Men and women who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan often need help when they return home. One Cross Lanes counselor wants to help fill that need.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Men and women who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan often need help when they return home. One Cross Lanes counselor wants to help fill that need.
"I don't want anyone to need help and not be able to get it," said Kristina Wiley, a licensed professional counselor and the owner of Summit Counseling in Cross Lanes.
Give an Hour is a nonprofit organization founded four years ago by Washington, D.C., psychologist Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen Romberg. She wanted to form a network of volunteers who could respond to the needs of veterans and their families who are affected by the two wars.
Wiley found Give an Hour after searching the Internet. "I thought: I can do this," she said.
Before she went into counseling, Wiley worked as a paramedic. "It was so easy to take care of outward wounds," she said.
But Band-Aids don't work on the wounds on the inside, she found. So she returned to school to become a certified trauma therapist, in addition to her certification in counseling.
She has not counseled any veterans as of yet. "There is so much stigma attached to a veteran who seeks help," she said. "They are afraid they can be unfairly labeled and even be dishonorably discharged. They are afraid to go on the record, so many of their problems are unreported."
Nationally, suicide rates for combat veterans broke records this year. According to a Rand Corporation study quoted by officials with Give an Hour, more than 320,000 men and women have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with symptoms of severe depression and post-traumatic stress.
In West Virginia, mental health advocates have also pointed to a system that is failing to care adequately for state residents without the added numbers of returning vets.
Veterans themselves, according to the Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, realize that "no one agency or sector can deliver the breadth of support our military and veteran community will require."
Give an Hour also extends help to veterans' families, including spouses or unmarried partners.
Wiley hopes more counselors will volunteer. "I know counselors, who are paid $100 an hour think they will be losing that money. But what is a hundred dollars compared with saving a life?"
Reach Susan Williams at susanwilli...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5112.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Men and women who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan often need help when they return home. One Cross Lanes counselor wants to help fill that need.
"I don't want anyone to need help and not be able to get it," said Kristina Wiley, a licensed professional counselor and the owner of Summit Counseling in Cross Lanes.
Give an Hour is a nonprofit organization founded four years ago by Washington, D.C., psychologist Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen Romberg. She wanted to form a network of volunteers who could respond to the needs of veterans and their families who are affected by the two wars.
Wiley found Give an Hour after searching the Internet. "I thought: I can do this," she said.
Before she went into counseling, Wiley worked as a paramedic. "It was so easy to take care of outward wounds," she said.
But Band-Aids don't work on the wounds on the inside, she found. So she returned to school to become a certified trauma therapist, in addition to her certification in counseling.
She has not counseled any veterans as of yet. "There is so much stigma attached to a veteran who seeks help," she said. "They are afraid they can be unfairly labeled and even be dishonorably discharged. They are afraid to go on the record, so many of their problems are unreported."
Nationally, suicide rates for combat veterans broke records this year. According to a Rand Corporation study quoted by officials with Give an Hour, more than 320,000 men and women have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with symptoms of severe depression and post-traumatic stress.
In West Virginia, mental health advocates have also pointed to a system that is failing to care adequately for state residents without the added numbers of returning vets.
Veterans themselves, according to the Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, realize that "no one agency or sector can deliver the breadth of support our military and veteran community will require."
Give an Hour also extends help to veterans' families, including spouses or unmarried partners.
Wiley hopes more counselors will volunteer. "I know counselors, who are paid $100 an hour think they will be losing that money. But what is a hundred dollars compared with saving a life?"
Reach Susan Williams at susanwilli...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5112.
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