Counseling today's veterans: a program and its implications

The need for improved counseling and guidance services has emerged as one of the most crucial aspects in the myriad of problems faced by the Vietnam war era veteran. This article focuses on the interagency overseas counseling thrust launched by the federal government in 1971 and designed to mitigate the debilitating effects of the civilian reentry crisis experienced by veterans. The overseas counseling program of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, operating in Europe, the Far East, and Vietnam, was organized and formerly administered by the author and is highlighted here because of its implications for counseling and guidance.     

Mind-Body Interaction and Supervenient Causation

The mind-body problem arises because of our status as double agents apparently en rapport both with the mental and with the physical. We think, desire, decide, plan, suffer passions, fall into moods, are subject to sensory experiences, ostensibly perceive, intend, reason, make believe, and so on. We also move, have a certain geographical position, a certain height and weight, and we are sometimes hit or cut or burned. In other words, human beings have both minds and bodies. What is the relation between these? Religion often tells us that we are really embodied souls released at death from our bodily prisons. Could this be right?     

The Family and the School: Utilizing Human Resources to Promote Learning

There is a continuing challenge in our complex society to bridge the gaps that exist between various subsystems. Only by overcoming segmentation can common problems be mutually addressed and the full resources of each subsystem be utilized in finding viable solutions. The project described here brings together members of the family with public school professional staff and a consultant from a family therapy unit. Each system learns from and about the others in an open, sharing environment. The processes of family therapy are utilized with the goals of reversing maladaptive school behavior of children and facilitating constructive interactions both between the family and the school and among school personnel.
The uniqueness in this effort lies in the treatment of the staff of a school as a live, dynamic, interacting system having some of the characteristics of a family. The need for mutual respect on the part of consultant and school personnel is documented. Defining and observing boundaries, clarifying roles and creating a non-critical atmosphere provide the security that permits and encourages individuals to share relevant material within agreed-upon parameters.
Changes in traditional practices have been achieved. School psychologists have taken on new roles while principals and staffs have learned new techniques and skills for relating to each other and for approaching family-based school learning problems. The non-blaming approach recognizes the child as a member of both a family and school organization. Bringing the family and the school together for dialogue and planning unburdens the child as a conveyor of information and values between the two systems. Thus far, there have been substantial benefits from the project to the schools, to the families, and to the body of professional knowledge from which we all learn and grow.