By Jeff Troth, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity -- Fort Carson PAO
FORT CARSON, Colo. -- From day one, new Soldiers in the Army are taught to act as a team. They get a battle buddy and look after each other. At weapon ranges, Soldiers are told that everyone is a safety officer and is responsible for looking for unsafe acts.
Everyone being a safety is not only true at the range or on the battlefield, but also in everyday life. If a Soldier's battle buddy is struggling with life, help is available.
"Coming in to receive help with whatever they are struggling with is the right decision, especially if that struggle is drugs or alcohol," said Vanessa Harris, clinical director for Evans Army Community Hospital's Substance Use Disorder Clinical Care (SUDCC). "If someone with a substance abuse problem doesn't get assistance early, the likelihood is very high their issues will snowball, and in five years they will have a bigger problem."
Harris said a Soldier who realizes he has a substance abuse issue can go to any of the behavioral health clinics on Fort Carson to initiate a self-referral. The process includes filling out a referral form that requires his leadership's signatures.
Last year, the Department of the Army ended the Confidential Alcohol Treatment and Education Program, (CATEP), a pilot program that kept unit leadership out of the treatment process for Soldiers who self-referred for substance abuse. With CATEP, which began at Fort Carson in August 2010, a Soldier who felt he was abusing alcohol or had an alcohol-related problem could attend counseling sessions in the evening.
Soldiers now attend classes during duty hours and unit leadership is involved.
"SUDCC is a readiness program, and readiness of the unit and Soldiers are the responsibility of the commander," Harris said. "So it is the unit commander's duty and responsibility to encourage his Soldiers to seek treatment for their wellness and readiness."
When a Soldier self-refers to SUDCC, he is screened and assessed prior to a team meeting with a counselor and his chain of command. At the meeting, the recommended treatment for the Soldier is discussed and agreed on by all involved.
"There is no cookie-cutter treatment that fits all Soldiers," said Harris. "We offer a multitude of groups and individual counseling sessions. We also invite the spouse of the identified patient to attend the sessions, because to stop substance abuse normally calls for changes in the home."
Harris said she and her staff were unsure how the number of self-referrals would be affected when CATEP ended, but the amount of Soldiers seeking self-referrals is roughly the same as last year.
"I am glad we still have Soldiers who self-identify and go to their supervisor and say, 'Hey I am struggling with this and need help,'" said Harris. "We are here to help them and would rather do it sooner than later. Getting in trouble because of a urinalysis is too late to self-refer."
Soldiers who want to self-refer for substance abuse can start the process by going to their brigade's embedded behavioral health team or the Mountain Post Behavioral Health Clinic in building 1830.
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