NYU Program to Provide Outreach to Families of Military Reservists

      NYU’s Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis has launched a local initiative supporting Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists (SOFAR). The national, pro bono mental health project provides free psychological support and prevention services to extended family of military reservists and national guardsmen and guardswomen deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait.
      Reservists and National Guard soldiers and their families make up a population that is distinct from regular military troops, with significant problems and needs that are unmet, the organization notes. The families do not live on military bases, but are spread across the country, without centralized support, and are more vulnerable to the strains of war than their regular counterparts. It is estimated that 49 percent of reserve and guard soldiers will experience mental health problems, compared to 31 percent of Marines and 38 percent of those in the Army.
      To support SOFAR’s efforts, NYU’s Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis offers training workshops to professionals while its students, graduates, and faculty volunteer to provide assistance to soldiers and their families.
      “I am very proud that our program is contributing to this critical mental health need that affects not only military personnel, but also their families and communities in New York and across the country,” said Lewis Aron, director of the postdoctoral program. “As psychologists and psychoanalysts, we bring unique skills and experience to address the impact of trauma, which is transmitted across generations.”
      For more, go to http://postdoc psychoanalytic.as.nyu.edu.
      —James Devitt