 SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- The military is taking a new approach to helping families cope with the stress of wartime deployments.
A new pilot program, created by researchers at UCLA, is designed for families to help themselves during the often long and stressful times that family members experience when they are separated by multiple deployments.
“The heart of the focus program is the families build a narrative together about the different experiences that each of them have gone through,” said Dr. Patricia Lester, a Professor of Psychology at UCLA.
The series of counseling sessions teaches family members to talk about what it's like to fight in a war and what it's like for those left behind at home. In each session, the participants learn how to manage their emotions and work together to handle the challenges that long deployments can produce.
“I don’t know if prevents the stress of deployment, but it helps families have skills to manage the stress of deployment,” said Lester. “I think the military is trying to be proactive in trying to integrate this into their system of care.”
The program will be offered at nine different military bases, four of which will be located in Southern California.
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KCBS' Patti Reising reports
