Veteran's Mental Health Resources

Community Resources

Martinez VA Outpatient Clinic: 150 Muir Rd., Martinez; (925) 372-2000

Solano County Veterans Services: 675 Texas St., Suite 4700, Fairfield; (707) 784-6590

Department of Defense - Self Helpline: 1-877-995-2547 (24/7)

Coaching into Care: Support "coaching" for family members concerned about their Veteran; 1-888-823-7458

Oakland Vet Center: 510-763-3904

Veterans Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255 (press 1); Text 838255 for support 24/7

Women's Trauma Recovery Program (at Menlo Park VA): (650) 493-5000 x27166

Headstrong - unlimited, no-cost, private psychotherapy for veterans.

Online Resources

From the US Department of Veteran Affairs.

Depression

Military Sexual Trauma

After Deployment - Wellness resources for the military community

NCIRE - The Veterans Health Research Institute

Real Warriors * Real Battles * Real Strength

Additional resources for Veterans on the Student Health Services page

UNITED STATES MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS

OTHER RESOURCES - ORGANIZATIONS AND PROGRAMS

Air Force Aid Society: "The Air Force Aid Society (AFAS) is the official charity of the United States Air Force incorporated in 1942 as a non-profit organization whose mission is to help relieve financial distress of Air Force members and their families and to assist them in financing their higher education goals."

American Red Cross: Among its services: "Using the latest in computer and telecommunications technology, the Red Cross allows military members stationed all over the world to send messages to loved ones back home during an emergency or other important events. These communications are delivered around-the-clock, seven days a week, 365 days a year." In addition: "Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services personnel serve in nearly 1,000 chapters in the United States, on 109 military installations around the world and alongside our troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Kosovo and Afghanistan."

Books for Soldiers: This service enables anyone who visits the site to fill a request from deployed military personnel for books, DVDs, CDs, video games, and relief supplies. The site emphasizes: "The DoD has discontinued the 'To Any Soldier' program, which was a program where you could address a package 'To Any Soldier' and it would be sent to a random soldier. All packages must be REQUESTED by the troop and this is why we built the site. Soldiers, airmen, Marines, sailors, and Coast Guardsmen give us their address and we send them a package. No more blind drops. Everything is requested by the troop per DoD guidelines." It also states: "Keep in mind, troops are deployed all over the world. We have more than a million troops and only 300,000 are in the Gulf. Books For Soldiers accepts requests for those stationed all over the world."

Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain Injury: "DCoE is the open front door of the Department of Defense for warriors and their families needing help with PH and TBI issues, promoting the resilience, recovery and reintegration of warriors and their families. DCoE partners with the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and a national network of military and civilian agencies, community leaders, advocacy groups, clinical experts, and academic institutions to establish best practices and quality standards for the treatment of PH and TBI. Our work is carried out across these major areas: clinical care; education and training; prevention; research and patient, family and community outreach. In addition, DCoE is working to tear down the stigma that still deters some from seeking treatment for problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder and TBI with our Real Warriors campaign."

Disabled American Veterans: "NSOs function as attorneys-in-fact, assisting veterans and their families in filing claims for VA disability compensation and pension; vocational rehabilitation and employment; education; home loan guaranty; life insurance; death benefits; health care and much more. DAV NSOs represent more clients than all other veterans' groups at the highest level of appeal within the Department of Veterans Affairs. What's more, all services provided by DAV NSOs are free of charge."

Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents - 2012 Edition: This online guide from the Department of Veteran Affairs informs veterans and their dependents of the variety of federal benefits available.

Fisher House: "Supporting America's military in their time of need, we provide "a home away from home" that enables family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful time -- during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury."

G.I. Bill web site: This V.A. web site provides comprehensive information about the G.I. Bill. "You can now search for approved programs of education on our website. You can search for approved programs at colleges, non-college degree granting institutions, licensing & certification granting providers, and national testing providers."

Give An Hour: "dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of the troops and families affected by the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We provide counseling to individuals, couples and families, and children and adolescents. We offer treatment for anxiety, depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, sexual health and intimacy concerns, and loss and grieving.... The mental health professionals who join us are giving an hour of their time each week to provide free mental health services to military personnel and their families."

Legal Information & Resources for Military Personnel and their Families: The Judge Advocate General's Corps provides online legal information and resources in such areas as family matters, financial issues (including taxes), insurance, immigration, housing (including landlord-tenant issues), estates, the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act, and consumer and contract issues.

Coming Home Project: "The Coming Home Project is a non-profit organization devoted to providing compassionate care, support and stress management tools for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families. We are a group of veterans, psychotherapists and interfaith leaders committed to helping transform the wounds of war. We help veterans and family members rebuild the connectivity of mind, heart, body and spirit that combat trauma can unravel; renew their relationships with loved ones; and create new support networks.... The Coming Home Project offers a range of free services: workshops and retreats; psychological counseling; training for care providers; and community forums. Our programs address the mental, emotional, spiritual and relationship challenges faced by veterans and families before, during and after deployment."

Military HOMEFRONT: The "official Department of Defense web site for reliable Quality of Life information designed to help troops and their families, leaders and service providers. Whether you live the military lifestyle or support those who do, you'll find what you need!"

