In their article, Kick and McNitt (2016) discuss the importance of faith in providing help to the military members, veterans, and their families. The authors state that faith should be integrated from the stage of assessing a client in his or her specific environment. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the key mental disorder that requires studying how a person copes with anxiety, relationships problems, and whether he or she referred to faith as a resource to recover. The terror management theory can be used to assist clients in understanding the gap between their religious beliefs and internal stress as a result of military service. Clergy and practitioners aid clients in working with their self-identity that is connected to military and the sense of self-esteem.
The article by Kick and McNitt (2016) is useful because it provides real-life cases. For example, a male military member who joined the Marines was shocked after seeing senseless destruction and cruelty. Spiritual crisis can be handled through finding meaning in the Christian faith and closeness with God. The feeling of satisfaction and a lack of loneliness are noted as the spiritual growth factors. When a person builds relationships with Higher Power, it leads to the reconsideration of traumatic events. The clients become able to identify personal ways to develop and accept their traumas, which is based on finding a sense of purpose. Among the methods used to help clients in referring to faith, there are the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). The key goal of these methods is to develop resilience skills by understanding what exactly is valued by a person. It can involve culture, religious beliefs, previous experiences, family relationships, and social patterns.
Reference
Kick, K. A., & McNitt, M. (2016). Trauma, spirituality, and mindfulness: Finding hope. Social Work and Christianity, 43(3), 97-108.