Civilian therapists urged to get training in PTSD and TBI

Start in the right direction but they are still not hiring people already trained when they are needed the most.

Civilian therapists urged to get training in veterans' needs
Knowledge is vital for civilians practicing in small towns, official says
By Will Higgins
Posted: October 9, 2009
A top Indiana National Guard mental health professional reached out Thursday to civilian mental health workers and urged them to learn more about returning soldiers' common afflictions so they could counsel them.

"We need more therapists trained in PTSD and TBI," Sydney H. Davidson, director of psychological health for the Indiana National Guard, told a gathering of nearly 100 managers of the Indiana Council of Community Mental Health Centers in Indianapolis.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury often make for rocky transitions for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly one in five returning veterans suffers from one or the other, or both.

So far, a handful of community mental health organizations have trained staffers to treat returning vets.

Last spring, Four County Counseling Center in Logansport received an $85,000 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to better serve veterans in four Northern Indiana counties. Four of the group's 25 therapists have received training in PTSD and TBI, with six more scheduled for training later this year.
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