INSTRUCTIONAL COURSE DETAIL

TUE, 27 OCT: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

PRESENTER

Treven Pickett, PsyD, ABPP-Rp
Associate Chief and Supervisory Clinical Psychologist (Research and Education), Mental Health Service, McGuire VAMC; Affiliate Assistant Professor in Psychology, Psychiatry, and PM&R, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

DIAGNOSIS

Brain Injury, Other

FOCUS

Military/ Veterans Affairs, Clinical Practice

ABBREVIATED DESCRIPTION

For many medical professionals understanding the unique culture of and issues relating to service members and their families remains an area of educational need. This instructional course aims to enhance awareness within the field of rehabilitation medicine of the idiosyncratic elements of military culture by exploring the unique stressors associated with OEF/ OIF/OND conflicts, as well as culturally sensitive assessment and intervention techniques to consider when working with service members and their families.

ABSTRACT BODY

Since 2001, approximately 60 percent (1,089,668) of all separated service members who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), or Operation New Dawn (OND) conflicts have sought health care services through the Veterans Affairs health care system, with musculeoskeletal ailments (60.5 percent) and mental disorders (56.5 percent) reflecting the two most common diagnoses. For many medical professionals, however, understanding the unique culture of and issues relating to service members and their families remains an area of need. This instructional course aims to enhance awareness within the field of rehabilitation medicine of the idiosyncratic elements of military culture by exploring the stressors associated with OEF/ OIF/OND conflicts and culturally sensitive assessment and intervention techniques that may be helpful when working with service members and their families. The challenges service members and their families often experience throughout different stages of the deployment cycle will be discussed along with potential issues surrounding community, re-integration, mental health (i.e., Posttraumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD], depression, and substance abuse), and physical health (Traumatic Brain Injury [TBI]). It is hoped participants will leave this course with an increased comfort in understanding and working with service members and their loved ones, a basic knowledge of relevant resources, and a foundation for building future competencies in assisting this complex and growing population.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Participants will understand the unique culture of, and issues related to, working with service members and their families.
Participants will achieve a greater understanding of the unique stressors associated with Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation New Dawn (OND) conflicts.
Participants will learn culturally sensitive assessment and intervention techniques helpful when working with service members and their families.
Participants will understand the different challenges service members and families have at different segments of the deployment cycle.
Participants will be acquainted with, and feel more comfortable about community re-integration, mental health, and physical health challenges that may occur for some service members and their families, to include Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depression, Substance Abuse, and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Intended Audience

Spectrum of interdisciplinary providers who deliver, and want to deliver, culturally informed care to OEF/OIF/OND Veterans and/or their family members.

COURSE OUTLINE

An Introduction to Military Culture by Christopher Murphy, PsyD,
including (1) the nature of military life, (2) elements of military culture, (3) basic tenets of military culture, (4) military belief systems, (5) induction into the military through enlistment, and (6) a description of aspects of military life including rank, uniform, insignia, and description of terms.

Experiential Exercise: Self Awareness and Discovery of Potential Bias, Meghan Geiss, PhD; facilitated discussion 30 minutes brining in active participation of attendees

Deployment-Related Mental Health Concerns Affecting Veterans and their Families, Treven Pickett, PsyD, ABPP, 45 Minutes, Content includes a description of the normal cycle of deployment (pre-, peri-, and post-deployment) and how Service members and their families adjust to these changes.

Experiential Exercise: Meghan Geiss, PhD, this includes the formal reading of a “warning order” by a conference attendee if there is a Veteran present. The warning order is an initial notice that a group is being called to deploy. the attendees will be encouraged to imagine that they are all a part of a battalion being issued this news for the first time – this will be followed by a facilitated discussion to process reactions. The intent of this exercise is to facilitate increased phenomenologic appreciation for the exprience of needing to organize a family system in the context of an imminent deployment timeline.

Dicsussion of TBI and Mental Health Issues Common to OEF/OIF/OND in the Context of Military Culture and Deployment-Related Stress, 45 Minutes, Alternating Drs. Murphy, Pickett, and Geiss.

Conclude with Question and Answer

BIO SKETCHES

Treven Pickett, PsyD, ABPP is a neuropsychologist and board certified rehabilitation psychologist. He has served as Associate Chief and Supervisory Clinical Psychologist for the Mental Health Service at McGuire VAMCenter in Richmond, Virginia since February 2008. Dr. Pickett completed his APA-accredited doctoral work at The Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology which included an APA-accredited internship experience at the Gainesville VAMC. He completed fellowships in rehabilitation and neuropsychology at the Concussion Care Centre of Virginia, and at the VA Brain Rehabilitation Research Center. Dr. Pickett started as a research neuropsychologist with DVBIC-Richmond in 2004 and soon became staff neuropsychologist there on the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center (PRC) in 2005. Dr. Pickett developed a Rehabilitation Psychology fellowship program, now APA accredited, and co-directs a Mental Illness Research and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Psychology fellowship program. In research, he is Principal Investigator on studies investigating the neurocognitive sequelae of TBI and PTSD with a number of related publications in peer-reviewed journals. He holds faculty appointments in departments of PM&R, Psychiatry, and Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Pickett served as Acting Senior VA Liaison for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) for the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health and TBI between February and September 2013.

Christopher “Topher” Murphy, PsyD, is a psychologist and former US Army Captain. He has conducted over 1500 Compensation and Pension examinations for mental health issues at the McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia since November 2011. He is also Cognitive Processing Therapy Trainer (Licensed and Credentialed) through the Veterans Affairs. Dr. Murphy completed his APA-accredited doctoral work at Regent University in Clinical Psychology which included an APA-accredited internship experience at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Fort Gordon, GA. He also served at Fort Campbell, KY and Fort Hood, Texas. He deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as Operation New Dawn. He was a small team leader and was the Officer in Charge (OIC) for a hybrid Combat Stress Control clinic in Taji, Iraq. He completed Aeromedical Training at Fort Rucker, Alabama to become an Aviation Psychologist; he also completed the Center for Deployment Psychology program in Bethesda, Maryland. He holds a faculty appointment at the Department of Psychology, College of Humanities and Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dr. Meghan Geiss is a Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. She obtained an M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling at the University at Albany, State University of New York and earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Memphis. Prior to fellowship, she completed a clinical internship at the Malcolm Randall VAMC in Gainesville, FL and worked with Veterans in polytrauma settings. Working in a Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center on fellowship, she concentrates her clinical and research efforts on post-acute rehabilitation issues with U.S. Veterans who have had a Traumatic Brain Injury.