How We Work with Active-Duty Military Members

The Military & Family Support Services team identifies optimal treatment solutions for active-duty service members who have been struggling with trauma, substance use disorders, or other mental and behavioral health concerns.

We serve active-duty members of the following branches:

• Army
• Navy
• Air Force
• Marine Corps
• Coast Guard
• Space Force
• Army National Guard
• Air National Guard
• Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service
• Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association

MFS liaisons work closely with each service member to connect them with trusted treatment providers that can address their specific needs and empower them to achieve their personal and professional goals.

Our nationwide referral network includes TRICARE-approved facilities that can help service members achieve improved health, reintegrate into their duty stations, and return to full mission readiness.

The facilities we refer to also meet all Department of Defense standards for psychiatric diagnoses and medication protocols.

MFS liaisons understand the unique realities of military life, and we’re proud to offer personalized guidance and ongoing support throughout a service member’s journey to improved health.

We work closely with each service member to identify the full scope of their needs, find the provider that’s right for them, and facilitate an efficient, stress-free admission to treatment.

Once the service member has entered treatment, we continue to serve as a resource for them and their family. We remain in communication with the facility to ensure that family members are updated on their loved one’s progress, and we offer significant discharge and reintegration support.

The MFS team supports active-duty service members whose lives have been impacted by a wide range of mental and behavioral health concerns, including:

• Substance use disorders
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Complex trauma
• Combat trauma
• Military sexual trauma
• Moral injury
• Dual diagnosis

Our military liaisons can also locate optimal treatment providers for service members whose struggles with mental and behavioral health concerns have been brought on or exacerbated by traumatic brain injury (TBI), sleep deprivation, and other duty-related factors.

Determining which level or levels of care are right for each service member is an important part of putting them back on the path to full mission readiness. The seamless continuum of care at facilities in the MFS referral network includes:

• Inpatient treatment
• Residential care
• Partial hospitalization programs (PHPs)
• Intensive outpatient programs (IOPs)

Our referral network also includes facilities that offer features such as dedicated treatment milieus for military members, readiness-oriented services, staff members who have prior military service, and licensed trauma therapists.

When a service member contacts their local MFS liaison, they can rest assured that they’ll be matched with a reputable provider of customized services and comprehensive support.

Facilities in the MFS referral network offer a broad scope of evidence-based, research-supported therapies and services, provided within the context of a military-focused curriculum.

Elements of care at these facilities may include:

• Cognitive processing therapy (CPT)
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
• Experiential therapies
• Animal-assisted therapy
• Equine therapy
• Virtual reality therapy
• Mindfulness
• Yoga
• Daily physical therapy (PT)

Service members who have been struggling with substance use and addiction may be referred to facilities that also incorporate medical detoxification, 12-Step education and support, and the SMART Recovery model into treatment.

The facilities we refer to can also help military members with concerns such as guilt and shame, mission resiliency, emotion regulation, and stress tolerance.

The treatment providers we recommend for active-duty military personnel are all TRICARE-approved programs. The MFS team will work directly with TRICARE to ensure that the service member’s care is covered by their policy.