|
Answering the Call
Molly VanDuser called rural upstate New York “home” for 45 years. It took one phone call to get her to leave it all for North Carolina. 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. Combine that with her experience as a counselor specializing in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and she knew such a call would come. Molly VanDuser “I was still in New York when the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were attacked and when we went to war in Afghanistan,” says VanDuser, an adjunct faculty member at Webster’s Pope Air Force Base campus near Fort Bragg. “I began making predictions that have come to pass, including the rise in mortality, casualty, suicide, divorce, and domestic violence rates. I also knew the country would not be ready for the return of the activated reserves and National Guard units, who would be returning to communities.” Even with a thriving practice in remote New York, VanDuser was nonetheless frustrated by what she saw coming in the years ahead. “It was very difficult to watch unfold and do nothing more than remain glued to Fox News and do research,” she said. So when the call came, the chance to go where she could help made leaving friends and family a little easier. “They have all been my biggest cheerleaders,” she says. “We all knew, within three days of my arrival in North Carolina, that I would not be coming back. This is where I belong and where I can make the largest impact.” Where she belongs now includes teaching graduate students in Webster’s Counseling program, as well as launching much-needed services for the local community through her clinic. Joined by an old colleague from New York and now by two former students who are military wives, VanDuser opened the first trauma treatment and training specialty clinic in the Fort Bragg area. “Aside from working with military families and treating PTSD, our team also specializes in child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, and traumatic grief,” she says. “We are working closely with Child Protective Services, police departments, emergency response personnel, and the judicial system in Harnett County.” Soldiers are reluctant to seek treatment for PTSD, With ongoing conflicts that have affected so many military personnel and their families, VanDuser’s team is discovering the community needs are many: Soldiers are reluctant to seek treatment for PTSD, partly for fear of stigma, and partly out of fear of it becoming a career stopper. Meanwhile, the wars have triggered old wounds lying dormant in Vietnam veterans, and Veterans Affairs’ hands are already full trying to take care of those veterans. Fortunately, some of the most current and cutting-edge federal research in trauma treatment has been done at Fort Bragg, which suits VanDuser’s mission just fine. Her counseling and her teaching at Webster are guided by this latest research. The mission of her treatment center, Peace of Mind, Inc. is to reduce human suffering in a time- and cost-efficient manner, by continually adapting to the latest research and methods, and by training other professionals to form a “necklace” of support in the rural counties surrounding Fort Bragg. That training is essential, because so many soldiers are being referred to community providers, who need help understanding how to offer the best service models. This training is where VanDuser’s clinic and Webster teaching intersect. “In my classes sit students with first-hand knowledge of the toll the wars are taking, and those who have strong interest in PTSD request practicum under my supervision,” she says. “I teach Research Design, as well as Ethics and Professional Orientation, so I get to meet students early on in their counseling careers and I have the privilege of mentoring some of the best. It seems to have become a natural evolution: Those who complete their practicum with me already know what specialty they want to work in after licensure, and some remain with me for supervision following graduation.” VanDuser’s students also benefit from a different perspective, thanks to her lifelong learning. “My first two careers were actually in the healthcare and human services fields, and I believe one of my greatest contributions to counseling has been in coming from a medical model first,” she says. “It has helped me rule out for medical conditions which sometimes create seemingly psychological disorders, and it has helped me immensely in monitoring medications for adverse reactions. It was the combination of those first two degrees, and administrative experience that followed, which led me into counseling.” A few years later, it was that pivotal phone call that led her to Fort Bragg and Webster. VanDuser recalls the quick transition: “Two phone interviews and two weeks later, I was driving into Fort Bragg with a car full of books, my computer seat-belted in, and three weeks’ worth of clothes. Sometimes I still wish I had filmed the security guards’ faces as they had to search my car! “I worked that day and then drove into Fayetteville to find a place to live, and looked at it much the same as camping. I also kept in mind that these were relatively small discomforts compared to what the soldiers were facing every day.” She hasn’t looked back. While she misses her family, she doesn’t miss New York’s snow and cold. Plus, North Carolina and the charm of the South has underlined her new calling. “Some things in life people can’t afford to do,” she reflects. “This is something I couldn’t afford not to do.”
Referenced From: Webster University: Global Thinking http://www.webster.edu/depts/artsci/Global_Thinking/vol4_issue3/vanduser.htm 4/2/2008
|
|
Peace of Mind, Inc. |
|
817 West Front Street P.O. Box 2088 Lillington, NC 27546-2088 Phone: (910) 814 - 2197 Fax: (910) 814 - 2167 |
|
|
|
|
|
|