1. Enduring Continuous Cycles of Deployment & Implications for Treatment
MAMFT Conference
November 12, 2010
James McAuley, MA LAMFT Rebekah Miller, MA
Claddagh Counseling Wellness Counseling Services (WCS)
Web: www.claddaghcounseling.com Web: www.wellnesscounselingmn.com
Email: james@claddaghcounseling.com Email: Rmiller@wellnesscounselingmn.com
Phone: 320-223-0015 Phone: 651-399-6920
Suggested Assessment Questions when Working with a Military Family
Pre-deployment Questions: Post-deployment:
1. What were your relationships like before 1. Traumatic brain injury (TBI)—can affect balance,
deployment? language skills, memory, impulsivity
2. What did you do for fun: alone/with 2. Is the soldier ready for individual, couple, or family
partner/with family? intervention or a combination?
3. What was most important to you before 3. Suicidality
deployment? 4. PTSD Symptomology: hyperarousal, avoidance,
4. Suicidality reexperiencing & Secondary Trauma
5. What was leadership on deployment like? (often
influences symptoms of anger, satisfaction, etc.)
6. Survival guilt?
Deployment Questions: 7. Value/Meaning attributed to deployment experience?
1. What was the deployment experience like (affects self-image positively or negatively)
(overseas or at home)? 8. How has each family member changed?
2. What challenges did you overcome? 9. Emotional support that was available to veteran and
3. What was an average day like or did your family during the deployment
daily mission vary alot? 10. Plans for the future
11. Triggers for PTSD symptoms
12. Prevalence of anger
Recommended Resources
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: www.btyr.org
MN program developed to connect service members and their families with support, services, and resources.
Courage After Fire by Keith Armstrong, Suzanne Best, & Paula Domenici.
For veterans and their families to navigate post deployment challenges. Provides helpful insight for therapists.
Military Family Care Initiative: https://www.militaryfamilies.state.mn.us/
Practitioners can sign up to provide discounted health and wellness services to military families.
Strong Bonds Strong Couples Website: http://www.strongbondsstrongcouples.com/index.html
Using EFT to help Military Couples reunite after deployment
Give an Hour - http://www.giveanhour.org
Give an hour of your time to provide critical mental health services to U.S. troops and their family members.
Provider resources section.
Center for Deployed Psychology- http://www.deploymentpsych.org
Trains military & civilian mental health professionals on deployment related behavioral health services.
In Their Boots http://www.intheirboots.com
Video series that sheds light on how veterans and their families deal with pre, during and post deployment.
Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health & TBI http://www.dcoe.health.mil
Webinars, Resources, Emails

2. Assessments of Military Families During Any Phase
1. Where is the family in it’s own stage of development? 1. How many deployments and
2. What style has/had the family developed to deal with coping strategies?
periodic separation and reunion 2. Previous injuries/head injuries
3. What other factors that could have a great impact upon the 3. Substance use
family at a time of crisis (cultural, ethnic, racial background, 4. Affairs
recent move)? 5. Financial situation
4. What is the family’s concept of how the military sees the 6. Depression, anxiety, and sleep
family? The Military, Service families and the Therapist, by disturbances
Ridenour, R. (1984) 7. Explore quality of attachments
5. Has the service member ever been mobilized/deployed? pre, during, and post deployment
6. What was his/her deployment experience like? 8. Shame: related to actions on
7. If mobilized/deployed, when, where, duration deployment or at home while
8. Is this a career military family? separated
9. Is the family a dual military family? 9. History of or Current Physical,
10. When was the family’s last extended separation? sexual, emotional abuse/Previous
11. Is the service member receiving medical care at the VA? traumas
12. What lead to the service member joining the military? 10. Spiritual beliefs pre, during, and
13. What do they do in the military? post deployment
14. Where is their unit based? 11. Work Functioning
15. What is the service members rank (enlisted/officer) 12. Deployment related experiences
16. What does the member think of his/her chain of command? 13. Interpersonal functioning
17. Any issues with children? 14. Past exposure to traumatic events
18. Did you ever have a talk with your children in preparation to 15. Recreation/self care
deployment? 16. Past distress and coping skills
19. Has family at home talked with children upon service 17. Physical Functioning
member’s return? 18. Psychological symptomology
20. Were there any support groups that family was connected
with? If so, which one? How often did they meet? Where
did they meet? Overall impression of group?
21. Who did the family rely on for support in times of need?
22. How was communication during the deployment and how
often did they communicate?
23. What was the greatest challenge during the deployment?
24. What was something that went well during the separation?