Psychological counseling for veterans.

Hi,

First, I apologize if this is in the wrong place.  I wasn't quite certain where to put it.

I'm working toward getting my master's/Ph.D. in psychology over in the UK.  It would actually be cheaper and faster over there versus the U.S. based on what I have read at various school websites.

What I want to do is research and/or counseling for veterans suffering from PTSD or other issues.  Would this be possible in the UK? Alternately, would anyone know someone I could contact to find this out?

Thanks very much. 

Don't know whether there is any one place you could contact. You could try  the Ministry of Defence directly  through formal channels, although the establishment prefer to hide the casualties of war, and might not be very helpful.

For older veterans: WW2, Palestine, Korea, Malaysia , Cyprus, Suez, Northern Ireland, Falklands, Gulf 1 and 2, plus numerous post 1945 colonial insurgencies you could contact the Royal British Legion, who through their branch network, will have members from all those conflicts. There is  SSAFA( Soldiers, Sailors, AirForce Association) which is the welfare organisation for all branches of the forces. There are also  the RAF Benevolent Fund, Royal Navy Benevolent Fund and the Army Benevolent Fund.

Contacting Simon Weston at Simon Weston.com might be useful. He was seriously burnt in the Falklands War, and has been extremely active ever since campaigning on ex servicemans issues.

If you want  more recent cases Gulf 1, 2 and Afghanistan, you could stick something on the  informal blog of the British Army:  ARSSE at www.arsse.co.uk.

There are also dedicated PTSD organisations such as www.ptsdresolution.org

Hope this helps

Sorry I put the wrong link for ARRSE it should be www.arrse.co.uk

Get a hold of Combat Stress - they're the main service charity for this sort of thing, and have been going since the end of WW1.

  Hi, thanks to everyone who replied.  I've been busy writing a review of a paper on PTSD and veterans, so my apologies for not sending a thank you earlier.

Hi,
You will be doing your research at an interesting time. There are different charities / groups with differing emphasis. For example, Combat Stress has been around for a long time and follows the standard evidenced-based protocols that are favoured within the National Health Service. One might say that they follow the 'top down', positivist, theory-driven model. There are other charities, and PTSD Resolution is one of many, who follow the 'bottom up', relativist, practice-driven model. Perhaps your research might compare the two approaches. It is an area that I have been exploring within the NHS (that was my Master's, and I know a couple of people who have studied veteran's mental health for theirs) and I think it would be fascinating to see what you find out comparing different groups. Please let me know if I can be of further help. I would be happy to pass you my contact info for further details but would prefer to do it privately.