Deployment
Homefront Encouragement
Homefront Resources
Send us your stories!
Counseling, crisis help, suicide prevention for the military community
Scroll down for more information about:
Mental health screening tools & assessments
Benefits of mental health treatment
Hotlines, crisis numbers, resources
Suicide prevention, symptoms, danger signs, intervention
Counseling options
Peer support
Military sexual trauma (MST), domestic violence
Substance abuse programs
Mental health screening tools & assessments
Health.mil (The official website of the military health system)
The Military Health System conducts research and provides services for the treatment of exposures, injuries and diseases related to military service and deployment. Here, learn about the different programs and initiatives offered to support the health of our force, its families, and veterans.
Help Yourself. Help Others.
Everyone experiences stress, sadness and anxiety from time to time—it’s part of life.
But if you are feeling overwhelmed, depressed, or unable to do the things you once enjoyed, it may be time to assess your emotional health. If you are concerned about yourself or someone you love, take a few minutes to complete an anonymous self-assessment.
Mental Health America
Benefits of mental health treatment
Heroes in Recovery
Heroes in Recovery has a simple mission: to eliminate the social stigma that keeps individuals with addiction and mental health issues from seeking help, to share stories of recovery for the purpose of encouragement and inspiration, and to create an engaged sober community that empowers people to get involved, give back, and live healthy, active lives.
Make the Connection
Make the Connection seeks to reduce the stigma of seeking mental health treatment and support. This website offers over one hundred real stories from veterans of all eras, genders and backgrounds explaining how they overcame their various post deployment challenges and improved their lives by seeking care.
Medal of Honor Speaks Out
Our nation's greatest heroes - Medal of Honor recipients (and their spouses) - speak out to save lives by encouraging America's military to seek help when adjusting to life after combat, particularly for post-traumatic stress (PTS).
As part of their commitment to serve their country, more than 30 of the 87 living Medal of Honor recipients have joined in a public service campaign designed to help stem the rising tide of suicides among military service members today.
These recipients, who have survived some of the most harrowing experiences in combat, including years as POWs, physical wounds and emotional trauma, felt compelled to speak out to America's military, share their experiences and encourage them to seek help for behavioral health issues that are often a result of deployment and combat. Their message is simple: Don't let the enemy defeat you at home!
In their own words, Medal of Honor recipients encourage America’s military by reminding them that seeking care is indeed a courageous act. One that shows they recognize the need to stay strong in mind and body.
Abandoned Spouse Hotline (Dongducheon, South Korea)
Call 0505-730-3635
Helps women left stranded (intentionally and unintentionally) by their Soldier-husbands. Leave a message and your contact information in one of five languages (English, Korean, Spanish, Russian or Tagalog).
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross links members of the U.S. Armed Forces with their families during a crisis.
Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, the Red Cross quickly sends emergency communications to deployed service members on behalf of their family. Military members can have peace of mind knowing that when they are on a mission, in training or stationed far from home-and leaving cell phones and emails behind-they are still connected to home.
American Widow Project - 24/7 Widow Hotline
Call 1-877-297-9436
Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline
Call 1-800-4-A-CHILD
Childhelp's approach focuses on prevention, intervention and treatment. The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-4-A-CHILD, operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Childhelp's programs and services include residential treatment services, children's advocacy centers, therapeutic foster care, group homes, child abuse prevention, education and training.
Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE)
Call 1-866-966-1020
Troubled troops, veterans and family members have a round-the-clock, free resource for locating the help they need to deal with psychological health problems and Traumatic Brain Injury. The center is always staffed with trained, professional health-resource consultants.
Disaster Distress Helpline
Call 1-800-985-5990. It's free. It's confidential.
Stress, anxiety, and other depression-like symptoms are common reactions after any natural or human-caused disaster.
Domestic violence resources for military families (Health.mil)
Domestic violence can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time regardless of their military service, race, ethnicity, education level, religion, gender or age. Although experiencing stress is common for service members and their families, it should never be used as an excuse to explain or justify domestic violence under any circumstances. Moreover, anger, alcohol, or drugs are never excuses for abuse. That is why members of every military family — including service members, spouses, parents, siblings or other caregivers — need to be aware of the valuable resources available for anyone experiencing domestic violence.
