By Prudence L. Gourguechon on 8/21/2009 7:48 AM
A reporter from Clinical Psychiatry News had seen APsaA's Service Members and Veterans Initiative online and wanted to hear about what had led to our developing it. She was writing an article on The Soldier's Project, and wanted my comments. The Soldier's Project is a pro bono treatment service for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Several APsaA Members are deeply involved.
She was particularly intrigued and startled to encounter APsaA's position statement on Gays and Lesbians in the Military on our website. She thought our organization's putting this view forward was "bold" and "unusual" and noted that she hadn't encountered anything resembling this sensitivity to the experience of gays in the military in any other discussions of soldiers and veterans mental health needs.
I was intrigued by her next question, which was, essentially, why did you, the American Psychoanalytic Association, care enough about the issue to do such a thing. I'm not sure my answer was terribly articulate; I referred her to our entire set of position statements on gay and lesbian issues. But I was deeply moved, and proud of us. Inside, my answer was, we psychoanalysts understand human pain, its depths and subtleties, and we have much to say about it. |