Military Kids Connect: "An initiative of the National Center for Telehealth & Technology (T2), the Department of Defense agency formed in 2008 to test, evaluate and leverage available and emerging software and hardware in support of psychological health and traumatic brain injury in the broad military community," Military Kids Connect is, according to its website, "an online community of military children (ages 6-17 yr old) that provides access to age-appropriate resources to support children from pre-deployment, through a parent's or caregiver's return. MKC offers informative activities, fun games, helpful videos, and interesting user surveys that can guild and reinforce understanding, resilience, and coping skills in military children and their peers."

Military Spouse Career Center: A site that helps military spouses find jobs.

National Center for PTSD: The mission of this program, which is within the Department of Veteran Affairs, is "to advance the clinical care and social welfare of America's veterans through research, education, and training in the science, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD and stress-related disorders."

National Coalition for Homeless Veterans: "The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV)...is the resource and technical assistance center for a national network of community-based service providers and local, state and federal agencies that provide emergency and supportive housing, food, health services, job training and placement assistance, legal aid and case management support for hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans each year."

National Military Family Association: Among this organization's primary purposes is "to educate military families concerning their rights, benefits and services available to them and to inform them regarding the issues that affect their lives."

National Personnel Records Center--Military Personnel Records: "This site is provided for those seeking information regarding military personnel, health and medical records stored at NPRC (MPR). If you are a veteran or next-of-kin of a deceased veteran, you may now use vetrecs.archives.gov to order a copy of your military records. For all others, your request is best made using a Standard Form 180. It includes complete instructions for preparing and submitting requests."

Operation Family Fund: This program provides "financial grants for immediate or long-term needs to the Families of soldiers who have been killed or severely disabled as part of the world wide war on terrorism."

Operation Military Support: This program receives "names of military personnel that are not receiving mail or packages from home and assigns them a volunteer who wants to write and send packages to them."

Operation Uplink: This program "keeps military personnel and hospitalized veterans in touch with their families and loved ones by providing them with a free phone card."

Project Welcome Home Troops: This project "aims to address the intense distress some returning veterans experience.... A resilience-building program specifically designed to address the needs of returning combat veterans."

Returning Veterans Project: Their website notes that "Returning Veterans Project is a nonprofit organization comprised of politically unaffiliated and independent health care practitioners who offer free and confidential services to returning veterans and service members of the current Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns and their families. Services are available in Oregon and Southwest Washington."

Seamless Transition: This Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) web site provides resources for Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve service members who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. It includes a locator for the local V.A. hospital.

SOFAR: Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists: "a pro bono mental health project that provides free psychological support, psychotherapy, psychoeducation and prevention services to extended family of reserve and national guard deployed during the Global War on Terrorism from time of alert through the period of reunion and reintegration."

Soldiers Project: "The Soldiers Project is a private, non-profit, independent group of volunteer licensed mental health professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, registered nurses and marriage and family therapists. We provide free counseling and support to military service members who have served or who expect to serve in the Iraq and/or Afghanistan conflicts and to veterans of those conflicts. We see active duty as well as members of activated Reserve or Guard units. In addition, our services are available to the families and other loved ones of service members. We provide help to service members and families struggling with issues related to the overwhelming trauma of war including the cycle from pre-deployment to deployment to homecoming and re-entry to civilian life. Our services are readily accessible and entirely free of charge. We do not report to any government agency."

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors: "a national non-profit organization made up of, and providing services to, all those who have lost a loved one while serving in the Armed Forces. The heart of TAPS is our national military survivor peer support network. We also offer grief counseling referral, case worker assistance and crisis information, all available to help families and military personnel cope and recover. We provide these services 24 hours a day free of charge."

Triwest Healthcare Alliance Behavioral Health Resources [at the site, choose "Behavioral Health"]: This site offers "practice guidelines, assessment tools, and a number of other resources to help you assist patients experiencing depression, stress, PTSD, substance use disorders and more. From locating a specialty provider to supporting a family managing a diagnosis..."

U.S. Army Suicide Prevention Program: This U.S. Army site provides a wide variety of information and resources for suicide prevention.

VeteranEmployment.com: "In partnership with Monster.com, veterans, active duty, guard and reserve can search for thousands of jobs for veterans from employers who value military experience. Plus a special section for security clearance jobs."

Veterans Law Library: "A Comprehensive Collection of Materials Relating to the Veterans Benefits Adjudication Process."

Vets4Vets: "Our primary goal is to help Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans understand the value of peer support and to regularly use peer support to express their emotions, manage their challenges and ease their reintegration into society. Our vision is that anytime a veteran needs to talk with someone who really understands, a local Vets4Vets peer support group is available at no cost. We envision Vets4Vets being a common name in the minds of all veterans as a place where they, and their comrades, can go to heal."

Virtual Naval Library: This site is a digital collection of naval medicine and military medicine texts.

Warrior Canine Connection: This program "serves four vital military missions: (1) Provide Service Members and Veterans with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) the opportunity to be part of a critical military-support mission helping fellow Wounded Warriors. (2) Offer a safe, effective, and inexpensive non-pharmaceutical therapeutic intervention for the treatment of PTSD. (3) Provide highly skilled service dogs that will provide years of mobility and social support to Veterans with disabilities. (4) Strengthen the bonds and relieve stress in military families."

White House Office of Homeland Security: This executive office, according to the president, "will lead a comprehensive and unified effort to defend this nation. The Department will analyze threats; guard our borders and airports; safeguard critical infrastructure and coordinate the response of our nation to future emergencies."

This page is a work in progress.

Last updated September 20, 2022.

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