the short version
'Outside resources may be answer for ailing soldiers'
That was a headline for an article by Michael Staples which appeared in the Fredericton Daily Gleaner on January 29, 2014.
Ryan Jetsin, former top soldier at 2RCR CFB Gagetown said “Often, I think the use of outside resources might be a good way to quickly augment the social workers and other mental health workers to ensure that no one that wants or needs help can get it as soon as possible.” The article goes on to quote a retired soldier, a PTSD casualty himself said “..roles for professionals outside the military [have] to play a bigger part.” He goes on to say, “You don’t have to have them working under someone’s thumb. But, you have to have them working as a PTSD qualified therapist. If you have a PTSD qualified therapist in the city, why wouldn’t you use her?”
Raising two crucial questions:
1. What exactly is qualified?
You are about to read an original perspective on this very complicated problem. I've spent the last three years researching, contemplating and refining my own therapeutic techniques to share openly my own original insights. There is a lot of information here. I make no apology for that. There is some repetition, the points that are repeated, require reinforcement.
One of the most important books I ever read was the art of war by Sun Tzu, there are many important lessons in that brilliant 39 page text… one of the most important is… before you embark on a campaign make sure you know what you're objectives are, admittedly that's a paraphrase of the lesson, which is, be aware of what you want to accomplish and why you are doing what you are doing.
My goal and my objective is to reach out and help the wounded warriors who have unfortunately concluded they are unreachable, to understand the suffering soldiers who don't think that anyone will understand them. That is my objective, to take this unique service directly to soldiers, veterans and their families, independent of any governing body acting as a middleman.
For three years, January 2010, through December 2012 I worked as an equal partner with a clinical psychologist as half of a therapeutic team. I entered the vocation of professional therapist as a specialist and an apprentice at the same time. A specialist in the context of problem-solving,by using a combination of; keen observation, intuition, an ability to understand most situations from several perspectives simultaneously, an intensely creative background,and the ability to motivate and inspire the people the solutions are created for, I consistently found solutions for problems and situations that before my involvement seemed unsolvable.
My 15 years experience as New Brunswick's most successful and stylistically diverse Record producer provided training and experience I required to understand circumstances from several perspectives very quickly, improvise solutions for the clients and coach them through applying the solutions. An apprentice, in the context of observing all of the interaction the psychologist had with our clients, I learned a great deal from working with her for three years. During this time I demonstrated a special and perhaps unique ability for understanding and counselling soldiers and veterans with what is called PTSD. [I will address the problems with that label later] So now I offer a new and original therapeutic option for suffering soldiers and veterans over the age of 30, as this is the specific group or demographic that I was consistently able to help. By stating that I am independent, I mean not affiliated with Canadian Forces, the Federal Government, or Veterans Affairs, at least not at this time. So here's the bad news, you'll have to pay to see me out of your own pocket [Rate is $80/HR see below for details].
This independent and proven option will be good news for some suffering soldiers and veterans. All too often, a traumatized soldier knows if he identifies himself as suffering from PTSD, his military career is over. It's long overdue, that specialized, independent therapeutic options be offered directly to the suffering soldier. So that's what I'm doing. Independent options for treating PTSD exist in many parts of United States where often the suffering soldier’s extended families gather financial resources to pay an independent therapist. This happens for several reasons:
Some points, perspectives and opinions are intentionally stated more than once in these writings. When presenting new information, sometimes reinforcement will increase the probability of understanding. There is a lot of information here as I have tried very hard to answer all potential questions before they're asked. However, one NCO, who greatly benefited from my counselling, summed up in a few sentences what I did for him better than I do in several pages, when I asked him “… so what is the difference between me and the other therapists they sent you to?” “That's easy,” he replied “you sit down and really talk to us, help us make sense of what we're going through and give us solutions that work. On the base, it's just somebody sitting across the desk checking things off on a clipboard.” The same veteran’s recovery progress was astonishing, he referred to the improvements in his life as a result of my counsel as…. “Winning the lottery” and “A miracle.” While I cannot guarantee those kind of results for everybody, I will repeat, in those three years I was able to significantly help every combat veteran over the age of 30, the closer to retirement, the more I was able to help. All I ask is that you commit to three sessions, as after that third session, we will both know whether it's working or not. If I don't think I can help you, I will be open and honest about that, as I was with some soldiers in their 20s, which I will explain in more detail near the end of this document.