Military OneSource
Military OneSource is a free service provided by the Department of Defense to service members and their families to help with a broad range of concerns including money management, spouse employment and education, parenting and child care, relocation, deployment, reunion, and the particular concerns of families with special-needs members. They can also include more complex issues like relationships, stress, and grief. Services are available 24 hours a day — by telephone with professionally trained consultants and online. Many Military OneSource staff members have military experience (veterans, spouses, Guardsmen, Reservists), and all receive ongoing training on military matters and military lifestyle. The program can be especially helpful to service members and their families who live at a distance from installations.
To contact a Military OneSource consultant for assistance, use the phone numbers below or online tools, anytime 24/7:
1-800-342-9647
1-877-888-0727 (Espanol)
1-866-607-6794 (TTY/TDD)
Military Rape Crisis Center
Call 1-617-381-4795
Every four hours a sexual assault or rape is reported in the United States Armed Forces. The Military Rape Crisis Center is there, providing immediate crisis care, support, legal assistance, and hope to all survivors of Military Sexual Trauma and their loved ones.
We offer 24-hours emergency crisis care in the Greater Boston-area and Washington DC-area. If you are not located near one of our centers you can still receive services. Contact us. All of our services are free of charge for Military Sexual Trauma survivors.
National Call Center for Homeless Veterans
1-877-4AID-VET1 (1-877-424-3838)
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Hope Line
1-800-622-2255
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-7233
National Home Military & Veteran Family Hotline
1-800-313-4200
The National Home's Military & Veteran Family Helpline is the first step on the path to help for military and veteran families. This free service offers information, creates connections and gives hope to struggling families across the country. It can also serve as the first step to living at the National Home.
Our helpline is staffed by a dedicated team of caring, listening professionals who will work directly with you to help you find solutions to your pressing issues and concerns. Our resources go beyond community connections and traditional supportive services to include VFW Posts, Departments and Veterans Service Officers across the country.
Our helpline is answered Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, except holidays. Messages left after hours are answered the next business day.
National Veterans Foundation Hotline
1-888-777-4443
The National Veterans Foundation's mission is to serve the crisis management, information and referral needs of all U.S. veterans and their families through management and operation of the nation’s only toll-free helpline for all veterans and their families.
Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAIN)
1-800-656-4673
Readjustment Counseling Service - VA Combat Call Center
1-877-Warvets (1-877-927-8387)
Readjustment Counseling Service - Providing 24 hour, 7 day a week referral services to all veterans, their families and any concerned citizens who are trying to assist veterans.
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Program
- Air Force - www.afpc.af.mil
- Army - www.armyresilience.army.mil
- Coast Guard - www.uscg.mil
- Marine Corps - http://www.hqmc.marines.mil
- Navy - www.public.navy.mil
Sexual assault support for the DoD family (Safe Helpline)
Department of Defense (DoD) Safe Helpline is a groundbreaking crisis support service for members of the DoD community affected by sexual assault. Safe Helpline provides live, one-on-one advice, support, and information to the worldwide DoD community. The service is anonymous, secure, and available 24/7 — providing victims with the help they need, anytime, anywhere.
Specially-trained Safe Helpline staff provide help three ways: online, telephone and text message.
Suicide hotline
Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
DO NOT GIVE UP! If you are contemplating suicide STOP! Your call is free and confidential.
VA Caregiver Support Line
1-855-260-3274
Veterans Crisis Line
Call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1
Confidential text-messaging is available 24 hours a day by texting 83-8255. Trained professionals will provide free mental health support, referrals and advice for military members, former service members and their families via texts.
Toll-free crisis line from Europe is 0800-1273-8255, or 118 from a Defense Switched Network line.
The Veterans Crisis Line connects veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders through a confidential toll-free hotline and online chat. Veterans and their loved ones can call FREE 1-800-273-8255 and press 1 or chat online to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Vets4Warriors
Vets4Warriors provides 24/7 confidential peer support for service members (Active Duty, Guard, & Reserve) and their families. Call 855-838-8255.
Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline
1-800-984-8523
Wounded Warrior Resource Center
1-800-342-9647
Suicide prevention, symptoms, danger signs, learn how to intervene
See also Hotlines, crisis numbers & resources - LINK (above)
Defense Suicide Prevention
Established in November 2011, the Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO) is part of the Department of Defense’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. DSPO oversees all strategic development, implementation, centralization, standardization, communication and evaluation of DoD suicide and risk reduction programs, policies and surveillance activities. To reduce the impact of suicide on service members and their families, DSPO uses a range of approaches related to policy, research, communications, law and behavioral health. DSPO works with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and National Guard Bureau to support our Service members and strengthen a resilient and ready force. DSPO strives to help foster a climate that encourages service members to seek help for their behavioral health issues.
