Not All Wounds Can Be Seen: Military Families Share Wounds As Service Members Transition To Life Back Home

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Military Families Share Wounds As Service Members Transition To Life Back Home (NAPSA)—It’s common for service members and their families to experience stress as a result of deployment and otherlife transitions. Service members and their families are not alone. Resources like the Real Warriors Campaign (www.realwarriors.net) exist to support families’ overall well-being. The campaign, sponsored by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoB), is a public education initiative designed to encourage help-seeking behavior for service members, vet- erans and military families coping with invisible wounds. The tools and resources available through the campaign promote the processes of building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration for returning service members, veterans and their fami- lies. The website offers articles and practical tips for spouses and families of service members aimed to cover all aspects of military life and the deploymentcycle, including articles about how to adjust to changes, prepare for homecomings, and help children cope with deployments and reunions. Additional resources through campaign partners (www.real warriors.net/partner) offer services and support for families of service members for coping with deployment, locating support and obtaining military benefits. They include: Sesame Workshop’s Talk, Listen, Connect (www.sesamework shop.org/initiatives/emotion/tle) initiative uses the friendly and familiar Muppet characters to provide resources for military families with young children coping with issues related to deployments, changes from combat-related injuries and the death of a parent. Blue Star Families (www. bluestarfam.org) provides online and physical chapter-based communities to bridge families with Photo by LCpl Robert J. Maurer Service members and their families can get help, advice and support from many organizations. support and service organizations that help make military life more sustainable. The National Military Family Association (www.militaryfamily. org) educates military families concerning their rights, benefits and services available to them, and to inform them regarding the issues that affect theirlives. FOCUS (www.focusproject. org) helps military families meet the challenges of deployment and reintegration by offering resiliency training and teaching practical skills. The organization’s programs guide families on how to effectively communicate and solve problems, set goals together and create a shared family story. Families looking for additional support can reach out to trained health consultants at the DCoE Outreach Center through the Live Chat feature on the campaign website (www.realwarriors.net/live chat) or by calling (866) 966-1020, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All families of service members should know that they should feel comfortable reaching out to service members’ units and other military and national organizations for support. Reaching out is a sign of strength that benefits your family and your service member. The Real Warriors Campaign provides practical tools, tips and resources for service members and their families.

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