Gay Mental Healthcare Providers and Patients in the Military (eBook) von Elspeth Cameron Ritchie

Introduction.- Risk and Resilience: A Review of the Health Literature of Veterans Who Identify as LGBT.- I Can Finally Be MeWhy Did It Take So Long? A History of U.S. Military Policy Regarding Sexual and Gender Minority Service.- The Reservist Perspective:  Service Before and During Dont Ask, Dont Tell.- Being Discharged Under Dont Ask, Dont Tell.- A Gay Psychologist's Account of Serving in the Army Reserves and National Guard During Dont Ask, Dont Tell.- Does Anybody Have Anything They Want to Say?.- Family.- Here/Queer/Used to It: An Account of a Post-Dont Ask, Dont Tell Mental Health Provider.- Ward 52:  A Haven for HIV Positive Military Personnel.- Creating Safe Spaces: Best Practices for Clinicians Working with Sexual and Gender.- Military Service Members and Veterans.- Treating LGBT Veterans with Substance Use DisordersA Gay Psychiatrists Experience.- At Least Shipmate is a Gender-Neutral Insult A Military Psychiatrists Introduction to Transgender MilitaryService.- Ethical Issues Regarding LGBT and Intersex Service Members.

This volume tells the history of homosexuality in the United States military beginning in 1986, when the issue first came to the forefront of social consciousness. Each chapter is written through the eyes of gay mental healthcare providers, covering how to steadily adapt and learn to treat veterans struggling with the traumas associated with the stigma of homosexuality in service. Topics include the Dont-Ask-Dont-Tell (DADT) policy, its repeal in 2011, and addresses the current trends and challenges. Unlike any other professional book, this text includes the personal stories of gay military mental healthcare providers, as well as gay civilian clinicians who have worked with the military population in various segments in history. These accounts offer invaluable support for medical professionals working with this demographic. Chapters cover the various psychological damage service personnel encounter as it uniquely pertains to those struggling with the stigma of LGBTQ rights. Chapters include clinical pearls for particular psychiatric concerns, lessons learned for the future, and hard-earned successes as stigmas and perceptions evolved over time.

Gay Mental Healthcare Providers and Patients in the Military is an excellent resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, policymakers, and all professionals who are interested in LGBTQ rights in the context of veteran psychiatry.

COL (Ret) Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, MD, MPH
Chief, Mental Health Community Based Outpatient Clinics
Washington DC VA
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry George Washington University School of Medicine
Professor of Psychiatry Howard University College of Medicine
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine
Professor of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS)

Joseph E Wise, MD
Major, Medical Corps, US Army
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Bethesda, MD, USA

Bryan Pyle, MSW
Department of Social Work
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
US Navy
Bethesda, MD, USA