Advocacy for Diverse Clientele

Advocacy for Diverse Clientele

David Whetzel

Capella University

Veterans of the military come in different diverse cultures. Those who have served our country come with a wide variety of mental illnesses that include PTSD, depression, anxiety, suicide, and substance abuse. Levin, Greene, & Solomon (2016) state that combat is a highly traumatic experience that entails the tangible risk of being killed, maimed, or wounded. For those combatants who are captured by the enemy, the trauma of war is compounded. Studies have shown that marital relationships of traumatized veterans are undermined by PTSD, leading to higher rates of divorce than those who are traumatized without PTSD (Levin, Greene, & Solomon, 2016). There is a need in our country to help those veterans who suffer from mental illnesses due to combat and especially being POW’s. Advocating for our veterans will help them receive the services and mental health care they deserve.

Advocacy Methods

Counseling services are very important to everyone including veterans. PTSD and other mental illnesses associated with active combat can be hard for families and loved ones. Counseling services are very important in helping those who suffer from mental illnesses because it can prevent a family from getting divorced and possibly help prevent a veteran from committing suicide. There are several methods that can be used to advocate for our veterans for the programs and services that they need and want.

Structured interviews with prominent individuals in the community both private and public sectors are coordinated (Blair, 2007). These interviews are conducted with policy makers who give us their perception of the matter, their opinion of the political outcome, and assessing how the advocacy message has done (Blair, 2007). This advocacy method helps by providing information about what lawmakers and policy makers are thinking, how they feel about the issue, how they might vote on the issue, and how well the advocacy has worked. This method helps advocates in making changes and the reasons why they need to be made.

Identify Institutional and Social Barriers

In December 2006, the President and Congress passed legislation that would allow licensed professional counselors to be clinicians within VA facilities (ACA, 2016). Four years later the VA adopted an occupational standard for licensed professional mental health workers within the VA (ACA, 2016). Two years after this was adopted, and seven years after the President and Congress enacted P.L. 109-461, licensed professional counselors are still being shut out of the VA (ACA, 2016). This keeps veterans from having access to mental health services from highly qualified mental health providers (ACA, 2016). The VA is only posting limited positions to licensed professional counselors, and the majority of positions are going to mental health clinician positions only available to social workers (ACA, 2016).

Analyze the Impact of Local, State, and National Public Policies on the Quality and Accessibility of Clinical Mental Health Services

According to NBCC (2016) the National Board of Certified Counselors has been an advocate for the recognition and hiring of professional counselors by the VA for many years. The NBCC helped advocate and pass the law allowing licensed professional mental health counselors to work in the VA in 2006 (NBCC, 2016). The VA is still hiring licensed professional counselors at a low rate, and the accessibility of clinical mental health services to veterans is very low (NBCC, 2016).

In January 2014, the President of the United States signed into law the omnibus appropriations act (NBCC, 2016). This act included reports from the Military