Psychosocial Debriefing after Operation Desert Storm: Marital and Family Assessment and Intervention

This article provides an overview of and initial empirical findings from a preventive clinical/educational model for psychosocial assessment and intervention with the families of Operation Desert Storm (ODS) veterans. Interview and questionnaire data were obtained (a) 2-6 months after demobilization from ODS from veteran/veteran or veteran/civilian spouse couples who received conjoint time-limited therapy and veterans from the same Reserve and National Guard Units who received one-to-one time-limited therapy and (b) 12-15 months after demobilization from veterans deployed during ODS with the same military units. Principal findings are as follows: (1) the trauma and strain of war-zone military service, family separation, and subsequent family and community readjustment rake a toll on a significant minority of ODS veterans and their families that is directly related to the stress symptomatology experienced by the veteran; and (2) with timely psychosocial intervention-based on life-span developmental and self-psychology, family systems theory, and a communitarian social integration model-veterans and families in distress are able to substantially resolve symptoms of psychosocial malfunctioning and even begin to accrue personal and systemic benefits from their ODS stresser experiences.