At Cottonwood, we recognize the unique behavioral health and addiction issues that Veterans experience. While depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and addiction rates have climbed in recent years for this population, many Veterans avoid seeking help because they don’t think treatment providers understand their experiences.
Cottonwood Tucson is honored to partner with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Community Care Network, and PsychArmor as a Veteran-Ready program. Our staff has been trained to provide a culturally-competent and trauma-informed environment in which each person can heal.
Our commitment to providing quality care to Veterans is evidenced by the variety of treatment modalities we offer. Our multidisciplinary team develops an individualized treatment plan based on each client’s needs, with program options that may include:
After high school, Jesse was uncertain what he wanted to do in life and decided to take a factory job in the small town where he grew up. After a few years of being unsatisfied with the direction his life was heading, the decision was made to join the Marine Corps.
After 22 years of service, Jesse retired from the Marine Corps and began his journey of becoming a clinician in order to fulfill his new passion of helping other people, particularly helping those who have served. His personal and professional life challenges have provided him with the skills to listen, assess, and provide guidance to change the quality of life for the people he works with. As a Veteran himself, he is very familiar with the struggles endured while serving our country as well as the challenges our Veterans encounter before and after they leave the service. Through working as a Disabled Veteran Outreach Specialist with the Department of Economic Security, he developed a strong network of support for Veterans. This experience also allowed Jesse to develop a better understanding of the struggles that prevent our veterans from identifying who they are, and who they want to be in their life now that they are no longer in the military. Jesse is a key element to our Veteran’s Services at Cottonwood.
As Veterans, we have many similarities based off of our military experience. Being a Veteran myself, it is easy for me to relate to their struggles. I know exactly what it’s like to feel frustrated and uncertain about life and all its challenges. It’s not only my military experience that makes leading groups so rewarding, but it is also the fact that I have experienced many of the same struggles in life prior to joining the military. It motivates me to listen to their stories and helps me to better understand how I can be of assistance to them. Working with other clients isn’t much different, we all have our own individual story of trials and tribulations that have made us who and what we are today. Veteran or non-Veteran, we all experience similar life experiences that can make life complicated, and helping people navigate through those complicated challenges is an incredible honor.
When I receive Veterans in our program, I utilize as many different modalities of treatment as I can get them exposed with. I want them to experience and sample everything we have to offer so that when they return to their home environments, they know what to look for to continue maintaining their newfound quality of life. I utilize a lot of DBT/CBT, EMDR, Reiki, Neuro Affective Relational Model(NARM), Equine Therapy, and run multiple different groups focused on SUD/Addiction Recovery.
Here at Cottonwood, our Veterans are provided a level of care that is very unfamiliar to what they have experienced in the past. Many of our Veterans have yet to participate in a program that is as individualized and designed specifically to meet their needs. Here at Cottonwood, our Veterans receive a treatment plan providing them insight and opportunity to heal and develop a better sense of self. Additionally, they are given the confidence to change their mindset from feeling hopeless to feeling able to accomplish whatever they want to accomplish in life. I believe that SUD impacts a large majority of our Veteran population, and so does mental health. Cottonwood’s ability to address multiple issues simultaneously is the best I’ve ever seen. As Veterans, there can be a gap when transitioning back into society. This gap often creates space to allow these issues, SUD and mental health, to grow. Because of this, many Veterans struggle to develop a sense of self or find a purpose in life and, unfortunately, this can result in financial hardship, loss of relationships, suicide, SUD, and increased mental health complications. Cottonwood provides a safe space for Veterans, one in which their unique struggles are not just understood but are addressed during their treatment process.
