Healing Our Heroes

At Seafield, these words, "Thank you for your service," have great meaning. Seafield is Veteran owned and operated and has a long, proud history of providing substance abuse treatment to those who have served and to those who continue to serve us.

The Need

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is higher in our veteran population than in the general public. Currently, in the United States of America, over 11% of our veterans struggle with SUD—that’s over 900,000 veterans in a given year. Currently, 70% of homeless veterans have a substance use disorder diagnosis (NIDA), and 63% of OEF/OIF veterans diagnosed with SUD also met the criteria for PTSD.

Contributing Factors and Barriers

There are many factors that contribute to these statistics. Issues like PTSD, chronic pain, anxiety, and depression are some of the areas that add to our Veterans using alcohol and other substances. Stigma and the culture of self-reliance—where asking for help or discussing issues with friends or family can be felt as a sign of weakness—add to this struggle. Post-deployment reintegration challenges also increase the use of alcohol and other substances. These are only some of the barriers that have made it more difficult for our veterans to ask for help.

Seafield’s Uniformed Service Members Program

At Seafield, our Uniformed Service Members Program uses a client-centered motivational approach to address the needs of our members. Seafield also incorporates brain-body relaxation techniques such as acupuncture, meditation, exercise, and mindfulness, while using trauma-informed care, DBT, and peer support groups.

Peer support groups are led by both counselors and former military members. We work together in reducing the stigmas by normalizing the veterans' issues in a supportive, sensitive manner. The military peer staff hold groups and are able to share their experiences, allowing members to feel more relaxed, not alone, and able to share their experiences in a safe, supportive setting.

We work on changing the narrative from "What’s wrong with me?" to "What’s happened to me?" We focus on detailed symptom identification and understanding the impact of trauma and substance use on the body and brain, as well as identifying and using safe, sober coping skills.

Knowing this is just the beginning of the healing journey, we provide the member with a host of referrals and veteran support groups to continue the healing process.

No-one left behind.

Thank you for your service.