Counselors Helping Service Veterans Re-Enter Their Couple Relationship After Combat and Military Services: A Comprehensive Overview

This article provides an overview of the unique challenges combat service veterans deployed in Afghanistan and/or Iraq are dealing with today, and how these challenges can impact veterans’ reintegration into civilian life. Focus is also given to attachment; more specifically how the attachment bond between the combat service veteran and his or her spouse/partner often is impacted by the trauma of combat re-deployment/deployment/separation. The importance of couple counseling using Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is addressed, as is a careful assessment at the onset of counseling.