TeleMental Health Counseling Susan Wentzell “When your doctor can come into your living room, it makes all the difference in the world,” said 35-year-old Lisa Rodriguez, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. “It’s so much less stress. And when you have PTSD, the last thing you needed is added stress.” Rodriquez is one of a growing number of Veterans who receive psychiatric services vir¬tually, either at a nearby VA clinic or right in their homes, connecting via a high speed Internet connection and webcam, with a coun¬selor located miles away at a VA Medical Center or directly from their homes while teleworking. For Rodriquez, who received TeleMental Health counseling in her Valdosta, GA. home for about eight months, the situation was ideal. “I didn’t have to travel 45 minutes away to the Lake City VA Hospital to see my counselor and I didn’t have to arrange for someone to watch my daughter. “Most importantly, at home, I’m in my comfort zone. I am more myself talking to my doctor here versus in a sterile office. I tell her about my dogs and she can see them; she even met my daughter. She sees me in my environment and it helps me know she understands,” she said. Trust is paramount when discussing the painful memories of her time overseas. It was March 2008 and the International “Green Zone” in cen¬tral Bagdad was under almost daily rocket and mortar attack by insurgents. For the former U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant, safety seemed illusive. “The day I arrived in Bagdad, I lay down to take a nap and woke up to a bombing. From then on, it was a regular occurrence. You couldn’t get a good night’s sleep because you didn’t know if you would sleep through the alarm or maybe it wouldn’t sound and you would miss an incom¬ing (attack),” Rodriguez said. “We lost people, including someone I was very close to.” Stationed back in the U.S. after her six-month tour of duty in Iraq, the unseen scars of the battlefield continued to haunt her for the next several years until she left the Air Force in 2010 and returned to Washington. First treated for PTSD at the Walla Walla VA Medical Center in July 2011, she said her life then changed for the better. “It wasn’t until I started going to VA that it was determined I had PTSD. I was actually listened to and it was a turning point for me,” she said. Following a former love, a subsequent move brought her to Valdosta and treatment managed at the Lake City VA Medical Center. “Because of the therapy I received from VA, I am a completely different person today. In fact, I’m studying for my master’s degree in counseling and hoping to work for VA. Maybe I’ll be able to help someone just like me some day,” she said. Dr. Karen Courchaine is a TeleMental Health psychologist and member of the PTSD Clinical Team at the Lake City VAMC, part of the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System. She said TeleMental Health counseling is ideal for Veterans who live in isolated geographic areas far from a VA clinic, those who have transportation concerns, and those with physical or psychiatric limitations that make it difficult to attend psychotherapy on a regular basis. Providing home-based telehealth services as an option provides additional flexibility to schedule appointment times with the least possible disruption to a Veteran’s work and other activities, according to Dr. Courchaine.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 19:37:26 +0000