FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- A group of Soldiers and Civilian Employees from U.S. Army Medical Department Activity Fort Drum gathers at the Multipurpose Auditorium on Friday morning, settling into their seats for suicide prevention training. The course is something that they have taken before, and they prepare to watch a series of slides -- perhaps expecting the training event to be a repetition of the one they attended last year.
As the session begins, the lights are lowered and rock music begins to play. A video comes up on the screen -- one depicting both active-duty Soldiers and veterans struggling with a myriad of issues from depression and anxiety to homelessness and post-traumatic stress disorder. Statistics related to Soldier and veteran suicide rates flash on the screen as the music plays. As the video concludes, silence falls over those gathered.
This is how Katrina Kilmartin, Employee Assistance Program coordinator, begins a training session -- seeking to capture the audience's attention and provide new and different ways of presenting information and engaging the audience.
"I love to keep trainings interactive and varied every year -- I don't want to keep doing the same training," she said. "Not all training has to be 'death by PowerPoint.'"
EAP is a voluntary, confidential program that helps Employees (including management) work through various life challenges that may adversely affect job performance, health and personal well-being to optimize an organization's success. EAP services include assessments, counseling and referrals for additional services to Employees with personal and/or work-related concerns, such as stress, financial issues, legal issues, family problems, office conflicts, and alcohol and substance abuse. EAP is directed by the installation Army Substance Abuse Program.
When leading training for Employees, Kilmartin, a former teacher with a master's degree in counseling, employs tools she learned while teaching high school American Sign Language.
"I love to engage the audience -- whether it's with humor, football references, videos -- something that they can connect with," she said. "What makes me excited about training is to take a crowd that may not come into a session excited or motivated to really pay attention, and knowing -- by the end -- that they have taken something away."
This approach to educating members of the Fort Drum community on important subjects has been a great benefit to the overall readiness of those living and working on the installation, said Lori Starr, Army Substance Abuse Program manager.
"She is continually finding new ways to present information," she said. "She takes generic presentations and turns them into an interactive platform. She also surveys the people she is providing support to. She's always asking them 'am I giving you what you need? Is there something that's still missing?' She has been a great asset to the program."
Teaching sessions on subjects ranging from substance abuse to Sexual Harassment / Assault Response and Prevention to workplace violence is just one of many roles that Kilmartin plays in educating and supporting those who live and work on the installation. She also tailors trainings and presentations to address topics of concern within the civilian sector.
"Supervisors often reach out to me when they have specific challenges within their office," she said. "It might be a problem with attendance or perhaps co-workers aren't communicating well with one another. My job is to help address those specific issues -- without singling people out -- and help bring people back on the same page."
Over the past year, Kilmartin's goal has been to spread awareness of the many ways in which the EAP can help Civilians across post. This begins, she said, with providing more information about who the program really serves and the many resources that it can provide.
"Sometimes when people hear Employee Assistance Program, they automatically assume that assistance is limited to Civilian Employees," she said. "I serve everybody but active-duty Soldiers, contractors and minors. If you're a government Employee, an adult family member of a government Employee, a retiree or one of his or her adult family members, or an adult Family Member of an active-duty Soldier, my role is to provide support for you."
Kilmartin provides one-on-one assistance to these individuals. As a neutral party, her role is to listen and to assist individuals in brainstorming solutions to their challenges.
"It's about looking at things from a different, fresh perspective," she said. "Sometimes people don't feel like there are options for change, and that is where I really thrive -- letting people know that there are lots of ways to tackle a problem."
For every individual who attends one of her training sessions or walks through the door of her office looking for help, Kilmartin has one goal in mind.
"A lot of times, people see the barriers in their lives as doom and gloom," she said. "Sometimes if they take a step back, they can see the opportunity that these struggles provide. People can learn to embrace their challenges and find that there are benefits that can be found outside their comfort zone."
Kilmartin recognizes that, sometimes, simply changing one's perspective is not enough to resolve a challenge. In such cases, she refers individuals to on- and off-post organizations that are better trained in addressing their concerns.
"Developing relationships with post and community providers and really knowing all the programs and how they can best help people in various ways is an important role of the EAP," she said. "That's where the rubber meets the road -- individually helping people."
When it comes to Civilian Employees, Kilmartin stressed the fact that she is here to address more than just work-related issues.
"People have lives, and the stress in their lives can mingle with their effectiveness at work," she said. "It's not easy to check things at the door and be your normal, productive, focused self. My job is to help minimize the impacts and help people to thrive in their life at home and at work."
Stress and anger, Kilmartin said, are two of the largest challenges cited by those who seek help through the EAP.
"Stress and anger management are just about people's ability to deal with conflict and have a good work / life balance," she said. "Everybody knows that we are doing more with less, and that can be difficult. Sometimes people aren't even aware of how much that stress is affecting them, but it's a tone that runs through the Army."
Kilmartin said in a dedicated workforce -- like the one that exists on Fort Drum -- Employees are often so busy trying to manage their workload and take care of the Soldiers that they forget to take care of themselves.
Likewise, Family Members within the Fort Drum community can experience stress-related issues while trying to balance their home lives with the challenges of supporting active-duty service members. Often, the "Soldier on" mentality is one that nonmilitary personnel adopt.
Even when they do begin to recognize the warning signs of stress-related challenges, sometimes individuals are reluctant to seek out assistance, Kilmartin said, but getting help at the first indication of a problem is extremely important.
"I love when people come to see me before there's a crisis or an incident," she said. "I like to use the example of cars and maintenance. It's a lot easier to handle a problem when the 'check engine' light first comes on -- when those symptoms of stress start to build -- than it is when it has become an emergency. It's much easier and much more manageable to handle problems as they come."
Starr said that many times people do not realize that while Kilmartin's job is not directly related to serving active-duty service members, she plays a major role in ensuring their well-being by supporting those who interact with them on a daily basis.
"Almost everything we do in ASAP is Soldier-centered -- ensuring the readiness of the Soldier population is our mission," Starr said. "Katrina does a really good job of making people realize that if our Civilians, Family Members and retirees aren't in the best of places, they cannot fully provide the support that's needed by these Soldiers."
Kilmartin said that all of these individuals support the mission every day -- whether they realize it or not.
"I like to think of the installation as a big machine with a lot of cogs," she said. "Even though we may not be the top cog -- doing training and then going into a combat situation -- all of the other cogs turning smoothly create the ability for the entire force to work.
"I love being just a little grease on the wheel of a cog that to help that bigger machine function well."
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