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Women Veterans Taking Charge of Their Well-Being

By Johanna Buwalda

On the first weekend of September 2010, a group of women, members of IVAW and allies, attended a retreat in a state park in Pennsylvania. One afternoon, sitting around a fire, we talked about ways that military service had affected our lives. We shared things we do to take care of ourselves, and discussed ways to select the kind of professionals we believe would be the most helpful to us.

We think that many of our thoughts and ideas can be useful to other veterans, so we decided to share these as widely as possible.

We found that our experiences with the military continues to impact our lives on many levels including how we:

• relate to our own bodies
• feel about our selves
• feel about our own actions
• view other people's actions
• relate to other people in general
• relate to men
• make choices about our lives
• feel about relationships
• stand in the world
• make reproductive choices
• and much more.

Self Care

Since our experiences in the military continue to impact our lives, we have needed to put things into place to keep going, deal with stress, cope with the results of trauma, and create a sense of well-being.

Here is a list of things we can do to take care of ourselves:

• Find other women who have similar experiences for peer support groups
• Go to the IVAW women's retreat
• Hang out in beautiful surroundings
• Take time for ourselves
• Create women-safe spaces
• Become aware of our physical limitations
• Be physically active (Jogging, walking, bike-riding, playing sports)
• Write (journal, poetry)
• Be intentional about having healthy women in their lives
• Bring our dog with us as our battle buddy
• Go get acupuncture
• Meditation
• Go into individual psychotherapy
• Go to a Reiki practitioner
• Go to the movies by ourselves
• Dance
• Go into couples counseling
• Go to a doctor or psychiatrist and take medication
• Go to a herbalist and take herbs
• Take supplements
• Get massages/bodywork
• Go to a church that is congruent with our spiritual beliefs and reach out to spiritual teachers

Selecting a Provider

Sometimes, it can be helpful to work with a professional provider. Maybe you want to work with a psychologist, a counselor, a massage therapist, a reiki practitioner, an herbalist or other provider. We talked about how to select a provider. Here are some questions you can ask a potential provider to help decide whether or not they might be right for you:

• What is your experience working with veterans?
• What is your experience working with (war) trauma?
• What is your motivation for working with veterans?
• What is your stance about the war?
• What are your gender politics?
• Do you accept the feminist point of view?
• What are your ideas about sexual orientation?
• What is the theoretical perspective that informs your work?
• How do you feel about psychotropic medication and/or Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT)?
• How do you feel about medical marijuana?
• How do you feel about alternative health care?
• Do you take notes during sessions?
• What does a typical session look like? What can I expect?
• Can you tell me about your understanding of a good bedside manner?
• How much time do you usually take for your clients/patients?

Other considerations

• Does the provider charge for services (there are providers who offer free services to veterans)?
• If the provider charges for services does the provider have a sliding scale fee you can afford?
• Is the provider's office located in a place that is convenient for you?
• Are you likely to go?

Some things all veterans should know:

• You can fire your provider, even the VA has to assign you another provider if you request that
• If you are not comfortable with a therapist in the first couple of sessions, go to another one

Resources

Johanna (Hans) Buwalda, M.Ed., M.A., L.C.P.C.
VVAW Military and Veterans Counseling
3411 West Diversey, Suite 1
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 370-4789
storiesandart.com

Warrior Writers. warriorwriters.org. The Warrior Writers Project brings together recent veterans and current service members to be in creative community and utilize art-making processes to express themselves.

Give an Hour, Giveanhour.org, is a data base of mental health providers who offer an hour of free services to military service men, women and their loved ones.

The Soldiers Project, (877) 576-5343, is a group of licensed mental health professionals who offer free psychological treatment to military service members (active duty, National Guard, Reserves and veterans) who have served or who expect to serve in the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan.

GI Rights Hotline, http://www.girightshotline.org/, 877-447-4487.

Hans Buwalda is one of VVAW's Military Counselors.