I'll introduce myself here the same way I did when meeting a new soldier or veteran in my recording studio, which is where the psychologist and I worked together for three years seeing more than half of her clients, male and female, military and civilian, together as a therapeutic team.
“Good afternoon. My name is Lloyd Hanson, I am not a psychologist. I was brought to this work through a series of life experiences that identified I had special aptitudes and abilities to be a therapist. Most of my professional background is in music as a record producer, where I was a therapist a lot of the time. In the past several years I've conducted an extensive independent education where military history and psychology were two of the several topics I studied extensively. If you have any questions about me or for me, I will answer them honestly and tell you the truth. It's important that you be comfortable here and we encourage you to express yourself in anyway you need to. If you need to raise your voice to make a point, or swear, use the word fuck if you want to and as often as you want to. No one can hear you here outside these walls and you're sitting where you have a direct view of the only entrance to this space, no one can surprise you.[very important to a traumatized soldier or veteran]. If you've seen other therapists before, you'll find my style of interaction quite different, as I will probably interject a lot more than other people you’ve seen. If I don't understand fully what you're explaining I will interrupt and ask for clarification because I believe it's important that I understand."
The psychologist, when we were working together, described our team dynamic as me being the gas and her being the brakes, which is to say, I did the bulk of the probing into the problems, offered most of the perspectives, most of the advice and did all of the dream interpretation, while she monitored the clients stress level, emotional state, and interjected when she needed to with coping mechanisms, visualization exercises and her perspectives. With civilians, male and female, and military personnel under the age of 30, including those seeking therapy for non-PTSD related reasons, the involvement of the psychologist and myself at the sessions was close to equal. However, when treating soldiers and veterans who had been on multiple tours and were haunted by severe battle trauma, the proportions shifted and I conducted almost the entire session from the day I met the first soldier in January 2010, I do not write this to brag, nor is this statement in anyway intended as criticism of the psychologist, it's just how it worked out. Because of these consistent successful experiences, it is only the specific group of male soldiers and veterans over the age of 30 that I make myself available to now. Soldiers in their 20s are addressed in the category called 'special circumstances', which follows my rates at the bottom of this document.
It is my sincere hope that no one judge the psychologist for taking me into her practice. As it was a brave and visionary thing to do. In those three years, working as a team, we helped many people, military and civilian, who would not of gotten that help under different circumstances. I can see now that our working relationship was not supposed to go long-term and everything does happen for a reason. I now have nothing but gratitude and appreciation for being provided the unique opportunity of working as a professional therapist. Without that opportunity and the experience of those three years, I would never be able to confidently offer this unique service now, that unfortunately has become very necessary, as what is called PTSD, has been an ongoing and expanding crisis situation for many years, with very few new solutions or new perspectives being offered.
They are the direct result of who I am as a person, the over 30 years I spent as a professional musician, more than 15 years as New Brunswick's most successful record producer and an extensive 13 year independent educational process in which the major topics I studied were; the American Civil War, philosophy, the world's religions [ especially key figures, they're based on, and how their teachings and images were rewritten to be used as tools, even weapons, for the cultivation of Empire], psychology [particularly the writings of Carl Jung], the history of Rome from the late Republic through the entire Empire, and several other topics that I will cover in greater detail later on in the way way too long version (W.W.T.L.V.), or my bio.
Potentially the most important part of my educational process as far as treating men in the military is concerned is the result of a small miracle. You see almost a year after I parted ways with the psychologist, a couple of friends, who work in book publishing, took it upon themselves to find, assemble and send to me a small library of modern books on PTSD. Thank you, Neil and Karen. I didn't even look at these books for a year, as 2013 was a very bad year for me, but much worse for many suffering wounded warriors. It was that holiday season a number of veterans tragically took their own lives, that's when I decided that I had to cultivate the courage to further train myself and launch an independent practice. [incidentally, it was just after the tragic holiday season, that the Daily Gleaner article, quoted at the beginning was published.]
