Week 7 (4/23-4/29): Discharges And Updates

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my senior project blog! For this week’s post I will be providing an update about the patients that I am working with.

Patient 4

This patient is being discharged this week and talked about her overall experiences in the program. This is her third program but her prior programs have been active duty and civilian programs, and she mentioned that having the veteran to veteran interaction in this program is something she valued. She mentioned that she feels like she is able to advocate her feelings and needs a lot better, something that she finds to be extremely important. She also talked about how in this program, there is an emphasis on improvements along with a lot of reinforcement behind all the tools that she has learned. She has found that she has a lot more self-compassion and feels close to achieving her goal of sobriety. She also talked about how having options in the program as well as working on her PTSD was one of the biggest things that helped her. When admitted into the program, she had discussed getting back into her spirituality. She said that now she has been praying, writing a grateful journal, and journaling Buddhist quotes as she wishes to explore religious intersections rather than just keeping with one religion. She will be continuing rehab at a different VA in another residential program.

Patient 5

This patient talked about how he is feeling a lot better about his recovery and is trying to stay positive about being sober. He talked about his plans to go into school after leaving the program. He mentioned that having groups that were with other veterans as well as going to AA meetings have really helped him. His goal for next week is to figure out more outpatient programs for substance abuse so he can continue his current progress and remain sober.

Patient 6

This patient talked about how this was her first full day going to all the groups. She mentioned that she is now feeling a lot better, as during most of her first week in the program she was experiencing withdrawal. She feels like she is a lot more present now. Her goal for the next week is to apply for housing as well as disability compensation. 

Thank you for reading!