Unlicensed psychologists sent to Iraq?

Until his son's death, Chris Scheuerman was probably like the rest of us assuming the military hired psychologist and psychiatrists to take care of the mental health needs of the troops especially considering that suicides were claiming too many lives. After all, who would have thought they would have sent anything less? The problem was, they were. The question is, how many lives did it cost the men and women serving? Then we need to ask how many had ended up with PTSD misdiagnosed because an expert was not there?

AP NewsBreak: IG says dad's complaints unfounded
By KIMBERLY HEFLING – 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The practice of sending unlicensed psychologists to Iraq to treat troops did not violate Army regulations, according to a military inspector general's investigation instigated by a complaint from the father of a soldier who committed suicide.

The soldier, Pfc. Jason Scheuerman, 20, was found dead in his barracks in Iraq in 2005. Three weeks earlier, an unlicensed psychologist asked by the soldier's captain to evaluate him, said in a report that Scheuerman was "capable of claiming mental illness" to manipulate superiors and sent him back to his unit.

A copy of the Army Medical Command's inspector general's investigation, completed in November, was obtained by The Associated Press using a Freedom of Information Act request.

Prior to a change in policy in 2006, it was a common practice in Iraq for the military to deploy unlicensed providers with the stipulation that they work under supervision. The policy was similar to that in civilian settings, but was changed after the military determined supervision was difficult to do in a combat setting.

Scheuerman's father, Chris Scheuerman, of Sanford, N.C., said the then-unlicensed psychologist who treated his son should never have been in a position to do so, and is culpable in his son's death.
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IG says dad complaints unfounded