Military Psychology Podcast Division 19

Join Air Force psychologists Drs. Ethan Bannar and Jeremy Jinkerson as they talk with Lt Col (Dr.) Mikel Merritt, the Air Force Psychology Consultant. As the "Consultant," Lt Col Merritt serves as the top psychologist in the Air Force, with responsibilities including guiding the assignment selection process, mentoring military psychologists, retaining talent, and advocating for Air Force psychologists inside and outside the military. The discussion ranges from the missions of Air Force and military psychology, to the Defense Health Agency's assumption of the military's medical mission, to embedding psychologists into operational units. Manning and retention are also discussed along with the reasons one might wish to become a military psychologist. Are you considering military service as a psychologist or already serving in one of our branches? Do you want to know more about Active Duty service for your practice with military or veterans? Then you'll want to listen to this episode.

On a podcast about military psychology, you’d bet we would talk a lot about psychological trauma...and you’d be correct. But what happens when a patient’s trauma comes from within their own body rather than an external threat? What if the traumatic event was something that the patient did not see? Do we still consider a diagnosis of PTSD? Are the treatments the same? On this episode, Dr. Sacha McBain shares her expertise diagnosing and treating medical trauma, traumatic experiences from medical events. Dr. McBain serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Trauma Prevention, Recovery, and Innovation at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). In this role, she has spearheaded implementation of screening, education, and brief intervention efforts within the Department of Surgery’s Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery to address the unique mental health needs of patients experiencing serious injury or acute illness. She also provides training and consultation to medical services around implementation of trauma-informed care practices, medical traumatic stress, and health care worker wellness initiatives designed to mitigate the impact of workplace trauma exposure. Her clinical interests include increasing access to care for patients, advocating for mental health resources in medical settings, and destigmatizing utilization of mental health engagement for patients and their families. Join podcast host, Dr. Ethan Bannar, and guest host, Dr. Brooke Long, as they welcome Dr. McBain to the Military Psychology Podcast to delve into the complex landscape that is medical trauma, discussing and defining the experience of medical trauma, the role of psychologists in health-related settings, challenges in the field, and prevention and intervention strategies for use in clinical settings!
 
Dr. McBain can be reached via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachamcbain/

Civilian mental health practitioners work more closely with active duty military service members than you might think. In fact, many military mental health provider’s rely on a civilian network of specialty mental health facilities to support service members in need of acute care. In this episode, Dr. Brooke Long shares her experience as a licensed clinical psychologist and trauma-therapy specialist working directly with Veteran and Active Duty service members on their road to recovery from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. We explore trauma therapy, cognitive processing therapy for PTSD, Veterans Affairs MH care, and discuss The Road Home program. Dr. Long discusses her clinical role and professional opinion about patient’s engaged in trauma treatment, benefits and risks, as well as barriers to recovery in this complex area of clinical practice. As an Early Career Psychologist, she shares what she has found to be most fruitful in her practice of psychotherapy with military populations. 

In this episode, we introduce our new team!  We welcome Drs. Jeremy Jinkerson, Keyia Carlton, Contessa Tracy, and Brooke Long to the Military Psychology Podcast team and discuss their interests in the field. During this episode you are likely to hear our team discussing potential topics for future episodes. Themes include trauma therapy, neuropsychology, sleep disorders, health psychology, diversity, women in military leadership positions, and much, much more. Our goal is to bring together diverse topics in military and civilian settings to deliver timely and evidence-based theory, science, and clinical practice of mental health practitioners in military settings. We look forward to having you as a guest as we re-ignite this project! 

In this episode, we discover the many phenomenal training opportunities within Army Psychology! Maybe you have considered pursuing the Army HPSP or you are currently serving and curious if pursuing a career-change to psychology is even possible. Spoiler alert, it absolutely is! We welcome CPT Contessa Tracy (USA) and CPT Thomas Ballas (USA) from the APA accredited internship program at Brooke Army Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio – Fort Sam Huston. These two talented interns share their training trajectory from graduate school practicum, internship applications, and completing a highly competitive internship program. They discuss various opportunities unique to Army Psychology and what it means to serve as an embedded mental health provider. We also open a unique conversation about supervising paraprofessional staff in the behavioral health field, an important factor of practicing psychology with active duty military units. Lastly, we touch on research opportunities as an Army Research Psychologist (71F).  
Want to get connected with our guests or have feedback, suggestions, or recommendations? Send us an email at div19studentrep@gmail.com or reach us on Facebook (fb.com/Div19Students ) or Twitter (@div19students).

Jillian C. Shipherd, Ph.D. is a clinical research psychologist, professor of psychiatry, and co-director for the Veterans Health Administration’s LGBT Health Program. With over 100 peer-reviewed publications and a book (!), Dr. Shipherd is a top scholar on the wellbeing of LGBTQ veterans. She’s dedicated her skills to improving the healthcare system to care for this unique population, and we discuss ways in which the DoD may build on the VA’s progress. Dr. Shipherd is the kind of person you want assigned to be on your team for a group project. She’s thorough, a wealth of knowledge, and walks the walk. If you’d rather listen to a conversation on LGBTQ wellbeing than read dozens of research papers, then this episode is for you!
Resources referenced in this episode:
Healthcare Equality Index 2020: https://www.hrc.org/resources/healthcare-equality-index
VA LGBT Health Program and LGBT Veteran Care Coordinators: https://www.patientcare.va.gov/lgbt/