CNN reports this week on the growing shortage of behavioral health professionals serving U.S. troops just as suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder is on the rise (“Army desperately seeking health care providers“).
We’ve been watching the trend. It is why we just established a Military Psychology track within our Doctor of Psychology of Clinical Psychology program–the first Psy.D program in clinical psychology with a military psychology specialization.
The need is critical. As Dr. Joseph Troiani, coordinator of the Military Psychology program here at The Adler School, pointed out in a presentation last week to the National Council of schools and Programs in Professional Psychology:
- The occurrence rate of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) are double the rates of prior conflicts such as the Korean War, the Vietnam Conflict adn the first Gulf War. The PTSD rate among women has been recently stated at close to 40 percent.
- Because of the nature of the conflict (e.g. use of improvised explosive devices), there has been a significant rate of increase in traumatic brain injury (TBI).
- The military has been reporting a 25 percent rate in the increase in alcohol abuse and alcoholism problems with returning veterans.
- Advances in military medicine have produced a decrease in death rates, but an increase in severe injuries such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injuries, and burns. These injuries require additional long term clinical psychological services including medical and rehabilitative psychology.
Military psychologists are involved in providing behavioral health services to military contingency operations such as humanitarian support operations and disaster relief response, Dr. Troiani explains. With an increasing emphasis on the care of the families of service members, today’s military psychologist also is tasked to provide clinical services to those families, he says.
Military retirees and their families also are entitled to receive behavioral health care from Department of Defense (DoD) hospitals and clinics. According to the U.S. Navy Psychology Program, the patient population treated is composed of 60 percent uniformed service members and 40 percent family members and military retirees.
The Veterans Administration (VA) continues to expand both hospital and clinic based behavioral health services to meet the needs of an increasing number of veterans (e.g. Vietnam, Gulf War, IOF, and OEF) who are turning to the VA system for their entitled services. The number of Vet Centers continues to significantly increase, as does the number of active military and military reserve billets for clinical psychologists.
The Socially Responsible Practitioner 