Deployment Psychology: Evidence-Based Strategies to Promote Mental Health in the Military

The goal of this volume is to guide the field of military psychology in the development of evidence-based support for service members. Many psychological studies have described the mental health toll of combat as a warning about its cost in terms of human suffering. It is amazing that fewer studies have focused on evidence-based attempts to prevent mental health problems and enhance service member well-being and resilience. This volume is designed to fill this gap. The authors in this volume represent perspectives from clinical and research psychologists, physicians, and sociologists, and although the focus is largely the United States and primarily the army, international perspectives from the United Kingdom and Canada are included as well. The authors are a unique group of specialists who, as clinicians and researchers, are addressing the challenge of sustaining service member mental health. These authors share the goal of developing and implementing evidence-based interventions. Using the perspective of an occupational health model, the chapters in this volume emphasize the way in which the military organization can moderate the impact of combat on service member mental health through individual screening, training, peer support, leadership, and organizational policies. The chapters range from clinically based reflections on how to manage service member mental health during deployment to proposals for reconceptualizing service delivery, the role of peers, and what it means to transition home. This volume emphasizes what is known—and not known—about evidence-based approaches for early interventions and mental health resilience training conducted with service members. Throughout, the authors, all specialists in the field of military mental health, consider both the positive and negative impact that combat can have on service members and their families. The chapters also establish an agenda for research designed to support and promote the well-being of service members and their families.