Give An Hour making news again

DoD: America Supports You: Group Offers Free Mental Health Counseling

By AmericasNewsToday.Org staff



Mental Health practitioners nationwide are donating their time and services to provide free, confidential counseling to military people and their families.

"Combat affects everyone in one way or another," explained Dr. Barbara Romberg in an "ASY Live" interview on BlogTalkRadio. "Most people react when exposed to a situation where there are extreme or horrific events; it is a human reaction to abnormal situations."

ASY Live is part of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, which connects citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.

Romberg, founder and president of "Give an Hour," said she started her nonprofit organization to educate servicemembers and their families about the seriousness of post-traumatic stress disorder and the importance of taking steps to combat it.

"When we set up the organization a few years ago, the concept was very simple, she said. "We asked mental health professionals across the country to give an hour of their time."

When one of the program’s providers was asked why she joined, Romberg said, her answer was equally simple. "How could I not? It’s so little that they are asking of me to give," the practitioner said.

Romberg said a broad spectrum of mental health practitioners participated in Give an Hour. "We have mental health professionals of all kinds -- psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, licensed marriage and family counselors, substance abuse counselors and pastors," she explained. "One size doesn’t fit all; people need different things."

Raising awareness about PTSD is as important to the group as providing help to people who need it, she said.

"We are really launching a public education campaign to make sure our entire country understands post-traumatic stress -- what it is and why it’s so important to address," she said. "Post-traumatic stress is a condition that will affect most people."

Romberg said there are important signs that a family member can identify that may be an indication that professional help may be a necessary part of the recovery process.
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