I went through these books slowly and thoroughly in 2014 as I will explain in more detail in the W.W.T.L.V. Many of these books confirmed for me that the insights and approaches I had cultivated and developed in isolation were exactly the same insights that many mavericks in the United States had also developed to treat soldiers and traumatized veterans in the areas that they lived.[many of the maverick innovators quoted in these books also came from creative and artistic backgrounds]. Taking over a year to go through these books slowly, methodically, thoroughly, making extensive notes, and identify on a personal level with so many of the insights and observations, gave me the inspiration, and in fact the courage to go ahead with what I'm offering now. To become the battle therapist
Most of my professional life [1990-2006], was spent as a professional record producer as I owned and operated Reel North Recording Studio. I am the only New Brunswick resident to produce a Juno Award-Winning album, I also recorded, mixed and mastered that album. I successfully produced 140 projects in 17 years with a client satisfaction of 100%. As an independent producer I had to understand my clients goals, and objectives, abilities and inabilities, personalities, working habits, strengths and fears. I also had to anticipate problems before they occurred, as well as creating solutions on the spot for musical, technical and personal problems as they happened. And I had to be right, because the minute you weren't your clients would lose trust in you. I found getting to know a number of NCOs later, that our jobs have many parallels. Realizing these parallels created a foundation for understanding, which is absolutely crucial in this specific therapeutic setting. Understanding creates common ground and is the foundation of trust, also crucial in this situation.
On another page there is what I refer to, with humour intended, the Way Way Too Long Version (W.W.T.L.V.) in which I go on at great length, describing in detail the following subjects:
As I start that essay with saying, none of this content is necessary, there's a lot of information here, from the perspective of an independent therapist, who was brought to this occupation by unique circumstances. Is entirely up to the individual if they want to read any of it. The W.W.T.L.V. Is made up of detailed positions that are direct results of my own experiences, observations, independent education, and most importantly the last 4 years of contemplation of all of the aforementioned. Because these opinions and perspectives are the result of the accumulated experiences of my life, these opinions and perspectives will be different than those of other people's whose experiences and education are completely different from mine. I would ask in advance that others respect my opinions as they are statements of truth that come from my own experience. One persons experience and perspective does in no way challenge or invalidate the perspectives or opinions of others, as I would hope, their conclusions are also based on their own experiences, which make them true. Different people, different experiences, different truths. None disproving or invalidating the others.
The most important insight or lesson that I gained from reading philosophy for about eight months was the ability to look at a complex scenario or situation from many points of view all at the same time, without one point of view contradicting or invalidating the other, but I digress. I include this point because unfortunately we live in time when any new information or new approaches are almost always criticized and attacked before they are understood. All too often the media presents only conflicting opinions about any topic they are reporting. So I've come to the understanding that these combative examples have essentially trained most of the general public to reject new information and immediately take a defensive and often aggressive stance when confronted with new ideas,much like a dog barking at a new person they haven't met before. As I say later on, it is my sincere hope that by forwarding this information and launching my own service that I will eventually be able to collaborate with existing mental health professionals to collectively develop new techniques and approaches to help all of our wounded warriors. As I do the final edit of this document in early October 2017, chief of Defence staff [CDS], Jonathan Vance, has announced a new program to assist veterans make the transition to civilian life, on October 5, I heard him on the CBC radio say “one military suicide is too many, zero is our goal.” Well general, you and I have the same goal.
The system, which in this case is our federal government, has not done a good job looking after our wounded warriors, which have increased exponentially since the Afghanistan deployments. The system doesn't know what to do with the PTSD crisis. If the system had a solution they were truly confident of, “they” would use it. I don't offer this as criticism but simply an accurate observation. I've devoted the last four years to researching and developing new and innovative techniques using the successes that I had treating soldiers and veterans years ago as a kind of launchpad. Many of my own techniques and perspectives I now openly share to anyone interested, free of charge, in the way way too long version, with the hope that other therapists, most of whom I will never even meet, will benefit from my original insights and be able to help others suffering soldiers and veterans.
A lot of people refer to psychiatrists and psychologists as shrinks, it's not meant to be a flattering term. Many people are of the understanding that if they see one of these professionals, they're just going to be analyzed, asked a few obvious questions, and then just left hanging out there, without any fresh perspectives of understanding or insights and certainly no concrete solutions to their problems. If you want to know my thoughts on the roles of these folks who occupy the “official” therapeutic positions, then you can scroll down to the section of the W.W.T.L.V. Called the meds, weed and the official jobs, for a detailed opinion.