Department of Veterans Affairs suicide warning signs, prevention resources
Joy Inside Tears
Joy Inside Tears is a non-profit organization that was created to shed light on suicide prevention and mental health. We want to bring awareness of the stigma associated with mental illness and to encourage early intervention. I founded Joy Inside Tears after the loss of my son Noah to suicide in 2021. It became my mission to shed light on suicide prevention and mental health. By sharing my story I hope to bring awareness of the stigma associated with mental illness and to encourage early intervention.
Military Veteran Project
Military Veteran Project is a volunteer-driven charity on a mission to prevent military suicide through research and treatment.
National Alliance to End Veteran Suicide
The National Alliance to End Veteran Suicide is a nation-wide, not for profit organization working to end veteran suicide through research, education, resource provision, and community collaborations. We are creating a network of professional volunteer champions actively engaged in addressing the alarming concern of suicide deaths among veterans.
Navy Personnel Command's Suicide Prevention
NoMoreSuicide.com
Armed Forces Mission (AFM) works with military, veteran, and civilian communities to build resilience and restore hope for those at risk of self-harm. Through personal intervention of individuals at risk we are seeing lives saved and hope restored. Through quality training programs and workshops we are training individuals to be catalysts for building more resilient communities. Those who are hurting are rediscovering hope and the strength to press on through a growing network of thousands of individuals who care.
Operation Reach Out - A free military suicide prevention mobile app
Operation Reach Out is a smartphone app aimed at preventing suicide among military personnel and veterans. Developed by a team of suicide prevention experts, under the supervision of the primary author, Lawrence Shapiro, Ph.D., the app is available free on the iTunes App Store and the Android Market.
Operation Reach Out is designed to:
- Encourage people to reach out for help when they are having suicidal thoughts.
- Help those who are concerned about family members, spouses, or fellow service members who may be suicidal.
- Provide a personal contact help center.
- Provide activities to help people who are depressed stay connected to others.
Operation Veteran Strong (Colorado)
Colorado offers an online platform, Operation Veteran Strong, designed to connect veterans to the right national and local resources at the right time to increase self-awareness, build resilience, and prevent the development of mental health and well-being crises. Although veterans make up nearly 10% of the population, 17% of all suicides in Colorado are veterans, and the suicide rate among veterans is more than double the rate of non-veterans.
Created by Grit Digital Health – a Denver-based behavioral health technology company, Operation Veteran Strong provides veterans, and the communities in which they live, access to the necessary tools, resources, and referrals to foster resilience and prevent suicide via a customized digital platform. Operation Veteran Strong is available for free to all veterans and their loved ones.
Stop Soldier Suicide
We are the first national civilian not-for-profit organization dedicated to preventing active duty and veteran suicide. We believe we all have a responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in arms who suffer from the deepest, invisible wounds of war before they feel their only choice is taking their own lives. We hope to realize a day when Soldiers and veterans who are considering suicide can openly and without shame ask for and receive the help and support they need. We are veterans and active duty service members helping other veterans and active duty in their greatest hour of need.
Volunteers of America Michigan
Volunteers of America Michigan (VOAMI) has recently begun a new supportive case management program - Suicide Prevention Engagement & Referral for Veterans (SERV). In the 18 counties in southern Michigan that we do serve, we work to help identify veterans and active-duty members at risk of suicide through outreach and community engagement. Once enrolled, participants are assigned a Peer Support Specialist who has had similar mental health experiences to support them through their journey as well as a Case Manager to connect them with local resources, both VA and other. Additionally, we can offer limited financial assistance to program participants for certain needs when community resources are limited. The goal is to holistically support veterans, active-duty members, and their families with human connection and resource referral to mitigate the risk of suicide.
Do you have questions about counseling? Military OneSource has a Frequently Asked Questions about counseling programs and services - LINK
Families of the fallen (Gold Star families) counseling options - LINK
Here are some military (and non-military) counseling options:
Camaraderie Foundation (Orlando, FL)
Camaraderie Foundation’s mission is to provide healing for invisible wounds of war through counseling, emotional, and spiritual support for all branches of military service members, veterans and their families.
