Implications for Social Work
Studies regarding group therapy in veterans with substance abuse complications, the key benefits for those who participated was a longer-term effect. Group therapy enhanced the effect of other treatment modalities. However, the type of group therapy was found to be less important than the fact that the veteran received group therapy. For the social worker who works with the veteran population, it is important to understand the benefits of group therapy for the client.
Understanding that substance abuse in the veteran population is different from substance abuse in other populations, such as teenagers, is the key to providing them with the best line of defense. Group therapy can help the veteran learn positive coping mechanisms so that they do not have to turn to negative coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse. Unless the veteran can replace negative coping mechanisms with positive ones, they will be likely to return to coping mechanisms that are destructive. This is the key important of group therapy for the veteran.
Veterans often have difficulty discussing uncomfortable subjects and may be reluctant to enter into a group therapy setting. The social worker needs to try to convince the veteran of the benefits of therapy and to provide a positive supportive environment in order to get the veteran to attend. Those veterans who attend group therapy have a greater success rate due to the positive social interaction of the group.
From a social work perspective, veterans with substance abuse problems are often different from others in the general population with substance abuse problems. With veterans, their combat experiences are likely to be linked to the substance abuse. The underlying condition must be treated before the substance abuse will go away. Knowing that they are not alone is an important part of their ability to accept and validate their own experiences.
Veterans may have had negative experiences expressing their feelings among the general population, but when among others with similar problems, they may find it easier to open up. This is the...
(2011) report that cognitive therapy "especially cognitive restructuring…can help correct faulty perceptions of danger, improve perceived self-control of memories and accompanying negative emotions and strengthen adaptive coping responses under conditions of distress." (p.1) Cognitive therapy or restructuring is "one of the best validated PTSD treatments, designed to help the patient review and challenge distressing trauma-related beliefs." (Foa, Keane and Friedman, 2000; Yerkes and Holloway, 1996 in: Ruzek, et al.,
Veterans The need for more robust mental health care is acute worldwide. One specific client population that is currently underserved is that of American veterans of foreign wars. In the state of Hawaii alone, there are seven active military installations and as many as 117, 254 veterans currently living in Hawaii," (VA, 2010). Yet there is only one Veteran's Affairs health care facility available to all 100,000-plus individuals qualifying for care
In particular, the attorneys working on this issue claim that the VA is "structurally unsuitable" for dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which is "a signature problem" veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are suffering from (Weinstein). Symptoms of PTSD include: "…intense anxiety, persistent nightmares, depression, uncontrollable anger, and difficulties coping with work, family, and social relationships" (Weinstein). There an estimated 1.6 million men and women who have served
Veterans & Retirees; Is Government Keeping its Promise This study aimed at exploring the experiences and perceptions of Veterans belonging to Lousiana and Mississippi about three variables; the accessibility of organization; the accessibility of benefits and availability and adequacy of the facilities being provided by government through VA. The respondents were also asked to suggest whether there is a need for improvement and what should VA do to provide benefits and
The benefits of including family in therapy sessions extend far beyond addressing the parents' concerns in this situation, however, and can help to identify underlying problems that led to Rosa's drug abuse and potentially provide more highly effective long-term solutions to these issues. Adolescent females were the subject of one study that specifically examined the efficacy of family systems therapy interventions in cases of anorexia nervosa, and the efficacy of
therapy in helping veterans to overcome the challenges that they are facing the most notable include: exposure therapy and cognitive restructuring. To determine the effectiveness of these approaches we will be conducting a literature review on: the quantitative approach, qualitative technique, mixed methods and program evaluation. Once this occurs, it will provide us with the greatest insights about how to achieve these objectives. The article that was written by Parsons
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