Xposted at LeftFace.
I'm interested in hearing from my readers - have you ever used one of the counselors provided by either TriCare, Military OneSource, ACS - any of them? I had a lousy experience, during the Guard deployment, and spent most of my time explaining what the military is like, what deployment is like, translating terms! It drove me nuts, didn't help much either.... I've heard other stories, but I really want to know what YOU guys have experienced.
LAW
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8 comments:
I have not personally, but one of my friends from the Guard explored counseling for one of her children during our last deployment. She was left with the same situation - a counselor who had absolutely no clue what deployment meant to a 10 year old boy. She went through Military One Source.
i had a decent experience with one counselor I was referred to through Military One Source. The counselor my husband was sent to (she actually worked ON post) was absolutely useless. She actually made accelerated his panic attacks because she made him much more aware of them, told him he had a phobia, and gave him no tools to deal with it aside from "toughing it out"
Yes, ditto to what you said about them. In addition, I had the pleasure of having seen this person multiple times and she kept calling me by some other patient's name (I assume). That was the end of that.
I have seen a civi not thru Tricare who, although she doesn't know the lingo, does try to help when I need it. At least she knew my name.
WAY back when we both went to one on base, which I think was required before we could see one in town? It was basically a "make the military member happy" thing. Which was annoying, frustrating and fixed nothing.
My counselor in town? LOVED her. And she knew military terms so no issues there.
Yes, I've used counseling through Tricare. I was referred to a civilian counselor off-post, and I loved it! I did have to explain some terms, but it didn't detract from what we were talking about. My biggest complaint was that Tricare (rather than the actual counselor) decided when I was done seeing a counselor. That pissed me off.
I currently see one (husband and I wanted to work through issues before deployment). She is civilian, familiar with the military-at least the Navy since we are in San Diego- and is pretty awesome. Found her through Military OneSource if anyone wants her name to visit a counselor.
We have used Military One Source to help us find a counselor...I think three separate times - once for me, once as a couple, and once for him. I'm nowhere near a post, so everyone we see is civilian and, quite frankly, our choices were super duper limited. There were 3 counselors in one practice in our town who would accept our referral. I never felt like they "got" me and what my issues were/are. I understand that using Military One Source there can't be a forever ongoing type situation, but I felt really rushed and left feeling like we didn't accomplish what was needed. We couldn't go back unless we paid out of pocket.
I certainly don't blame Military One Source for the lousy experience as they only have a small pool to pull from. I wish it could be more, but I'm grateful for what what we did get. Too many counselors in our area won't accept Tricare b/c they say the only reimbursement lower is that of Medicaid and Medicare. Makes my heart hurt b/c people need help and it seems there is no one wanting to help them as there's not enough money in it. *sigh*
We went to one for marital counseling...which was a bust, not because the counselor was bad, etc., but because the Huz wasn't ready to work on the issues yet (and the fact that we really weren't a good match).
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