Coaching Into Care
Coaching Into Care works with family members or friends who become aware of their Veteran’s post-deployment difficulties—and supports their efforts to find help for the Veteran.
This is a national clinical service providing information and help to Veterans and the loved ones who are concerned about them.
Coaching Into Care offers veterans and their loved ones these services:
- Encouragement and information about getting an evaluation and services
- "Coaching" with family members or friends to help motivate Veteran for evaluation/consultation
- Referrals to services for veterans and their family members
Cohen Veterans Network
The Cohen Veterans Network was created to serve veterans by providing high-quality, accessible, and comprehensive mental health care.
At the Cohen Veterans Network, we seek to improve the quality of life for recently-returned veterans and their families by working to strengthen mental health outcomes and complement existing support, with a particular focus on post-traumatic stress.
Our vision is to ensure that every veteran and family member is able to obtain high-quality, effective care that enables them to lead fulfilling and productive lives.
Clinic locations - LINK
Coming Home Project - California
The Coming Home Project's psychotherapist cohort is composed of licensed and trained psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists who vounteer their services. Our psychotherapists receive state-of-the-art training and the support of ongoing peer consultation. We offer psychological counseling in Northern California to family members of military personnel who are serving, preparing to serve, or have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. We also provide information and referral services for those living outside Northern California. If you are a spouse, partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, child or teenager, sibling, parent, grandparent or other extended family member of a soldier, you are eligible. We also serve veterans of OIF and OEF, including Active Duty, Reserve and Guard. Services are free and completely confidential and there is no limit to the number of sessions.
The stress of reintegrating into civilian and family life after service can be daunting. The strains of preparing for a loved one to deploy, having a loved one deploy and be in country, and welcoming a loved one back after service can take their toll. Our therapy can help provide a safe place for veterans, service members and families alike to speak about their experiences, be recognized and listened to, and develop new ways to cope with the feelings, changes and experiences that come up during these re-adjustments.
We do not handle emergency situations for those who are not already seeing one of our psychotherapists.
DSTRESS - A service of the Marine Corps
From the every day stressors of life to the stressors related to combat, stress can affect even the strongest Marine. The DSTRESS line was developed by the Corps to provide professional, anonymous counseling for Marines, attached Sailors, and families when it's needed most. Call today to speak with one of your own.
Focus on the Family (non-military)
You can call Focus on the Family and speak with a family care specialist Monday-Friday 6:00 AM-8:00 PM MT for free counseling and advice from pastors & counselors. If you need someone to talk with or need help during a difficult time in your life - this is an excellent resource! 1-(800) A-Family (232-6459)
Give an Hour
Free mental health services to U.S. military personnel and their families affected by the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
HicksStrong Inc. (Halfmoon, NY)
HicksStrong Inc. aims to do this by linking veteran and active duty service members with confidential mental health therapists via telehealth and we cover up to 24 sessions.
Hidden Wounds
Helping heroes battle the invisible war at home.
The mission of Hidden Wounds, a non-profit organization headquartered in Columbia, SC, is to provide temporary counseling and support to military personnel afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or other such mental ailments until such time as the Veteran’s Administration or the Veteran’s Affairs agencies are prepared to deliver long term services to our clients through government programs.
Hope for Heroes (serving Central Texas)
Hope for Heroes offers confidential counseling, integrative medicine and peer support. Hope for Heroes is the umbrella program for services provided to active military, veterans, and their families by the Samaritan Center, an interfaith non-profit organization located in Austin, Texas. For nearly 40 years, the Center has been promoting hope, healing, and wholeness for children, adults, families, and communities in Central Texas.
The Samaritan Center staff is sensitive to spiritual issues but does not impose religious concepts or beliefs on the people it helps.
in Transition
Are you a service member in transition?
Are you concerned about your mental health treatment?
Have you received new orders? Are you looking at an upcoming change in status, relocation or return to civilian life? If so, and if you are currently receiving mental health care, transferring to a new provider can be easy.
Sign up for the inTransition Mental Health Coaching & Support Program.
Contact inTransition and you will be assigned a personal coach who will support you as you move between health care systems or providers. He or she will:
- Coach you one-on-one as you go through your transition.
- Connect you with your new provider.
- Empower you with tools to continue making healthy life choices.
