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By Olivia Sherman
MILWAUKEE - Approximately 70 attendees gathered at the Medical College of Wisconsin Kerrigan Auditorium May 12 to participate in the training seminar, Tier One: Introduction to Military Experience Culture and the Military-Connected Experience, offered by Star Behavioral Health Providers (SBHP).
The continuing education seminar presented mental health professionals and other community members with specialized tools and resources to support service members, veterans and their families. Wisconsin and Illinois Army National Guard directors of psychological health and behavioral health officers partnered with SBHP to facilitate the workshop.
Project Coordinator Elizabeth Rose with the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), provided background context in reference to SBHP’s significance and the events that led to its establishment in 2011.
“During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, specifically Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the National Guard and Reserves were being deployed at unprecedented rates,” said Rose. “Upon coming home after their deployment, a gap in care became very, very apparent.”
Rose explained that during this time, they were not eligible to receive care at military treatment facilities.
“That left the National Guard behavioral health staff struggling with where they could refer Airmen and Soldiers within their local community,” she said. “So SBHP was created to bridge that gap, form those connections and address this need for culturally competent civilian mental health professionals who could provide that high-quality mental health care to service members and their families.”
Funded primarily by the National Guard Bureau, SBHP conducts approximately six in-person Tier One training events at various locations across the United States each year, along with over twenty virtual Tier One training sessions to enable remote attendance by civilian providers from across the 54 states and territories where National Guard members serve.
At SBHP’s Milwaukee workshop, Miliary Behavioral Health Social Worker Allison Hannah with the CDP at USUHS, provided a comprehensive overview of military culture and presented unique challenges that occur throughout the life cycle of service members. In addition to the formal training portion, attendees had opportunities to interact with vendors and representatives for military-affiliated mental health organizations, including Rodgers Behavioral Health, Vet Center, the Veterans Crisis Line and the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.
Tier One is SBHP’s first foundational seminar within a three-part training series. The next step is Tier Two, an intermediate-level follow-on training that explores specific behavioral health challenges often associated with military service as well as ethical guidance for working with the military population. Tier Three is the most advanced level, featuring a menu of training in evidence-based psychotherapies used to treat conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder, suicidal behaviors and insomnia. In addition to the three-tier series, SBHP also offers Special Topics sessions focused on other important aspects of military-related behavioral health, including moral injury, lethal means safety counseling and traumatic brain injury.
Mental health professionals who wish to join the Star Providers Directory, a publicly accessible database of therapists with knowledge of military-related mental health topics, only need to attend Tier One of the three-part series. But acceptance into the directory requires additional qualifications, such as a master’s degree or higher in a mental health discipline, the ability to accept external referrals and an active state license.
Completion of the Tier One seminar earned each participant seven free continuing education credits certified through the American Psychological Association and the Association of Social Work Boards.
Maj. Gen. Matthew Strub, Wisconsin’s adjutant general, attended the seminar as a guest speaker to express his gratitude for military mental health caretakers and to share a personal story. He recalled the difficult journey of supporting his daughter through lifelong mental health challenges, from searching for the right caregivers to waiting months for appointments.
Strub continued by relaying how that experience impacts his priorities as the commander of nearly 10,000 National Guardsmen.
“Thankfully, [my daughter] is in a good spot now and getting the right care she needs. But that's a stressful time”, Strub said. “As the commander of Soldiers and Airmen, I have that same concern about our service members having caregivers that know enough about the military culture, the military environment and the stressors that they go through.”
Strub concluded by relaying his appreciation to those in attendance for taking the initiative to better understand military related mental health issues, lauding the positive impact it could have on their ability to care for struggling service members.
“So I just can't thank you enough for taking the time today to come learn a little bit more of the military culture,” he said.
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