If you have seen, and especially if you have rejected, a female clinical psychologist, then I promise you this. Your experience here with me will be completely different. As one soldier told me “it's like reconnecting with old friend from high school, who just happens to be good at this.” Our sessions together we'll feel a lot more like a conversation then an analysis, when you explain something to me, I'll paraphrase it back to you, to make sure that you know, that I understand. I won't ask you “what are you feeling right now” I'll know how you're feeling by the way you're telling your story. When you ask me what I think, I'll answer your question, in detail, not just throw it back at you. I need to be clear, I'm not saying those clinical therapeutic techniques are wrong, nor am I making fun of them. In the section below called “therapy for men” I describe in detail how most of the modern therapeutic techniques have been designed and developed for women to counsel other women, which of course is necessary, but leave most men without help. Please read my perspectives and think about them before forming an opinion, but back to the topic at hand. I call myself an expander and not a shrink, because the back-and-forth that I have with the soldier or veteran is more like jamming with musical instruments, or playing a sport together, or going on a reece together, which re-contextualized, is exactly what were doing in therapy sessions. By understanding what you’ve gone through, processing it, and creating solutions, on the spot, specifically for you, we are expanding our collective understanding of the experiences that you had while you were in theater.
The following is a brief description of my unique therapeutic technique, should anyone want a much more detailed explanation, see the W.W.T.L.V.
1. Completely honest conversation between two men to find common ground for the purpose of clear communication and to initiate a bond of trust and understanding as only two men can. You will have conversations here with me unlike you've had with anybody else. I can say that honestly and with confidence as the feedback I have received consistently confirms it. We will become friends for the time of your treatment. This bond of friendship would be discouraged even prohibited, in the clinical therapeutic context. However as I stated, I am not a psychologist, and my techniques are different. I've already experienced several times the importance of cultivating a close bond of friendship with severely traumatized soldiers and veterans, who all too often as a result of their trauma and their rank, have no friends, which is part of the reason they feel so alone.
2. Focusing on my attention not only what the client is saying but also to every nuance of his speech when he tells me about his experiences, also paying close attention to the details of his body language to quickly and completely understand all the aspects of what he is explaining. There is something tangible about having someone devote their entire attention to understanding you and your circumstances, it is something you can feel. True understanding builds a bond of trust and is the beginning of processing what you have experienced.
3. The most important step. Through paraphrasing back to him what he has just explained to me I prove to him by way of illustration that I do in fact fully understand and empathize with the experience he has just shared with me. This is especially effective for the clients who up to this point have been convinced that no one will understand them. I don't know exactly what percentage of PTSD sufferers this would include. But I do know that in the more than a dozen books on PTSD I have read are full of first-hand testimony of soldiers and veterans lamenting that no one will understand what they've been through. I can honesty say without exception I have understood every soldier/veteran over the age of 30 that I've counselled. Much more importantly, they have realized that someone understands them. This is the crossover point in my therapeutic technique, the metaphorical bridge that we go over together on the way to finding solutions to their unique circumstances.
4. Creating on the spot solutions that are custom-made for this man, this memory, in this moment in time. This part, is very similar to the way I produced records for 17 years, where it was my responsibility to instantly create Solutions for all technical, musical and personal problems that arise during recording sessions. I’ve essentially taken all of the special abilities that I developed while producing records and just aimed this unique combination of aptitudes, knowledge and experience in a new direction.
5. Explaining the solution I just created to this individual to fit their circumstances. Then I coach them through the implementation of the solution to give the client the confidence to apply it.[like a good sergeant or warrant would explain something to an unsure Cpl. or private.] Occasionally I have been confronted with a question or problem I have not been able to answer in that moment. When this happens, I promised the client that I will think about his situation or question and have answers for him at the next session, and I always have.
6. Follow up at the next session and confront the next set of problems by essentially repeating the steps chronicled above.
My primary objective for offering this service and writing these documents is to reach the suffering soldiers and veterans who have, for their own unique combination of reasons, rejected the “official” therapeutic options they have been offered and have concluded that no one will understand them and no one will be able to help them.
All of the opinions and perspectives contained in these documents are derived entirely from my own experiences, observations and contemplations. I will take this opportunity to acknowledge that my opinions may be very different from other therapists as our backgrounds, educations and experiences are completely different. The points and perspectives offered in these documents you are reading are mine and mine alone and should in no way be taken as any reflection of the opinions of the psychologist that I worked with for three years.
