Women Warriors Find Support at Tampa Mental Health Workshop

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Women veterans recently attended an all-female Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) mental health workshop in Tampa, Florida. The week kicked off with team building exercises. Throughout the five-day experiential learning event, warriors committed to personal goals they'll focus on for six months after the workshop.

"My daughter told me about Wounded Warrior Project after seeing it on TV," said Sherry Wattier Booth, U.S. Army National Guard injured veteran. "For female veterans, these mental health workshops afford us an opportunity to recreate strong bonds with ladies of similar backgrounds and struggles. It's important to have that level of understanding and support when you face significant challenges in life after service. Suddenly, you're not alone."

Through the generous support of donors, WWP offers veterans specialized mental health programs and services – tailored to each warrior's specific needs and free of charge. One such program is its multi-day mental health workshops that are offered as all-male, all-female, or all-couples. These workshops provide safe, private environments for warriors to express themselves. By the end, warriors share lessons learned from the activities that impacted their personal struggles most.

WWP staff use experiential, physical activities in a recovery model that allows warriors to be vulnerable to the unknown and identify and work through anxieties together. As warriors challenge themselves through outdoor team building activities that include an intense high climbing obstacle course, they actively honor oaths they agreed to at the beginning of the workshop, including "trusting the process" and "being present in their recovery."

"You come face to face with the same things you struggle to cope with in your everyday life," Sherry said. "Being around people that I didn't know was difficult for me, but I realized I wasn't the only one with social anxieties. As time passed, I learned to let some of my walls down. These ladies became like family to me, and now I have support where I didn't before I came. I think every female wounded warrior can walk away from this workshop with a life-changing gift."

To learn and see more about how WWP's mental health workshops connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/, and click on multimedia.

About Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/about-us.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project