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Program offers
help for soldiers' extended families
(October
2007 Issue)
By Elinor Nelson
"People don't understand the ripple effect of this war on
families, how many people are impacted," states Jaine Darwin, Psy.D.,
who along with Ken Reich, Ed.D., (both clinical instructors in psychology,
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School), have taken action.
They are co-directing SOFAR, (Strategic Outreach to Families of
all Reservists), a probono group that since 2004 has offered mental
health services to the extended families of Reservist and National
Guard members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We're different from other groups because we look at extended
families," she explains. While the military views the family as
only the nuclear family and provides services accordingly (six therapy
visits, up from one visit when the war began), "we say it's also
[the soldier's] mother and father, siblings, uncles, aunts, grandparents
and grandchildren." With troops as old as age 62, children are seeing
grandmothers and grandfathers off to war.
SOFAR suggests that more than 60 million Americans feel the direct
impact of war. With 1.6 million soldiers deployed almost 2.2 million
times total, SOFAR calculates an average of six significant family
members per soldier, amounting to 9.6 million people impacted, including
the people close to them.
SOFAR was started in Massachusetts by Reich, who wanted to make
a worthwhile contribution following 9/11. He delved into the military
bureaucracy to find out how to reach families and also saw the need
to help educate teachers and pediatricians who were the first professionals
to see many affected children. Soon Darwin was on board and they
now have 70 trained volunteers who mostly run groups that have treated
about 3,000 family members. The program extends into N.H. Groups
are starting in Mich. and Pa. and they hope to spread nationally.
SOFAR's services are free to all families and SOFAR does not take
any insurance reimbursement, relieving the privacy concerns of many
families.
The National Guard and Reservist soldiers' families are different
from the regular military, SOFAR's leaders have discovered, because
they don't live together on military bases, they lack the common
history and camaraderie and usually feel isolated in their communities.
"We can help them build a support network and help them feel like
we're safe people to talk to," adds Darwin.
According to Darwin, their issues include becoming single parents,
often with a child having to change homes and caretakers. Families
that were financially comfortable may suffer a financial loss when
transitioning from private sector to military pay; poorer families
may do better financially with a soldier deployed - and then worse
when the soldier comes home. Additionally, soldiers' homecomings
can be abrupt (returning to civilian work within days, as opposed
to regular military who return to a base), with 50% of National
Guard and Reservists returning with a mental health difficulty.
Young soldiers leaving home for the first time are disrupting their
educations and making wills, while older soldiers and their spouses
may both fear separation and infidelity. Families live in fear of
injuries and fatalities and then cope with relief and guilt when
they find out that others received the dreaded information.
Another major concern is the children. SOFAR wants to reach out
to the "first responders" dealing with children who are likewise
feeling alone in their communities and they have written a pamphlet
telling parents, teachers, nurses, and pediatricians how to help
these children.
Darwin says the group is in desperate need of funding and wants
to hire a grant writer to help secure financial resources. Anyone
wishing to volunteer, donate or download the SOFAR Guide for Helping
Youth Cope with the Deployment of a Parent may go to SOFARUSA.org
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