Therapy 101

Therapy is a collaborative process that is based on building trust with your provider, usually a social worker or psychologist.  Building trust takes time, especially if you have experienced betrayal in the past, in your personal or professional life.  During this process your therapist will ask about what problems you are struggling with, how these are impacting your life day-to-day, how you want things to be different, and what a more fulfilling life would look like for you.  As you navigate these significant topics, you will work with your therapist to identify goals and what new things you can try to help you reach those goals.  This might include learning new skills to manage and express emotions, to communicate your needs to others in your life, to set boundaries to protect yourself and your wellbeing, to accept painful past events so you can heal, or to live more in line with your values.  While your therapist is there to understand, to guide, to ask thought provoking questions, and to support you, the real challenge is making changes in your life outside of the therapy session. 

At the Madison VA, we strive to provide evidence-based mental health treatments to women veterans. Women comprise a growing minority of Veterans as more women are entering the military, serving their country, and being honorably discharged. The VA now considers women to be the fastest growing group of Veterans, but their issues are not discussed as often.  Women veterans face unique challenges that can impact their ability to access healthcare services, such as sexual harassment, homelessness, chronic pain, mental health concerns, reintegration into their families, reproductive health/mental health, and general societal biases.  The Madison VA is dedicated to serving our women Veteran population.  We offer treatment options aimed at providing culturally sensitive, trauma-informed outcomes for all women Vets. We have dedicated, hard-working clinicians delivering individual and group services for various concerns, and we offer services in community-based outpatient treatment clinics, inpatient unit, and outpatient care at the main VA hospital. 

Some of the specific therapies provided at the Madison VA include:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Courage Group – for MST Survivors
• Prolonged Exposure Therapy
• Cognitive Processing Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Substance Abuse Treatments
• Integrated Behavioral Couples Therapy
• and more!

Learn more about national resources in mental health for women Veterans at
Woman Veteran - Mental Health (va.gov).

For more information about the Madison VA Hospital, visit www.madison.va.gov or www.facebook.com/MadisonVAHospital and subscribe to our newsletters.