Chaplain services focus of Mental Health Summit

“How VA Chaplains Help All Veterans in Their Recovery Journey” will be May 19, 10:30 a.m. to noon (Central time). The virtual event is open to all Veterans, VA staff, Veteran Service Organizations and anyone who works with Veterans. The event can be accessed here.

 Chaplains from the VISN 12 medical center catchment areas — Milwaukee, Illiana (Danville, Ill.), Lovell (North Chicago), Hines (Chicago), Jesse Brown (Chicago), Madison, Tomah and Iron Mountain —  will give glimpses into the services they provide while working in tandem with mental health professionals at their facilities.

“There are chaplains doing amazing things,” said Chaplain Robert Allen, chief of Chaplain Services at the Milwaukee VA and one of the organizers of the event. “This will give them the opportunity to highlight programs they are doing that exceed expectations.”

Showcasing best practices

The event will feature short vignettes — about five minutes or so each — where chaplains will share their successes and challenges.

Some of the topics:

• Conflict resolution
• Substance abuse
• Grief counseling
• Moral injury
• Women’s programs
• Community engagement
• Reaching Veterans in rural areas

“This will give us a good overview of what chaplaincy looks like throughout various complexity of care facilities,” Allen said, noting that the VA facilities involved range from big-city operations to rural communities. “It will be a lot of best practices and lessons learned.”

Dispelling myths

The summit also seeks to dispel the stereotype that all chaplains do is pray by bedsides. The truth is they do much more than that; chaplains have become integrated into health care in many VA facilities.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about VA care and what chaplains do,” said Milwaukee VA psychiatrist Dr. Michael McBride. “We want to dispel some of those myths and give people information they need to choose what’s best for their recovery journey.”

McBride said it’s not uncommon for him to have his patients consult with a chaplain because of the unique skills they bring to the table.

“They can make a significant difference, especially when people feel strongly about their spiritual background and incorporating that into mental health care,” he said.

Allen agreed.

“For many people, spirituality is part of their healing and their treatment,” he said. “This summit will provide greater insight as to what we do and how we can get involved (in patient care).”

‘Wrap-around care’

One area where chaplains can play a vital role is moral injury, Allen said. These are cases where post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other clinical diagnoses cross over into the realm of a patient’s morals and ethics.

“That’s where mental health and chaplain services connect,” Allen said. “Chaplains can help deal with the moral dilemmas and stressors a Veteran may be undergoing. That’s where we provide wrap-around care; we wrap our arms around that Veteran and give them the complete support they need.”

McBride said he is seeing more instances where fellow doctors and providers are reaching out to involve chaplains in patient treatment.

“We have chaplains visiting with our Veterans who are going through crises and changes in their lives,” he said. “Chaplains are there and helping them in their recovery. Every level of care is touched by chaplains.”

Putting trust in chaplains

McBride, who is a Veteran, noted that in the military, it’s not unusual for service members who are struggling to turn to a chaplain first rather than going to a doctor. They see the chaplain as a confidante, whereas a visit with the doctor could trigger unwanted scrutiny from their commander.

So when service members leave the service, they sometimes carry that stigma with them into the civilian world.

“That’s where we may have more buy-in from Veterans who are willing to talk to the chaplains first … and lead to that warm handoff that will ensure the Veteran is getting the best care possible,” McBride said.

Helping Veterans connect

“This summit gives us a chance to really showcase what the VA is doing … to raise awareness and encourage Veterans to reach out to chaplains. It’s awareness, education and access.”

Allen said there is a strong push from national VA leadership to integrate chaplain services into medical care, and the summit will show the fruits of that initiative.

“So I think this is a timely summit that’s going to answer a lot of questions for people who think that chaplains only focus on bereavement, grief and pray when things are going wrong,” Allen said. “We still do that, but we do so much more.”