Major General Bob Dees, U.S. Army, Retired, Director of AACC’s Military Counseling Initiative
“Thanks for caring for our military!”
“This was beyond our wildest dreams!”
“I found two new battle buddies (sisters in Christ) who will help me walk the difficult path as a wounded warrior wife.”
“The technical and clinical expertise, combined with cultural knowledge of the military population, were unmatched by any in our nation.”
“I value being able to link arms with many other like-minded counselors who also want to help our military and their families.”
Yes, the Military Track (with seven expert seminars on diverse areas of military counseling), the Military Division Reception, with powerful testimonies and networking, and the enthusiastic and growing cohort of military counselors were all “plays of the day” at the recent 2013 AACC World Conference in Nashville. If you were there, you know what I’m talking about; you also felt the energy and commitment.
For those of you who were not there, the Military Track seminars included:
- Cognitive Processing Therapy: A Strategy for PTSD by Dr. Laurel Shaler
- Resilient Responses to Trauma by MG Bob Dees
- ReZilient Kidz: Strategies and Resources by Dr. Dave Sanders
- Counseling Military Couples by Chaplain David and Suzanne Mikkelson
- Secondary PTSD: Helping Military Families by Dr. LuAnn Callaway
- Military and Veteran Suicide by Dr. Glen Bloomstrom
- Reintegration: Helping Veterans with PTSD Transition by Dr. Tara Samples
Each of these seminars provided wise insights for military counseling and relevance to the persistent and pervasive military mental and behavioral issues of the day. Each Military Division Newsletter will include a presentation such as this for benefit of our members. Thanks to these presenters for their expertise and labor of love.
The AACC Military Counseling Initiative depends upon a sustained effort to make a difference in the ocean of military veterans, active duty personnel, and families across our nation. With forced drawdowns on the horizon, there will be hundreds of thousands of troops and families who continue to nurse the wounds of war while concurrently finding themselves out of a profession and into a very uncertain future.
The spiritual, emotional, and relational duress of our military population will predictably continue to rise for a number of years to come. Hence, a vital and growing cohort of Christian military counselors educated and inspired to help the military is a critically needed national resource. I honor AACC for leading the way in this urgent endeavor.
So what next? If you are a member of the AACC Military Counseling Initiative Division, good for you. I encourage you to network with your fellow members, using all means to include the new MCI Facebook page. This venue will allow you to provide feedback on MCI Blogs such as this, continue the dialog around recent conference topics, and network with other military counselors.
As well, I know you appreciate our quarterly Military Division E-Newsletters (three in your inbox thus far, with a fourth en-route to you before the end of the year). In the vein of further equipping our Military Division membership, you will benefit from future articles in the E-Newsletter on topics such as “Sleep Disturbances in PTSD and TBI” by Dr. Anthony Panettiere from the Intrepid Center for Psychological Trauma at Walter Reed Medical Center, Dr. Leslie Vernick sharing on “Emotionally Destructive Military Marriages,” and an upcoming two-part series by Dr. Diane Langberg on “Military Sexual Trauma.”
If you are not a Military Division member, I encourage you to “enlist now” to take advantage of these resources which will help you better understand and counsel the military in our midst. Don’t wait! Click here to join the Military Counseling Initiative today, or call 1-800-526-8673, and gain access to a wealth of new information and resources!
I know your Military Counseling Initiative (MCI) teammates would like to hear from you. Let’s grow the newly established MCI Facebook page in order to “stir up one another on toward love and good works” on behalf of our military of past, present, and future.
Be assured of my cheers and prayers as each of you counsels military men, women, and families in the love of Jesus!
Blessings,
Bob Dees
AACC Military Director
Major General (Ret.) Bob Dees, M.S., is the Military Director for the American Association of Christian Counselors and oversees the Military Counseling Initiative Division. He also leads the Liberty University Institute for Military Resilience. Having commanded military units from platoon through division levels, he well understands the mental and behavioral health needs of our military and their families. As a frequent speaker, author of Resilient Warriors, and co-host with Dr. Tim Clinton of the popular Stress & Trauma Care video series, General Dees is a national leader regarding faith-based resilience programs for the military and beyond.