Veteran Couple Find New Coping Skills Together with Wounded Warrior Project
THE FORKS, Maine, June 7, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Warrior couples from across the nation recently attended a Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) mental health workshop at an outdoor recrational facility in The Forks, Maine. These gatherings are often the first time warriors leave their homes to connect with others in their communities.
"My previous individual experience with Wounded Warrior Project's mental health workshop changed my life, and I wanted me and my girlfriend, Elizabeth, to experience one as a couple," said U.S. Army and Army Reserve combat veteran Edwin Medina from Jacksonville, Florida. "We have a great relationship, but every relationship can only get better when you understand each other on deeper grounds."
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. WWP and its supporters believe warriors already paid their dues on the battlefield.
One 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 and share their combat experiences. By the end, warriors share lessons learned from the activities that impacted their personal struggles most and set achievable goals for their recoveries.
WWP staff use local activities in a recovery model that allows warriors to be vulnerable to the unknown and identify and work through anxieties together. As warriors brave the different challenges and couples activities, they are actively honoring the oaths they agreed to at the beginning of the workshop, including "communicate," "be patient," and "support each other in hard times."
"Before this workshop, Elizabeth had no idea how to help me cope when I am struggling with something," Edwin said. "Each activity tested our communication, but we were in a safe environment to learn better coping skills to support each other. Now she is able to help me adjust with any issues I'm having with my recovery. It's made us a lot stronger."
To learn and see more about how WWP's mental health workshops connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit https://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/, and click on multimedia.
About Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/mission.
SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project