Ministering to Veterans in Your Ward | An Interview with Richard Watson

Richard “Rich” Watson served in the United States Air Force for 20
years and has an education in psychology, with additional degrees
in education and social sciences. Since his retirement from the
military in 2015, he has worked for a veteran service organization
in their mental health department. He and his team provide
resiliency-based retreats for individuals, couples, and families.
Rich has served as a ward mission leader and elders quorum
president (several times each), as a high priest group leader and
branch president, in the young mens presidency and bishopric, on
the stake high council, and more. He currently resides in Hope
Mills, North Carolina, near Fort Bragg, has been happily married
for over 22 years, and has four amazing children and one pretty-OK
beagle. Highlights 1:15 Introduction 5:15 Conversion story. Joining
the Church at 20 years old. 8:15 Rich’s background with the
military 10:30 Rich’s education and how he got into mental health
13:40 Therapy isn’t for everyone. There are other options, such as
retreats. 16:40 The importance of creating a unit in an elders
quorum or Relief Society. There isn’t enough trust to call each
other and ask for help. 20:20 Rich’s advice to an instructor to
stimulate vulnerability in elders quorum 23:30 Creating circles
instead of rows in our classes. How it changes the dynamic. 24:50
Connecting with veterans in our wards. Rich talks about what
veterans are struggling with. 29:30 Know the veteran’s background
and their family dynamic. The families of veterans have their own
struggles. 30:30 Who is considered a veteran? 32:00 Know what type
of veteran they are and how long they served 33:00 What to talk
about on the first visit with a veteran. What questions to ask.
35:30 Remember that being a veteran is a part of who they are but
not all of who they are. Ask them about other aspects of their
lives. 36:15 Other things to know about a veteran. What’s their
relationship to their spouse? Were there kids involved in their
deployments? 37:30 One of the biggest problems for veterans is
finding life outside the military because that’s all they’ve known.
Finding a job and transferring skills into a different reality can
be very difficult for them. 42:00 We all get tied up in our
identities. We let titles become our identity. Really it’s only a
small piece of us. 43:50 What can a church leader do to help guide
someone as their identity is shifting? This could be someone
transitioning out of the military or from a leadership role. What’s
your why? What are your values? 50:45 The average veteran will have
3 different jobs within the first 4 years of getting out of the
military 50:20 Veterans and mental health. Roughly 22 veterans
commit suicide everyday. PTSD is also common. 53:00 There are
different levels of PTSD. Sometimes it’s clear when someone is
struggling and sometimes it’s easy for people to hide. 54:45 Rich
explains how he personally was affected by PTSD 59:00 Coping
mechanisms for PTSD and mental health. Rich’s are physical fitness,
music, and learning to take a moment. 1:01:00 Unhealthy coping
mechanisms. These could be pornography, self medicating with
prescription drugs, or alcohol. Instead of focusing on the
unhealthy behavior, focus on the underlying emotions and thoughts.
1:04:45 The things that have helped Rich the most as he dealt with
PTSD 1:06:00 We often hear about PTSD but two other mental health
issues that veterans struggle with are survivor's guilt and moral
injury 1:10:00 Knowing what not to say is more important than
knowing what to say to people that are struggling. Connection and
empathy is more important than saying the right thing. 1:12:40 Let
people cry 1:16:00 How leaders can help individuals with moral
injury 1:17:50 Check on the family of the veteran. They struggle
with the difficulty of caring for their veteran. 1:23:00 What to
know about deployments 1:25:00 If you are a leader that isn’t
comfortable dealing with mental health then ther...