The CHANGED Program Best Practice Guide.
Training for Processionals Supporting Military Veterans
The CHANGED Program and Best Practice Guide is informed by research, psychology, and extensive clinical experience working with military veteran communities. It focuses on the long term impacts of service, deployment, and the often complex transition from military life to civilian life. Evidence shows that this transition is non-linear and multidimensional, affecting wellbeing, identity, family relationships, communication, and community participation.
This guide integrates research with practical psychological and psychosocial strategies to support professionals in clinical, educational, health, and community settings. Core sections include: understanding military rank, structure, and culture; the deployment cycle; emotional and interpersonal stressors; transition to civilian life; and fostering resilience. Special attention is given to trauma, moral injury, identity transition, and communication challenges veterans may experience in civilian systems.
Understanding Veterans’ Experiences
The first step in providing effective support is understanding the veteran mindset. Military service involves a highly structured, disciplined environment, where individuals develop a strong sense of duty and emotional control. For many, this becomes a core part of their identity. Transitioning to civilian life can be disorienting and emotionally challenging. Veterans may struggle to relate to those without similar experiences, making it harder to trust care providers. Many also face psychological and emotional challenges, including PTSD, trauma, anxiety, depression, and reintegration difficulties. This is why support must be both skilled and empathetic, grounded in an understanding of military culture and experiences.
Enhancing Engagement and Building Trust
A strong, trusting relationship is the foundation for all effective interventions. Professionals can enhance engagement by:
Acknowledging Military Culture: Recognise the values of camaraderie, duty, and hierarchy. Respecting these experiences helps veterans feel understood and valued.
Communicating Clearly and Empathetically: Veterans may feel alienated by civilian language or care systems. Using language that resonates with their experience, and meeting them where they are emotionally, builds connection and trust. The training provides the LVC-FRAC Model of communication developed by the programme developer over many years working with military communities.
Encouraging Support Seeking: Military culture often prizes self reliance, making help seeking feel like weakness. Professionals should normalise and encourage asking for support as a sign of strength.
Providing Trauma Informed Care: Many veterans have experienced trauma. Care should emphasise safety, trust, choice, collaboration, and empowerment to avoid re-traumatization and build a therapeutic relationship.
Integrating the Guide into Care Plans
The Best Practice Guide can be integrated into individual care plans. Following an assessment, professionals can use sections of the guide to provide targeted, evidence based interventions tailored to each veteran’s unique circumstances. This approach ensures support is relevant, effective, and responsive to the veteran’s history, emotional state, and readiness to engage.
Fostering Long-Term Therapeutic Relationships
Maintaining engagement is often challenging. Veterans may initially seek help but struggle with mistrust, alienation, or complex emotional challenges or civilian language. Using the guide helps professionals build long term, trusting relationships. Key strategies include:
- Consistency in Support: Regular, predictable interactions build trust and stability.
- Strengths Based Approach: Focus on the resilience and skills veterans have developed through service.
- Respect for Autonomy: Empower veterans to make choices about their care and treatment.
Conclusion
The CHANGED Program: Best Practice Guide is an essential resource for professionals supporting veterans. By understanding the unique experiences of military life, adopting empathetic communication, and integrating evidence based strategies, professionals can foster trust, enhance engagement, and improve outcomes. Veterans and their families can feel understood, respected, and supported as they navigate the transition from military service to civilian life. With the right tools and approach, we can ensure that those who have served receive the care and support they deserve.