Empathy, Experience Light Path to Success for Bay Pines VA Employee and Those She Serves
The staff at the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System lie at the core of exceptional patient outcomes. Within that core, is one of the facility’s many certified peer support specialists, SHiRL Selah-Wrenn.
The Mensa member and Veteran of three branches of service now uses her lived experience to provide invaluable support to Veterans in recovery.
“I truly, emphatically believe in meeting the person where they are,” Selah-Wrenn said. “In my job, I want every Veteran to know that I see them. You tell me where you are now, so I can understand how I may support you.”
Peer specialists are Veteran staff who use their personal experiences to build trusted relationships and help those they serve on their road to recovery. The compassion Selah-Wrenn operates with can be traced back to her early life; a combination of the things she did and didn’t receive.
“I tell people I was drafted at the age of two; and I mean that in all sincerity,” Selah-Wrenn shared. “My father is the only one of his siblings who made a career of the military and trust me, he treated us like his little squad at home.”
Selah-Wrenn continued, “My father was a disciplinarian but in his later years, he made a point to try to be more tender.”
As a result of her father’s service in the U.S. Army, Selah-Wrenn’s formative years were filled with constant change. It wasn’t until she was a young adult, and her family had settled in Virginia, that the Alabama-native carved out a path of her own.
“When I went to talk to the Air Force recruiter, he showed me mostly administrative careers – something I guess he assumed a female would want to do,” Selah-Wrenn shared. “Because of my score on the entrance exam, I had a plethora of choices. I told him I wanted to be a mechanic and he just looked at me – I know the guy was flustered.”
Undeterred by the opinions of others, Selah-Wrenn became an aircraft mechanic in the U.S. Air Force. Over the course of 16 years, Selah-Wrenn would earn her commission as an Air Force officer before transitioning to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, then ultimately ending her career with the U.S. Army.
“I would have liked to go the full 20 but the time I spent in was adventuresome. I was able to see and learn so many different things,” Selah-Wrenn shared. “I left on a medical discharge because that is when the diagnosis for my physical and mental health became apparent.”
In her service to Veterans, Selah-Wrenn is influenced not only by her own mental health challenges, but she also keeps in mind the experiences of the man who taught her the value of structure and discipline.
“My father served in Vietnam, and became even more withdrawn after returning home,” Selah-Wrenn shared. “We did not know anything about PTSD at the time, but with two tours in-country, it is most definite he suffered with undiagnosed mental health challenges.”
Selah-Wrenn continued, “I have a penchant for all combat Veterans. During my interactions with them, I always strive to listen more intentionally, earnestly, and compassionately.”
Although she helps illuminate Veterans’ path toward recovery, Selah-Wrenn’s primary goal is to help them discover the light within themselves.
“I support Veterans to assess perceived limitations, address alleged barriers, appeal to innate potential, and affirm their highest good,” Selah-Wrenn shared. “Watching Veterans develop interest and envelop teachings, then excitedly engage and apply the new skills for themselves, that is the power of spirit expanding in both my life, and the lives of the Veterans I touch.”