We all know military life can throw you curveballs. Sometimes, you need a little help catching them. But taking that giant step of finding someone you trust and who understands military life and military mental health doesn't just feel daunting for some; for many, this step is prohibitive.
Corie Weathers, a military spouse, counselor, author and host of the Lifegiver Podcast, is trying to change that with an online, searchable directory that allows you to find resources that have been recommended firsthand as someone with a military connection.
"I get asked daily by military and first-responder families, as well as service organizations and nonprofits, to find high-quality counselors that are culturally competent to work with service families," Weathers said in an email. "Like most people, I end up digging through Psychology Today profiles or digging into websites to see if they are qualified or even mention a passion to work with military. Finally, I realized it shouldn't be this hard. So, I created a searchable directory that is easy to use for families."
When nonprofit Healing Household 6 learned what Weathers was doing and also saw the need for it, it gave her an initial start-up grant to fund the project.
Weathers wants service members, veterans and families to have access to military spouse clinicians, veteran clinicians, first-responder and first-responder spouse clinicians, civilian clinicians who have experience working with service families, clinicians who provide telemental health or online counseling, and chaplains who provide counseling (who also have a license).
In order to do this, she is asking for your help populating the list. "It's a simple form asking for military families to tell me if they have worked with a clinician they really liked so I can extend the invite personally to them," Weathers explained. "I'd love for the list to be mostly word of mouth, and I know there are more out there."
Go here to fill out the form and help contribute to this useful military mental health tool. Check out more of Weathers' work on her website.
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