The George W. Bush Institute’s Veteran Wellness Alliance is a coalition of veteran peer-to-peer networks and best-in-class mental and brain health care providers who connect veterans, service members, their families, caretakers, and survivors to high-quality care for their invisible wounds.
Q&A with Joseph Zolper, Manager of Veteran Outreach and Networking at the Road Home Program
Please tell us about the Road Home Program’s mission.
At the Road Home Program, we’re here to transform the lives of veterans, service members, and their families through innovative, evidence-based mental health care. This empowers them to overcome the impacts of military life and thrive beyond their service. Whether it is PTSD, depression, anxiety, moral injury, or military sexual trauma, we treat the whole person and we do it in a way that’s grounded in both evidence and understanding of the military experience.
For example, our signature Accelerated Treatment Program (ATP) offers several months’ worth of outpatient therapy in less than two weeks. There is a two-week in-person option and a one- or two-week virtual option. In-person includes individual therapy, group therapy, art therapy, moral injury repair, mindfulness, acupuncture, pelvic health consults, and many other supplemental care options.
No matter your VA eligibility, discharge status, diagnosis, or ability to pay, we’re here to help!
Please share how your military service has inspired your work at Road Home.
I served in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer and, like many others, struggled with my own mental health during and after service. While still wearing the uniform, I sought help. At the time, I was fully convinced that receiving mental health treatment would ruin my career due to the stigma. Thankfully, I was wrong and was supported by my leadership to get help. In following my own path of healing through service, I came across the Road Home Program, an organization that seemed too good to be true.
They provided evidence-based, effective treatment in an accelerated format that had legitimate results to back up their claims. Their mission centers on not only the veteran and service member, but their family as well. Oh, and they are incredible at knocking down barriers to care, like providing everything at no cost! The results were impressive, they treat the entire unit (i.e., the family), and they knock down barriers to care. It was a no-brainer.
I sought to be a leader in this space to ensure that others, like me, found the help they deserved. With the mission and results that Road Home offers, thousands of lives have been changed for the better, and I know there are a lot more to go.
How has being a member of the Veteran Wellness Alliance enhanced the mission of Road Home?
It’s been huge. [The Alliance] connects us with organizations across the nation who are all doing incredible work in their own ways, and we’ve learned so much from each other. More importantly, it’s helped veterans, service members, and their families find us who might not have otherwise. We’re able to bridge gaps, share resources, and make sure people get to the right place at the right time. This collaboration makes Road Home, the Alliance, and the support to our military community all stronger.
What tips do you give service members and their families when searching for mental and brain health care?
You’ve earned it. Many service members, veterans, and families feel as if they don’t deserve help – that someone else is more deserving than them.
“I only deployed once.”
“But I never saw combat.”
“I never deployed.”
“I only served one contract.”
“I am just a spouse. I didn’t serve.”
These are some of the excuses I hear. Do you currently serve, have previously served, or have a family member that served? If yes, do you need help? If yes again, then reach out. You sacrificed something when signing on that dotted line; that is enough to have earned some help.
Don’t settle. If your quality of life is not what it should be, then reach out. There are extraordinary programs out there that offer the services you need, many within the [Alliance]. Rely on networks like [those in the Alliance] to point you in the right direction. Take advantage of them; they have your back.
It’s OK to ask for help. It’s one of the bravest things you can do. Your brain is like any other muscle in the body. Before a 5-mile run, a ruck march, or an Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), you stretch out, warm up, and even do a cooldown afterward. If you twist an ankle or break an arm, you rest it and treat it with physical therapy. Your brain is nothing different. It needs continuous maintenance and treatment if injured.
What are you most looking forward to or what gives you hope for the future of wellness in the veteran and military service space?
The conversations are changing. Veterans are opening up more, and the stigma around mental health is beginning to break, especially in the active-duty community. That gives me a lot of hope. I’m also seeing more collaboration between different parts of the community – clinicians, faith leaders, employers, and nonprofits all coming together to support folks in more meaningful ways. We’re not where we need to be yet, but we’re moving in the right direction. And that momentum is powerful.
At Road Home I am looking forward to another 10 years of support to our service members, veterans, and their families. We are rapidly adapting how we reach more, especially in the active duty and military family spaces. We have seen remarkable increases in service members utilizing our program, showing that the stigma is breaking. We have also expanded our program to support more family members, thus seeing an increase in them as well.
Overall, we are on the right path. Our mental health isn’t just a spoken narrative any longer. It is undeniable truth. Organizations like us, like others within the [Alliance] are doing something about it.