All inTransition coaches are skilled counselors. They understand today’s military culture and issues. They understand and respect the importance of your privacy. They are with you every step of the way.
InTransition is a free, voluntary program with coaches who provide psychological health care support to service members, veterans and their health care providers during times of transition. Service members can call to self-enroll 24/7.
Lutheran Social Services (Minnesota)
Free, confidential and caring professional support is available for veterans, military members and their families.
The LSS C.O.R.E. Program (Case Management, Outreach, Referral & Education) is offered statewide. We help your craft an individualized plan of action to access a broad range of wellness services:
- For individuals: Draw upon your own strengths to deal with situations of all kinds: anger and stress management, feelings of guilt, sadness or depression, fear or anxiety, intimacy issues, addictions, financial counseling, and more.
- For couples: Supportive counseling services for couples dealing with stress, anxiety, intimacy, or communication issues within their unique relationship.
- For children: Specialized “strength-based” counseling, including play therapy, to help children, parents and caregivers identify and improve the child's or adolescent's well-being.
- For families: Deployment and reintegration support, debt management and bankruptcy counseling, respite care and caregiver support, family counseling, and more.
Services are free and confidential. We strive to remove all barriers to help you receive the support you need. If necessary, we can take care of co–pays and deductibles. If your situation is complex or your access to service locations is limited, we can come to you or provide in–home care.
C.O.R.E. is a joint partnership with the Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs and Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS). Office locations are available throughout Minnesota with LSS Masters degreed or licensed mental health counselors offering flexible services when and where you need them most. Services are confidential and free. Call us, we're here for you! 1-888-881-8261 (anytime)
Lutheran Social Services (Nebraska)
At Ease - Trauma treatment and therapeutic support for active military, veterans and their loved ones. The At Ease program provides confidential, individualized counseling services for active military personnel, veterans and their loved ones. All veterans and their loved ones will be accepted regardless of ability to pay.
Military OneSource
Military OneSource offers three kinds of short-term, non-medical counseling options to active-duty, Guard, and Reserve members and their families.
Military OneSource counseling services are designed to provide service help with short-term issues such as adjustment to situational stressors, stress management, decision making, communication, grief, blended-family issues, and parenting-skills issues.
All returning Soldiers can contact the Military OneSource and register for a free account. You will receive free confidential counseling (up to six sessions) in the civilian community. In the U.S. call 1-800-342-9647. International: Access code + 800-3429-6477. Por Espanol llame 1-877-888-0727. Korea dial DSN 550-2769.
Ohana Homefront Foundation
Suicide in our military community is an issue, especially for the families, yet it is not spoken about at the same level as active duty and veterans.
The mission of the Ohana Homefront Foundation is to support the ENTIRE military community when it comes to suicide awareness by bringing the talk of suicide to the front for the military community as a whole and to offer support to all that hold down the home front.
Operation Sisterhood (Northern New Jersey)
Powered by Cornerstone Family Programs, Operation Sisterhood offers free comprehensive counseling services to any female veteran in Northern New Jersey.
Program for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Studies - Weill Cornell (New York, NY)
The Program for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Studies at Weill Cornell has been treating service members since 2005.
We offer a range of services for U.S. military personnel and their families with an emphasis on the major psychiatric issues facing those returning from combat (PTSD, Depression). All services are free and confidential.
Readjustment Counseling Service - VA Combat Call Center
1-877-Warvets (1-877-927-8387)
Readjustment Counseling Service - Providing 24 hour, 7 day a week referral services to all veterans, their families and any concerned citizens who are trying to assist veterans.
Returning Veterans Project - Free counseling for returning veterans and their families (Oregon, SW Washington)
To Returning Veterans
- We recognize that returning to civilian life can be full of both physical and psychological challenges. Our providers have volunteered to give you the care you need to come all the way back home.
To Active Duty Military Personnel, Reservists, and National Guard Members
- An upcoming deployment or redeployment can be extremely stressful as you face unknown challenges and separation from loved ones. Whether before your deployment or while you're on leave, our providers are ready to serve you.
To Military Family Members and Survivors
- Having a loved one deployed for military action is one of the hardest things a family can face. Here at the Returning Veterans Project, we want to support you before, during, and after their war-zone service. In addition to professional adult therapists, we also have specialists in children's, couples and family therapy to help you.
