Soldiers can do mental health PMCS

Courtesy Photo | Col. Lewis Van Osdel, a psychiatrist with the 883rd Medical Company Combat Stress Control, conducts classes at Forward Operating Base McKenzie on mental health maintenance.  

12.29.2005

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

Mid-tour mental health services are as essential to maintaining good mental health as regular PMCS is to ensuring a weapon will work when it's most needed. For the 883rd Medical Company, Combat Stress Control, that means working with Soldiers to communicate better and improve their job performance.

Capt. Michelle Selcke, an occupational therapist with the 883rd restoration team, teaches several classes aimed at improving working and family relationships in addition to one-on-one counseling.

"We see a lot of people who are having problems with their chain of command. Surprisingly, a lot of them are E-6s and E-7s that are having trouble communicating effectively."

Selcke said they try to help Soldiers to concentrate on improving their situation from their side rather than hoping to force their chain of command to change.

Identifying the source of stress and finding the locus of control to reduce the impact of it are several areas Slecke helps Soldiers direct their attention to improve. She said she wants Soldiers to start the processes through dealing with what can be changed.

"You can only change your own behavior; you can't force someone else to change," Selcke said.

There are additional benefits Soldiers will take away from the classes.

"It gives them skills that help them not only here in Iraq, but for their civilian jobs too," Selcke said. "It helps as you go up in rank, and can improve communication with your family."

She also offers specialized counseling for specific target audiences, including women and married Soldiers. Selcke is the only female occupational therapist on LSA Anaconda, a role she embraces.

"I feel like it's a benefit and I take it as a personal responsibility to help other females," Selcke said.

Selcke has started a women's group that is open to women of any service branch and any rank.

"They can come into an area where there isn't any rank, relax, and talk about what it's like to be a female here," she said.

Slecke hopes to help Soldiers overcome some perceptions that may lead to added stress.
"There is a said challenge that women have in leadership. It's a double-edged sword. A male is seen as assertive and a woman is a bitch," Selke said. "People tend to attack a male's behavior, but they attack a female's character. We've come a long way, but we've got room to grow."

Selcke said she hears that perspective more from Soldiers than from commanders. She said commanders and Soldiers should both focus on strengths and ways to work on limitations and treat each other with respect to overcome the issue. She doesn't see herself as a feminist, only as someone trying to alleviate another source of stress for Soldiers in a combat zone.

"If I can help someone have some sort of a positive outlook they didn't have before they came here, they can leave Iraq in better mental health than when they came here," Selcke said.

Her second target audience, married Soldiers, stand to learn a great deal about handling reintegration with their families when they redeploy.

"I try to help married Soldiers look at their marriages a little differently," Selcke said.
Selcke said married Soldiers face a unique set of challenges when returning from a deployment.

"They're going to face the fact that there are some role changes that have occurred. The person back home may be more independent, their children will be at a different stage of development, and discipline styles may be different. There may be men at home while the women are deployed, and the role-reversal may be difficult to deal with," Selcke said.

She has set up a class for married Soldiers to work on talking about emotions and breaking down barriers to communication with their spouses.

"I have a seven-day challenge," Selcke said. "Basically it's to ease into intimacy, date your spouse and get to know each other again."

Selcke said there are emotional and physical reasons why Soldiers should ease into intimacy again.

"It can be devastating to a man who views his manhood as his ability to be the provider," Selcke said. "After a year of being away, it may not work the same right away."

Setting realistic expectations for returning home is one key to smoothing the transition from deployment life back to a normal life, Staff Sgt. Philip Burke, the NCOIC of the restoration team, said. Hoping that a deployment may make a marriage stronger could be hoping for too much.

"They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. It might, but it doesn't change the behavior," Burke said. "Be realistic about what you're going to have when you go back home. There are people to see, but there are problems to solve."

• Date Taken: 12.29.2005
• Date Posted: 12.29.2005 09:22
• Story ID: 4213