Welcome to JFK Mental Health Resources, profiling what services and support is available to Sailors assigned to Pre-Commissioning Unit John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). Today, let's talk with the Talk Boss, Mr. Joe Eader.
1. In the stress continuum, where do you fall?
Deployed Resiliency Counselers (DRC) / Talk Bosses fall within the yellow to orange range of support. However, we can help our crew that are in the green too, if they have specific self-improvement goals like (e.g. being more assertive, social skill building, parenting skills, leadership skills, and so forth).
2. What services do you provide?
Talk Bosses/DRCs are all licensed clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, clinical mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, or clinical social workers, that provide professional, confidential, non-medical individual clinical counseling and psychotherapy services, as well as clinical group treatment.
Services include clinical support for situational stressors such as separation, grief, deployment, relocation, relationship distress, parent-child interactions, and other challenges that may have identifiable situations causing the sets of symptoms.
We can also provide information and referral (I & R) services. Sometimes when our crew see Talk Boss they leave without needing any follow-up clinical care and instead simply need some handouts, information, or a referral to a class or workshop instead of clinical care.
We also provide psychoeducation training on resiliency topics, and have the ability to consult with the Triad and command core leaders to identify trends, patterns, and work through solutions.
We are all certified as SAPR Professional Victim Advocates and carry the D-SAACP certification and can act as someone’s victim advocate if needed. We also receive all the initial training of the Sexual Assault Response Coordinators (SARCs) as well and render liaison services for the SAPR program when on extended underways or deployments.
Talk Bosses/DRCs are also rostered and trained through the Navy to render clinical domestic violence offender treatment and rehabilitation and act as SMEs for the command while out at sea on offender behavior and domestic violence victimology.
Talk Bosses are SMEs on the SAIL program for the command and can provide consultation/support with the SAIL program instructions, or any questions/needs regarding execution of the SAIL program. We can also act as SAIL case managers as needed when ship is operational out at sea.
We also can help and serve as an access point to assist our command with initial crisis intervention services and get the Sailor to the eventual level of care they need through warm hand offs with Psych Boss/Navy Mental Health, or our ship medical provider team who can then assess the individual for stabilization needs.
3. When should Sailors come to you for your services?
We want Sailors to get care early on when they notice concerns or challenging patterns or trends beginning to develop making it difficult to cope or deal with their problems. For example, when a stressful situation is happening and a pattern of trouble sleeping, poor appetite, negative moods, irritability, anxiety, begins to persist, we want our crew to leverage our Talk Boss as an access point. We want to recognize our issues, and have the insight to know when to get support--that’s what resiliency looks like.
4. Why should Sailors come to you?
Sailors should seek care with the DRC / Talk Boss because they are facing challenges and already tried coping either internally or using other strategies such as their natural support system, and are still having difficulty coping after making efforts. Sailors who see the Talk Boss for care also have the benefit of accessing mental health treatment and care that is not documented inside of GENESIS-the military’s medical record keeping system, but in a separate Navy owned record system that never interacts with GENESIS. This provides our Sailors with options and different access points for care based on the level of needs and values of our Sailors.
5. What is one common misconception about your position and why do Sailors need to know the truth?
We are not contractors or MFLCs (Military and Family Life Counselors). MFLCS provide a lighter solution focused for of counseling that results in no record keeping or clinical documentation being involved. Talk Bosses provide clinical counseling and do keep clinical case records. These records include comprehensive biopsychosocial initial clinical assessments with any diagnostic impressions, treatment planning, treatment progress notes, case management, clinical referrals, and discharge planning. Talk Bosses document on a Navy owned electronic record system and the Talk Boss/DRC record keeping system intentionally does not interact with GENESIS--the official Navy/military medical record system. This allows our crew to have different access points for care along the Navy/Command Mental Health Roadmap for care.
6. Imagine there is a Sailor debating coming to see you and use your services. What would you say to them?
Come talk with me about it! We can do informal conversations called, Information and Referrals, or “I & Rs,” that can help provide casual feedback and support on a way forward and discuss options. Plus, I genuinely love the company and seeing you all. I am very proud to support us, and our crew and be our command Talk Boss. Stop by, say hi, and if you happen to have any questions, please fire away!!! Within the system of care, we act as a hub for all sorts of questions and needs, so if I am not the right one to support something, I can point us in the right direction and even help facilitate any system of care connections through a referral in many cases in order to complete that linkage of support!
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.17.2024 10:26 |
| Story ID: | 471555 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 114 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, JFK Mental Health Resources: Talk Boss Mr. Joe Eader, by PO1 Jacob Milham, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
