Join the Council for a briefing by Purdue University’s Military Family Research Institute (MFRI) on Monday, August 11 at 1:00 PM ET, regarding mental health issues faced by Active, Guard, and Reserve service members and their families.
After 13 years at war, our nation has lost over 5,800 service members killed in action, with another 52, 000 wounded. Yet, these numbers do not begin to capture the invisible toll of repeat deployments on the 2.6 million men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11. In addition to the military health challenges facing service members directly, each member of our military has a family who bore the dramatic changes and daily uncertainly that comes with the deployment of a loved one. This is an issue that impacts the entire force, including the Reserve and National Guard, where coping with mental health issues related to service may be even more difficult as service members and families are more dispersed in their civilian lives, losing the support and camaraderie of their units.
While many have focused on resolving mental health issues and improving outcomes for troops and veterans, this webinar will highlight the need for increased awareness of issues confronting military families, including spouses and children. The academics leading the discussion:
- Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, Ph.D., Director of the Military Family Research Institute (MFRI)
- Julie Cerel, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and associate professor at the University of Kentucky’s College of Social Work;
- Patricia Lester, M.D., the Jane and Marc Nathanson Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior;
- Marjan Ghahramanlou Holloway, Ph.D., associate professor at USUHS and director of the Laboratory for the Treatment of Suicide-Related Ideation and Behavior;
- Lisa Brenner, Ph.D. associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine.