Road Home Program (Chicago, IL)
You’d think that coming home would be the easy part. But transitioning from military to civilian life is often a challenge. The Road Home Program at the Center for Veterans and Their Families at Rush provides timely and confidential support, counseling and veteran health services to help you and your family understand, heal from and cope with the invisible wounds of war. You aren’t in this alone.
Services at the Road Home Program are provided regardless of the ability to pay.
Scott & White Military Homefront Services (Texas)
Scott & White Military Homefront Services was designed and implemented by Scott & White Healthcare and the Central Texas Fort Hood Chapter of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) to provide individual, marital and family counseling to those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan post 9/11.
The licensed behavioral health program works to strengthen relationship resilience in military families.
Because our mission is to serve military families during difficult times, we seek to provide clinical excellence— through individual, marital and family counseling and education— to suit the needs of every type of family.
Soldiers and Families Embraced (SAFE) (Clarksville, TN)
Soldiers And Families Embraced offers individual and group counseling services, as well as peer support groups for active duty, veterans and their families. These services are provided at no cost, and no insurance is required.
Steven A. Cohen Military Family Center
At the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Center at NYU Langone, we provide free, compassionate care for veterans and military families who are experiencing the long-term effects of all phases of military service and other life stresses, including relationship difficulties, school problems, and unemployment and relocation issues.
We welcome veterans, including anyone who has served in the United States Armed Services, regardless of role, discharge status, or combat experience, as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve. We also extend our services to the parents, siblings, spouses and partners, children, caretakers, and other family members of active-duty personnel, veterans, and members of the National Guard or Reserve.
We offer high-quality, accessible, and integrated mental healthcare. Our free, confidential services are available in-person or through our Telemental Health Program. For patients in New York and Connecticut, these online sessions are offered through the NYU Langone Health app. The confidential platform allows our mental health professionals to provide personalized care to military veterans and family members who prefer to work with their care team remotely or at flexible times.
TRICARE
You can find the number for your regional TRICARE office on this site. Active-duty members must have a referral from their Primary Care Manager (PCM) to receive mental-health services outside of a military hospital or clinic. However, military family members and Reservists or veterans who are covered by TRICARE can now go directly to a mental health care provider in the TRICARE network without a referral or prior authorization for the first eight sessions.
22Zero
For help dealing with the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), contact the 22Zero foundation for FREE counseling.
VA Vet Centers
Find family support at Vet Centers — If you have served in ANY combat zone, local Vet Centers can help you and your family with readjustment counseling and outreach services — for free.
All Secure Foundation
Connect with a Coach - Coaching sessions for Special Operation warriors and warrior spouses are conducted via phone or zoom.
Courage to Call (San Diego, CA)
Courage to Call is a veteran-run, peer-to-peer support program in San Diego County. Our services are offered at NO COST to active and former military members, their families and loved ones. Courage to Call will connect you to former members of the military who understand the rigors of military life and who have already made the transition to civilian life.
Courage to Call participates in the San Diego County Vet-Fam Forum, a collaboration of community leaders and organizations whose goal is to identify, build and maintain relationships to help offer veterans and their families the best resources and services available.
Grace After Fire
Grace After Fire's program, Table Talk™: Color Me Camo, serves as a peer support system designed specifically for women veterans. Table Talk™ focuses on gender specific aspects through structured interaction with trained facilitators and fellow peers while identifying and addressing barriers women veterans face on the path to positive change.
The program provides educational materials and activities that promote self-knowledge, self-understanding, self-development and self-renewal for the woman veteran. The purpose of the program is for peers to help peers with the objective to get veterans well by talking to each other and to establish a bond amongst the veterans in their local areas. Results of the program will be healthy women, healthy families, and healthy communities.
Life Aid Hope
Life Aid Research Institute seeks to improve brain health by researching and validating emerging technology and functional medicine therapies in order to create new treatment protocols. The whole health approach empowers resilience by combining peer support, technology, functional medicine, and community activation that will reduce suicide in military, veterans, and first responders. This integrative and evidence-based therapeutic approach utilizes objective quantitative analysis using data from before and after brain imaging.
LifeScore App is an interactive, fun, simple-to-use app addressing five whole health categories that contributes to an individual’s personal resilience with the intent on improving while also preventing suicide of those at highest risk. The app tracks five categories and one function: State of Mind, Food, Nutrition,Fitness, Sleep and includes a Cognitive Function assessment tool to improve brain health and measure neuroplasicity.
