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Plea 'Nudges' Adjunct Professor Molly VanDuser to Help Military Personnel Suffering from PTSD
The phone call Molly VanDuser received three years ago from a family member serving in Afghanistan was a call for help. She easily recalls his words: We need more counselors like you at Fort Bragg (NC). My guys have seen too much.
At the time of the call, the specialist in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had a thriving counseling practice in western New York State. Within two months, however, VanDuser rented out the home in which she had lived for 25 years to move near the base. She was armed with only a three-week supply of clothes, a computer, and her books on treating PTSD. VanDuser worked briefly at Fort Bragg and then joined Webster University as an adjunct professor in the Pope Air Force Base campus Counseling Program. Thus began her ongoing efforts to train and mentor local therapists.
In 2007, VanDuser formed a corporation, Peace of Mind, Inc., the first trauma treatment specialty clinic in her area to offer best practices in mental health. In addition, she continues her own training and PTSD research.
Her move from New York to North Carolina was not as impulsive as it may seem. VanDuser said she had been on the periphery of the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and also was keenly aware of changes taking place in military combat, namely, the advent of urban combat and the loss of a front line. She saw that increases in PTSD in the military were predictable.
I carried this knowledge like a weight, and I felt hopeless to offer assistance from my rural area, VanDuser said the call was the only nudge she needed to make a major lifestyle change in order to help military personnel suffering from PTSD.Some things you cant afford to do, and others you cant afford not to do, VanDuser said.
AU Press Releases
Alumna Above and Beyond Award finalist
10/31/07
In 2004, Molly VanDuser, AU class of 1999 of Fuquay Varina, NC, had a comfortable life and a thriving practice as a professional counselor in western New York State where she had lived for 45+ years. But she was moved deeply when her son, an Army captain, called from Afghanistan to say, We need more counselors like you at Fort Bragg -- my guys have seen too much.
Within two months, Molly rented out her home and moved to be near the base, armed with only three weeks of clothes, a computer, and her books on treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Molly worked briefly at Fort Bragg with the Victims Advocate Program and began volunteering as a guest speaker on mental health to help veterans and military families deal with PTSD.
She then joined Webster University as an adjunct faculty member at the Pope Air Force Base satellite unit, where, today, she teaches graduate-level counseling students who are also military personnel. That began her efforts to train and mentor as many local therapists as she could to treat for trauma/PTSD. Molly presents regularly at regional workshops and at state and national conferences as an expert on combat stress. She has worked with the American Counseling Association as a member of their Governing Council and has chaired the Task Force to study and disseminate information on military family resiliency.
In 2007 she formed a corporation, Peace of Mind, Inc., the first trauma treatment specialty clinic in her area to offer best practices in mental health. Molly continues her own training and research through the National Center of PTSD and Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Her mission remains the same as the day she left New York -- to help the soldiers and their families and she is doing it, one soldier and family at a time, by sharing her expertise.
Plea 'Nudges' Adjunct Professor Molly VanDuser to Help Military Personnel Suffering from PTSD
The phone call Molly VanDuser received three years ago from a family member serving in Afghanistan was a call for help. She easily recalls his words: We need more counselors like you at Fort Bragg (NC). My guys have seen too much.
At the time of the call, the specialist in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had a thriving counseling practice in western New York State. Within two months, however, VanDuser rented out the home in which she had lived for 25 years to move near the base. She was armed with only a three-week supply of clothes, a computer, and her books on treating PTSD. VanDuser worked briefly at Fort Bragg and then joined Webster University as an adjunct professor in the Pope Air Force Base campus Counseling Program. Thus began her ongoing efforts to train and mentor local therapists.
In 2007, VanDuser formed a corporation, Peace of Mind, Inc., the first trauma treatment specialty clinic in her area to offer best practices in mental health. In addition, she continues her own training and PTSD research.
Her move from New York to North Carolina was not as impulsive as it may seem. VanDuser said she had been on the periphery of the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and also was keenly aware of changes taking place in military combat, namely, the advent of urban combat and the loss of a front line. She saw that increases in PTSD in the military were predictable.
I carried this knowledge like a weight, and I felt hopeless to offer assistance from my rural area, VanDuser said the call was the only nudge she needed to make a major lifestyle change in order to help military personnel suffering from PTSD.Some things you cant afford to do, and others you cant afford not to do, VanDuser said.
Answering The Call That call came in 2004, from a trusted military family member who oversees soldiers in the on-going conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The call went something like this: We need more counselors like you near Fort Bragg. My guys have seen too much. With a father who served in the Korean War, VanDuser is used to having family in the military.
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Peace of Mind, Inc. |
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817 West Front Street P.O. Box 2088 Lillington, NC 27546-2088 Phone: (910) 814 - 2197 Fax: (910) 814 - 2167 |
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