Catching Up With Rod Deaton

I have been corresponding via email with Rod Deaton for a while now and occasionally by phone when our schedules permit.  He has been an amazing sounding board and gives me no bullshit guidance on PTSD.  While he is a doc and I am a veteran with PTSD, our relationship is not that of a clinician and a patient.  We have a deep abiding respect for one another and the work we do to advocate for veterans with PTSD.

In recent posts, I have talked about my struggles to cope with my low self-esteem and the absence of motivation to lead a healthier lifestyle.  Rod expressed concern about these issues.  While he doesn't think that I am in danger of hurting myself, he does believe that I would benefit from one-on-one therapy.  His opinion is that, being an introvert, I would find individualized treatment less draining.  He still recommends that I continue group therapy, but feels strongly that I should explore individualized treatment.

I agree with his assessment 100%.  The issue had always been finding a clinician at the VA with the time to meet 2-4 times per month for intensive therapy.  As we all know, searching for this at the VA is an exercise in futility.  Through no fault of their own, the VA doesn't have the resources available for that to be possible. 

In one of his recent email correspondences, Rod passed along information about a group of private clinicians who provide individualized treatment for free.  That organization, The Soldiers Project, intrigued me.  I looked into it, contacted the PA branch of the organization and was contacted back the same day.  They had found me a clinician within a week of first reaching out to them.  While I was lucky that they could find someone so close, they are continually expanding their network of volunteers.  I contacted the clinician today and hope to meet with her informally today to see if we are a good fit.

So far, I have been very impressed with how passionate the administration of this organization has been.  I am hopeful that this will end up being a great experience.  I will keep you all updated as I move forward with this.  It would be nice to be able to recommend a viable supplement to the insufficient treatment most veterans with PTSD receive from the VA.  Please keep in mind, I am not blaming the VA.  This is not their fault.  The fault lies with the government for not adequately providing for the needs of the warriors who have selflessly volunteered to protect the ideals this country stands for.  The reality is that the VA doesn't receive the funding and doesn't have the staffing necessary to adequately handle the sheer volume of veterans that have entered the system in the past decade.

Let's hope we can add another additional resource for combat veterans with PTSD.