Military OneSource
Call 800-342-9647 (OCONUS/International contact options available)
Service members and their spouses are eligible to receive Military OneSource confidential peer-to-peer specialty consultations during the military member’s active service and up to 365 days after separation from the military. Using our services is confidential and will not negatively affect your career or the career of your spouse.
New Jersey Veterans Helpline (NJ Vet 2 Vet)
Our toll-free helpline 1-866-838-7654 is available 24 hours a day/7 days a week for veterans and their families. Services include:
- Veteran peer support
- Military family support
- Clinical assessment
- Case management
- Referral to a comprehensive network of mental health providers
- Web-based peer support
- Live chat
- Employment
Project Josiah Restoration Ministry
Combat veterans helping combat veterans.
The mission of Project Josiah Restoration Ministry is to bring combat veterans together to strengthen, to share and to improve their lives; to empower them to make choices using biblical principles; to heal themselves and to enable them to help other veterans.
REBOOT Recovery
At REBOOT Recovery, we help people overcome trauma. Our faith-based trauma healing courses, training, and online community are open to anyone looking to move forward from trauma and tragedy into a better future. If the same old therapies or medications have left you feeling hopeless, you've come to the right place. Here are three easy ways to get involved right now:
Soldiers and Families Embraced (SAFE) (Clarksville, TN)
Soldiers And Families Embraced offers individual and group counseling services, as well as peer support groups for active duty, veterans and their families. These services are provided at no cost, and no insurance is required.
Southern Maryland Battle Buddies (Southern Maryland)
Southern Maryland Battle Buddies (SMBB) is a non-partisan, veteran volunteer led, program dedicated to helping veterans of military service, their families and significant others heal. Primarily through confidential peer support, informed advocacy and expert referral we will help veterans overcome barriers to health care, access work and educational opportunities and reintegrate into civilian society. SMBB is registered non-profit corporation in the state of Maryland.
Stand Beside Them
Our mission is to partner with our returning veterans and their families/caregivers to help them attain the happiness and quality of life here at home that they so deserve after serving our country. Whether it is in finding employment, starting new businesses, completing their educations, improving personal relationships, assessing for new vocations, or locating health care to fully meet their needs, our coaches are here to help them transition to civilian life.
22Zero
For help dealing with the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), contact the 22Zero foundation for FREE counseling.
The Battle Buddy Program has evolved; it was ultimately a way to plug veterans back in with other veterans for that human connection to a new tribe. But now we have a fully functioning coaching program, where veterans administer the Tactical Resiliency Process (TRP) and Emotions Management Process (EMP) on a peer to peer level. To date, we have 75 Resiliency Coaches in 17 states. The peer coaches are equally as effective as licensed counselors.
Vet Center - Combat Call Center
1-877-WAR-VETS is an around the clock confidential call center where combat veterans and their families can call to talk about their military experience or any other issue they are facing in their readjustment to civilian life. The staff is comprised of combat veterans from several eras as well as families members of combat veterans. This benefit is prepaid through the veteran’s military service.
Veterans Healing Veterans (California)
We are a trauma recovery and suicide prevention program for veterans. We reduce stress and heal wounds caused by PTSD through our peer to peer mentorship program.
With our beginnings rooted in California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations (CDCR), we serve incarcerated veterans, veterans in transition, and veterans in our wider community. Through peer support, narration therapy, and mind/body integration practices, veterans are equipped with tools for resiliency; building vital immunity against daily stress or triggers.
Veterans Healing Veterans from the Inside Out (VHV) proudly provides services to five institutions within California: San Quentin State Prison, Deuel Vocational Institution, Solano State Prison, Sacramento State Prison and most recently, Correctional Training Facility Soledad. VHV currently has 9 active peer processing groups dispersed throughout these five institutions.
Vets 4 Warriors
24-hour peer support line 1-855-VET-TALK or 1-855-838-8255
Live chat and e-mail services also available.
Why call us?
We are here to help. We have all served in uniform for the United States military. Some members of our staff have served in combat missions while others have served in supporting and peace keeping missions. However, we are all veterans of the United States military and we are all here to help the men and women who are currently serving or have served in the National Guard and Reserve.
