DCoE Staff Gives Thanks During the Holidays

By Robyn Mincher, DCoE Strategic Communications

Our staff at Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) celebrated Thanksgiving in many ways. Some traveled out of town to be with friends and family, some stayed local to cook for those who couldn’t be with family, and a few enjoyed some much-deserved peace and solitude.

No matter where or how we spent the holiday, all of us are definitely thankful for one major thing: the chance to share with you – our readers! This month we introduced new resources for prevention, resilience and treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health concerns.

We talked about new gizmos and gadgets from National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2), like the PE Coach mobile app. Although it isn’t released to the public yet, it will help providers treat psychological health concerns of service members through prolonged exposure and help users self-monitor their behavior. We also blogged about the new T2 Technology Enhancement Center, a state-of-the-art usability lab that tests technology products to make sure they’re easy for service members to use.

Military children received a big “thank you!” (and a few high fives from their favorite characters from Sesame Street and The Electric Company) at the Sesame Workshop Military Family Event Nov. 5. New resources that encourage families to connect and communicate with each other, and have fun, were unveiled at the event. For an overview of the new website Military Families Near and Far and Feel Electric! mobile app, we provided 10 ways families can create, communicate and stay connected. Like our page on Facebook to check out our picture album of the event.

We appreciate the sacrifices our military families make, especially during holidays apart from loved ones. Our November webinar discussed how to cope with stress and stay connected during the holidays. Dr. Vladimir Nacev, DCoE, Resilience and Prevention directorate, was joined by Mary Campise, Defense Department, Office of Military Community and Family Policy, and Maggie MacFarland Phillips, Fort Hood Health Promotion. They discussed ways to mitigate emotional stress during the holidays and how families can connect despite being apart.

On Veterans Day, we thanked those who served our nation in a blog post by Navy Capt. Paul S. Hammer, DCoE director. In the post, he shared his thoughts on what the holiday means:

“When I think of Veterans Day, I think of service—service to country, service to my fellow sailors and Marines, as well as my colleagues throughout the military.”

Veterans Day was a topic in a DoDLive bloggers roundtable on Nov. 8, where Real Warriors Campaign Army veteran Maj. Ed Pulido was joined by Dr. Mark Bates, DCoE, Resilience and Prevention directorate director, and Army Maj. Todd Yosick, Resilience and Prevention directorate deputy director, to share information and resources available for those experiencing psychological and physical wounds of war.

While another Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is right around the corner, DCoE continues to appreciate our readers – and will continue supporting service members, veterans, families and providers during this holiday season.

Now it’s your turn - what are you thankful for?