Complete confidentiality is a staple rule in the occupation of psychotherapy, however with infantry combat vets, there may be an exception. Many soldiers that we counselled told us strongly and repeatedly that if any aspect of their case or any aspect of how we treated them could be used to help other soldiers and veterans-please do it! So the examples in this document are not only used with permission but also with strong encouragement from the soldiers that are quoted. The quotes included here are taken from three men; two NCOs and a career Cpl. Between the ages of 35 and 55. In my experience the closer you are to leaving the army, the greater the chance that you can be helped, because you will be more inclined to look at things differently.
It is my strong opinion that the traumatic events soldiers experience in theater must be processed not only emotionally and psychologically but also militarily and spiritually. Also, a therapist specializing in PTSD must be able to understand, process, counsel, relate to, strategize and coach the wounded warrior through the unavoidable identity crisis of facing the fact you are no longer a soldier. An extensive study and knowledge of military history combined with over 30 years of playing in and traveling with musical ensembles most often made up of only men,enabled me to understand and relate to soldiers/veterans in ways that no female academic ever could.The following is an exchange I had with a mid-level NCO. He was the first to encourage me to utilize his example to help reach others, which is what I'm doing now. It is just one example of the advantage of processing the traumatic events from a military perspective, exchanges like the following example happened dozens and dozens of times during the three years I counsel soldiers and veterans.
After hearing about a tragic event that resulted in a fellow soldier being very seriously wounded I asked the soldier “did you have construction engineers in your company?” “Yes” he replied. Then I asked him “why didn't someone give the order to acquire the appropriate supplies so you could properly fortify to protect yourself from this kind of enemy harassment?” He looked at me stunned and after a pause said “You.. You know how this works?”… “oh yeah!” I replied then continued, "When I told you I studied military history, I wasn't kidding, I went at it with the same intensity and focus that I applied to music and audio production 20 years ago. I think it's important that I understand all the details of what you've gone through, and if I don't understand something, I'll ask to make sure I do.” He paused again and then said “we don't expect our counsellors to know anything about our jobs”. I said, "what a shame”. He agreed.
This was a breakthrough moment for both of us, and a major step in earning this man's trust. He immediately began to tell me about the dreams he was having in much greater detail. I asked him several questions about the dreams, acting largely on instinct and intuition.In doing so I realized that his perspective on these disturbing recollections was changing over time. Within weeks he was making unprecedented improvements and volunteered to us the following statement. "They’ve sent me to military counsellors all across this country but seeing you guys [as a therapeutic team] has helped me more than I could've imagined. What you two are doing here together is unique,and the Army should know about it because you guys could help a lot more soldiers who are not getting the help they need”.
We got feedback like that from most of the soldiers that we saw who were over the age of 30. We also received very positive feedback from the wives and girlfriends of the soldiers and veterans we counselled, because these women noticed unprecedented improvements within three sessions of my involvement. I became very curious about what was so different about me compared to the other therapists they had seen before, so I asked several soldiers and veterans the following question. "Look man, honestly, I'm not asking this question because I'm fishing for a compliment or need to be stroked here. But a number of you guys have generously volunteered that the help you’ve gotten here, since I was added, has been uniquely effective, you've also encouraged us to utilize any aspect of your treatment to help other soldiers and veterans. So with that in mind, help me to understand what is so different about the way I interact with you so that I can help other soldiers.” One recently retired NCO’s answer to this question sums up better in two sentences than I do in several pages the apparently unique ability I have for treating soldiers and veterans with PTSD when he said “It's simple, you sit down and really talk to us, help us make sense of what were going through and give us solutions that work. On the base, it’s just someone sitting across a desk checking things off on a clipboard.” This gentleman also referred his recovery as a miracle and compared the counseling he received to winning the lotto.
When I say that the effects of these traumatic events sometimes have to be processed spiritually I do not mean that in any formal religious context, as most of the soldiers and veterans that I met we're not religious or political. Because of the battle trauma accumulated on the multiple tours, these men do often end up pushing away their own family members, all the people that love them. It is my opinion that if for reasons you do not even fully understand that you alienate yourself from all the people that love you, then you are experiencing a spiritual crisis, and that crisis must be processed too, the women who live the soldiers and veterans know exactly what I mean. As in most of the points I make here, I go into more detail in the W.W.T.L.V.
Another soldier told me “they train us not to fraternize with these people. [officers, doctors and therapists] And they send us overseas where we have these experiences that mess us up and then they set us in front of someone we've been told not to interact with. So there's this invisible barrier that never goes away. With you, there's no barrier at all.” Later in this private conversation he told me “if they knew they could [PTSD sufferers], I think 9 out of 10 guys would want to come talk to you.”