While our mission is to serve military and veterans, we are a separate organization outside of the military. We are also separate from the Veterans Administration. We don't discuss your calls with the military, the VA, or anyone else; your calls to us are completely confidential and, if you choose, you may remain anonymous.
Our staff will listen and not judge you for anything. If you want to just talk, we will support that. If you need some information, we can help you find it. Our deal is to partner with you on your quest and do our best to help you succeed.
Vets Prevail
In order to figure out what challenges you may be facing as a returning veteran, we first need to get to know you a bit better. We start of by asking you some simple questions to help us understand your basic situation and the barriers you may be facing. We then drill down further, learning about your motivations and goals so we can build a detailed profile. Based on that profile, we structure a customized program that is just for you.
Your personalized program will allow you to:
- Work through a dynamic set of Interactive Lessons that help you learn about issues you may be facing and techniques and strategies to overcome them
- Work with Peer Coaches who will listen to you and help find solutions to any challenges you may be facing
- Ask questions and learn from other users just like you (all anonymously)
The program is easy to follow - we will lay out a number of "Levels" for you, and each Level will have several “To Do's" that you will need to complete to finish the Level. You will be guided along the way by your own virtual assistant, who will ask you questions, give you information and keep you on track.
You will also have access to our online Community. The Community is a place where you can ask questions anonymously and get answers from other users who have been there.
All the while, you will earn “Points” as you complete more and more of the Program. Once you get enough, the Points can be redeemed for "Rewards" like gift cards to restaurants and stores.
Military sexual trauma (MST), domestic violence
See also Hotlines, crisis numbers & resources - LINK (above)
Battered Women's Justice Project - Military Advocacy Resource Network
The Military Advocacy Resource Network is a project funded by the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to provide technical assistance, resources, and support for all advocates, military and civilian, who serve military and veteran families and work with victims of domestic violence/sexual assault/stalking and dating violence perpetrated by military personnel or veterans.
BWJP is developing a blueprint for an effective community response to the co-occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and intimate partner violence (IPV).
Protect Our Defenders
We honor, support, and give voice to the brave men and women in uniform who have been raped or sexually assaulted by fellow service members. We seek to fix the military training, investigation and adjudication systems related to sexual violence, systems that often re-victimize survivors by blaming them while failing to prosecute perpetrators.
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response
The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) is responsible for oversight of the Department's sexual assault policy. SAPRO works hand-in-hand with the Services and the civilian community to develop and implement innovative prevention and response programs.
Taking Back Ourselves
Taking Back Ourselves is an experiential weekend of recovery for women survivors of incest, sexual assault, sexual trafficking, campus rape, religious abuse, military sexual assault, abuse in sports and the arts, survivors of domestic violence, survivors of war, tribal and racial violence.
We know that much in the way that a pebble dropped in a pond spreads out and affects even the furthest shore of a lake, women who experience a Weekend of Recovery can take a profound healing back into their lives that will impact all their relationships. When women survivors experience community and healing in a safe and an embodied way, then everybody—men, children, our planet—is better off.
VA Military Sexual Trauma Support
This website has information about the health care services that VA has available for Veterans who experienced MST..
Substance abuse programs
VA Substance Abuse Programs
Some veterans who return from combat have problems with use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs. This can include use of street drugs as well as using prescription medications in ways they weren't prescribed. Such substance use can harm health, cause mood and behavior problems, hurt social relationships, and cause financial problems. Available treatments address all types of problems related to substance use, from unhealthy use of alcohol to life-threatening addictions.
A patient coming to VA can expect to find the following types of care:
- first-time screening for alcohol or tobacco use in all care locations
- short outpatient counseling including focus on motivation
- intensive outpatient treatment
- residential (live-in) care
- medically managed detoxification (stopping substance use safely) and services to get stable
- continuing care and relapse prevention
- marriage and family counseling
- self-help groups
- drug substitution therapies and newer medicines to reduce craving
Copyright 2008 - 2022 Benita Koeman, Operation We Are Here. All rights reserved.
Operation We Are Here is a HUB of RESOURCES for the military community and military supporters.
Military support is not a concept to embrace; military support is sacrificial action. Visit our military support TOOLKIT.
Be sure to check out these ADDITIONAL resources:
Support & resources for
Resources for supporters of military and veteran families
- Practical insights in caring for
Military and veteran family resources
- Christian encouragement
- Deployment support for
- Downloads and printables
Operation We Are Here
Follow us on
resources
