In 2015, CCFH received a grant from the NC GlaxoSmithKline Foundation to help improve the trauma-informed resources available to veterans. Over three years, this project trained nearly 400 professionals throughout North Carolina.
One component of the project was simply to increase the availability of evidence-based treatments for adults, primarily parents, with post-traumatic stress disorder throughout the state. Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is highly effective in reducing traumatic stress symptoms in adults. While widely used in VA Medical Centers, CPT is rare in community mental health settings. And so, in partnership with CPT developer Patti Resick, CCFH trained 103 mental health clinicians in 39 counties to provide Cognitive Processing Therapy.
Veterans, however, are often unaware of the resources available to them in their communities. So, a second component of the project focused on improving the ability of Veteran Services Officers (VSO) – specialists providing county-level services to veterans in 12 offices throughout the state – to address the ways that deployment affects service members and their families. While the role of VSOs has been primarily to assist veterans in claiming their benefits, they are well placed to identify a wide range of needs, including mental health and stress, and counsel veterans on all the forms of assistance available to them.
In partnership with the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), CCFH created a 20-module curriculum covering a wide range of mental health knowledge and interpersonal skills. Through a mix of in-person and video classes, 289 VSOs received training on topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, suicide, active listening, de-escalation, and stress reduction.
“The state does a great job training us on policies and procedures,” says Jeremy Hughes, a VSO at the Canton Veteran Services Center, “but the soft skills that I learned have really made a big difference in my work.” Since the training, he has become more attuned to flat affect among veterans he sees – apathy or lack of emotional response that may be a sign of traumatic stress.
Shannon Tyler in the Alamance County office sees both Vietnam-era veterans who have never been asked about trauma and Iraq veterans who do not realize they may have post-traumatic stress or a traumatic brain injury. “It’s tough,” she says, “but it’s amazing the see what happens when you can educate them and advocate for what they need.”
The project funded by the NC GlaxoSmithKline Foundation has ended, but the work will continue. The NC Department of Health and Human Services recently awarded CCFH a contract to train an another 60 VSOs in partnership with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.