.
I would very much like to see and read some VA experiences that you might be having, both the great and not-so-great experiences,
Any suggestions to anyone trying to use that system?
Tx
Resources for mental health professionals
Resources for servicemembers and their families
- A Survivor’s Guide to Benefits: Taking Care of Our Own
- Anticipatory Grief
- Bereavement Counseling
- Deployment Health and Family Readiness Library
- Military and Veterans: Substance Use and Co-occuring Disorders Among Military and Veterans
- Military One Source
- National Military Family Association
- National Veterans Foundation
- Recovery and the Military: Treating Veterans and Their Families
- Returning from the War Zone: a Guide for Families of Military Members
- Returning from the War Zone: A Guide for Military Personnel
- Seamless Transition
- What Military Families Should Know About Depression
About
About Capella University
Founded in 1993, Capella University is an accredited*, fully online university that offers graduate degree programs in business, information technology, education, human services, psychology, public health, and public safety, and bachelor’s degree programs in business, information technology, and public safety. Within those areas, Capella currently offers 104 graduate and undergraduate specializations and 15 certificate programs. The online university currently serves more than 23,400 students from all 50 states and 45 other countries. For more information, please visit http://www.capella.edu or call 1-888-CAPELLA (227-3552).
Capella University’s support for the armed forces
Capella University has been named one of the top military-friendly universities by Military Advanced Education magazine. Capella extends a military discount to active duty personnel, their immediate family members, and veterans, and has a dedicated armed forces and veterans support team. The university provides five $10,000 Spirit of Capella Scholarships to students who have been injured in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as 20 $5,000 Veterans Scholarships available to veterans, servicemembers of any branch of the U.S. military, and their immediate family members. Approximately 3,800 of Capella’s students are military personnel, their family members, or veterans – about 17 percent of Capella’s student body. For more information, visit Capella Armed Forces programs or call 1-888-315-8001 to learn more.
