In the military, the rally point is a vital location for troops. It’s a designated spot where they reorganize, share camaraderie and plan for the next mission.
They need that in combat, and many need another kind of rally point when their service is over. Veterans might leave their lives of service behind, but often carry the scars of service with them – especially mental scars.
Vern Rennier, CEO of Oceans Behavioral Hospital in Longview, knows that to be true. A U.S. Army veteran, he needed mental healthcare during his service. The last thing he wanted to do was open up about his challenges with peers during group therapy. But that was the first step toward healing.
“It’s been 21 years since this all occurred, and I’m still friends with several of those that were in that group,” he said. “We have helped each other get through some tough times in our lives.”
Oceans Behavioral Hospitals across the country offer veteran-specific programs, but the Longview location is the first to brand its program The Rally Point, an outpatient mental health program for veterans. Individual and group therapy are part of the program, and mental health professionals specialize in trauma support, medication management and treatment of PTSD, depression, anxiety and more.
Hospital leaders launched the program in the fall, and several veterans have completed it since then, Rennier said.
The 12-week program is patterned after the kind of care service members receive while they’re still in the military, Rennier said. For a variety of reasons, however, they sometimes don’t get the care they need while they’re still in the service. Oftentimes, that’s because they’re afraid of the consequences of asking for help:
Historically, service members have been reassigned or discharged if they’re experiencing mental health issues, Rennier said. And when they get out of the service, adjusting to civilian life again can be challenging.
But mental health issues need to be addressed. If people don’t take care of their mental health, it can manifest into worse symptoms and physical health issues, too.
Patients can start the Rally Point program at any time. It is administered by licensed clinical social workers and other trained medical professionals. It generally takes place in the afternoon, but morning sessions could be added based on demand in the future, Rennier said.
Group therapy is a core component of treatment.
“In a lot of our different programs in our group therapies, we see that the patients start having a bond,” Rennier said. “They realize that they’re not the only ones going through that. There’s a lot of them having the same things that they’re going through, which helps them through this whole process.”
That camaraderie is strong. One veteran in the program needed a car, and another had a spare vehicle and gave it to him, Rennier said.
The program isn’t only for veterans. Military spouses and children of veterans can participate in specialized groups because they deal with a veteran’s mental health issues by association.
“There’s a high divorce rate when it comes to veterans, from PTSD and depression and those things,” Rennier said. “This really helps, and it helps the veteran as well from a spouse’s standpoint to be educated in that.”
Children in particular benefit because they often want to blame themselves for problems their parents experience, Rennier said. The program can help them learn that they’re not to blame, promoting overall family health. The adolescent programs take place after school.
Veterans often have substance abuse disorders in an attempt to mask their problems, Rennier said. Oceans has a substance abuse program they can participate in as well.
Rennier tackled a couple common misconceptions veterans might have about their service and their mental health challenges.
First, anyone who served in the military – whether he or she had combat experience or not, and regardless of how long someone served for – is a veteran, Rennier said. Someone can develop PTSD even as a result of basic training.
Second, PTSD is more prevalent today than it once was, but that’s because the diagnosis originated in the 1980s. Before that, service members were said to have experienced “shellshock,” and few wanted to be labeled that way, Rennier said.
People look at mental health issues with stigmas, Rennier said. But he believes mental health should be treated like physical health issues. He has high blood pressure and has to see a cardiologist, take medication, eat good food and exercise.
If people looked at their mental health that way, “more and more people would actually go out and get help,” he said. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed to go out and get mental health therapy.”
Oceans accepts all types of insurance, and veterans can participate in the Rally Point for free with a referral from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Oceans staffers can help veterans start that process. The hospital offers a sliding-scale payment system for veterans without insurance.
Oceans also offers transportation to and from surrounding communities for veterans who need it.
“We always like to say we meet everybody where they are, and then we walk them through every step of the way through their healing journey,” Rennier said.
As for Rally Point, “it’s a brotherhood. It’s a sisterhood,” Rennier said. “They’re going to take care of one another. And then as they’re going through things in there, you can hear the different veterans talking to each other about, ‘Yes, I experienced that.’”
To learn more, veterans can call Oceans at (903) 212-2930. The hospital is at 615 Clinic Drive.