So there is, and in the words from guys like you, the rest is just detail. I'm fully aware that hanging a shingle as a professional therapist who got there in a completely different matter than most people is going to raise some questions. I've tried to answer all of those questions in the way way too long version. If you want to know about my professional background as a musician, as a record producer and recording studio owner, what were the major topics of my 12-year independent educational trek, what my childhood was like, why I became a professional therapist, what my techniques are, why I know I can help you and why I'm devoting my entire professional life to becoming the battle therapist, it's all there as a reference, but as I said before, everything you need to know has already been said.
For the record, I am a completely independent therapist, which means, I am not affiliated directly or in anyway with the Canadian Forces, Veterans Affairs or any College of anything. This will be refreshing for many soldiers and veterans.
1. Soldiers and veterans who've for their own unique combination of reasons have concluded that they are incompatible with the therapeutic options they've been offered up to now. This group includes the men who have gone to one or two sessions only to return home and say to their wife or girlfriend “those people can't help me and they can't begin to understand me.”
[the books my friends sent me, are full of statements like that]. I will understand you, and more importantly, you will realize that you are being understood, I guarantee it.
2. Those soldiers still serving who need help but do not want to admit to the Army that they need help. This group unfortunately represents hundreds of men in the Fredericton, Oromocto and Gagetown areas. In the last few years the federal government and the Canadian forces have acknowledged that “some” returning soldiers, especially ones from tours in Afghanistan, have severe enough PTSD as to require formal therapy. However, this does not address the stigma that most currently serving soldiers feel if they identify themselves as needing help. As one soldier told me “do you know how difficult it is for one of us to even admit we have a problem, let alone seek help?” In addition to that, many soldiers feel that all the army will see is a soldier who can no longer do his job, career over, whether that is true or not. So many suffer in silence because they do not want to tell anymore they're in trouble. Many will not talk to there wives or their closest friends still in service. Consistently, these guys have opened up to me, without exception.
Note: Unfortunately many vets do not seek the help they need because they see the events that caused their PTSD as a direct result of the actions/decisions of their military superiors. This group feel they have nowhere to turn for fear of being exposed to the chain of command. I can honesty say I was particularly effective treating soldiers and veterans with these concerns. For the record I have no intention of ever disclosing military mistakes and accidents that are told to me in confidence. Primarily because I am honour bound to keep those secrets. But secondly and as importantly, publicly revealing those circumstances would only weaken and compromise the Canadian forces deployed overseas, which would increase the potential danger for all involved. So it is my opinion that there would be no tactical advantage in ever disclosing the details of those events.
3. Soldiers and veterans who are already being treated through official channels who wish to augment their treatment by privately seeing a proven specialist. In the private sector, if someone has a really good job with excellent benefits package [Blue Cross, Health insurance, etc.] they are often availed of many different therapeutic options simultaneously, following a time of crisis. This doesn't seem to be the way the military deals with the crisis scenarios of their employees.
4. Soldiers and veterans who've finally admitted to themselves and their families that they need help only to be told that there is a three to six month to one year waiting list before you can see a therapist. This must be heartbreaking to these men and their families. It's further unfortunate that deciding to seek the help of a therapist is somewhat like deciding to go on a diet, in that, if you don't make that change at the exact moment of motivation you will probably just slide back into ignoring the problem and denying that it exists. In the case of suffering soldiers that “moment of motivation” is often because of being on the receiving end of their wife or girlfriend saying “you want to go to counselling today or I’m gone!” Or, the guy who just woke up while sleepwalking with a gun in his hand, having no memory of how he got there. So needless to say, it can be devastating, even family destroying, to be told in that moment of motivation that it might be several months before someone can see you. As previously stated, the service that I offer is completely independent, there is only you and me. No middlemen or organizations to go through. You pick up the phone, make an appointment with me and show up. I can tell you in complete honesty that every combat vet I've seen over the age of 30 has experienced significant positive improvements within three sessions. I will do what I can to see you within a week of your call.
These are just the four categories I can think of at this point. Time may prove there are others.
$80 an hour, [roughly half of what a psychologist charges]
The following conditions apply to the above posted rates; cash only from the soldiers hand to mine, no checks or billing. Although I will take notes during the sessions, these rates do not include keeping any official records or having official files on anyone. Many soldiers will appreciate the anonymity and privacy of these circumstances.
Don't let the rate cost mislead you. I arrived at this amount because I know people are paying out of their own pocket. This is an introductory rate and is subject to change without notice. However I will not raise this rate for the soldiers who see me while I'm getting established.
I leave at least an hour between sessions, often more, so when you show up for your session, you walk in, kick off your shoes, and walk right in, I'll be waiting for you. There is no receptionist and no waiting room. Men especially, appreciate not being on display or having to wait, before their session. Because of the gaps between the sessions, you can come and go with privacy. Spaces between sessions are as much for me as they are for you. As I need the time to change gears, make notes, return calls, decompress, relax, etc. In trying to understand the life of the psychotherapist, I can't imagine how people could go directly from one client to another all day long. No wonder so many burn out, more about that later in the category called Official Jobs. To always be able to offer my clients the energy and attention they deserve, I will rarely see more than three a day and most days, just two.
The first appointment is a mandatory two hour session, [$160], and this is why. Men and women approach therapy very differently.[see therapy for men below for a much more thorough explanation]. If the woman is bothered by something and is given access to a comfortable environment and a nice person to listen while she talks it out, most of the time she will feel better, men are different. Men need to know that the person they're going to open up to will understand them and that there will be solutions to their problems. I will often reference historical events or offer small anecdotes from my own life to demonstrate to them that in fact I do understand what they just told me. Then we examine the situation from other perspectives to gain greater understanding which often leads to the appropriate solutions.
I see clients inside the recording studio space of this building. Most guys find it cool and safe. They are pleasantly surprised the space does not resemble a doctors office. Most of the soldiers we saw preferred coming to Fredericton for the counselling sessions, because many felt that if they sought treatment in the base Gagetown area, that they were always under surveillance. I don't know if that's true, but the boys were concerned with the possibility.
Mill Street runs parallel to the walking trail out here along the Nashwaak River, many feel it is the most magical part of the city, so soldiers with dogs can bring them, sometimes, we will split the session, Half inside, Half walk by the river, this technique just seemed natural to me years ago. I'm good with dogs, they're incapable of lying.
I know that was a lot of information. Again, there is a longer version if you would like to know more.
info@battletherapist.ca (506) 450 3299
- Ryan Jetsin
2. Why does a soldier assume the therapist will be a “her”?
So, for a 90 minute session = $120. Two hour session = $160
[see each category for details and circumstances including different fees]
Times for these sessions are to be determined by the client and myself, largely depending on when the client is traveling to Fredericton. It has come to my attention, by way of other soldiers and their families, that they're wounded warriors all over Atlantic Canada who have not found the help they need either. It is as a consideration for these men that I offer the special service. The first part of the session would probably start between 10 and 11 in the morning, go for 2 to 3 hours, hour to hour and a half break, then continue till about suppertime, with no hard ceiling as far as time is concerned. I have found that once a soldier that has been holding a lot in, sometimes for many years, begins to open up to someone, he can tell actually understands, the soldier that previously hasn’t spoken to anyone, now will want to relate all of the “headline” stories from his deployments and subsequently the aftermath following the deployments. When the soldier or veteran realizes that they're speaking with someone who actually understands, they will then want perspectives, opinions and solutions. You will have conversations here with me, like you've never had with anyone else, I know that's a bold thing to claim, but it's happened so consistently, I'm comfortable making that claim. Under these circumstances, filling four hours,or more, just flies by. This next part I do not have the authority to “order” you to do, however I cannot stress strongly enough that if you do book one of these “Marathon sessions” you also carefully consider and respect the following circumstances; I cannot stress strongly enough that if you drive from out of province for an extended session that you bring someone with you, who can drive your vehicle home for you, and/or, you make arrangements for overnight accommodations in this area, here's why. Bringing back all these memories in detail is kind of like opening up Pandora's box, if you're familiar with that story. To process all these memories in this context for one thing will be exhausting, for a second thing it may bring up many traumatic memories that you have forgotten about, because these traumatic events, are kind of like pages in the newspaper, the headlines on the front page block everything else, until you turn over that page and the other stories begin. Worst-case scenario, you may suffer from flashbacks, that temporarily eclipse your vision and remind you of terrible things that you've forgotten. So with admitted repetition, please make arrangements for someone to come with you, wife, girlfriend, best friend, brother, sister, whatever and let them drive you home. You will feel better after our day together in conversation and some may come for a day every month or two until they’ve recovered.