OTTAWA, July 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Royal Canadian Legion is proud to announce its support for a national initiative that helps military veterans and RCMP officers cope with operational stress injuries. Called “Project Trauma Support,” the program is based in Perth, ON, and designed for those living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, including Moral Injury.
“This is an amazing initiative that is demonstrating some pretty incredible outcomes,” says Thomas D. Irvine, Dominion President. “We want to support additional veteran and RCMP officer participation, and research to learn more about how and why the program works - including whether it can help prevent medical discharge in serving members,” he explains.
Irvine recently presented Project Trauma Support (PTS) with the first of three $100,000 donations to help the organization conduct its therapeutic program, which focuses on both PTSD and Moral Injury. Program leaders say Moral Injury is a new consideration in mainstream medicine and psychiatry, but has a significant role to play in those who develop operational stress injuries.
"Our Project Trauma Support family is very grateful to The Royal Canadian Legion for this very generous financial support,” says PTS Director, Dr. Manuela Joannou. “These funds will allow us to offer help to more military and RCMP members and veterans who have sustained psychological injuries in the line of duty. This support will allow our network of PTS alumni across Canada to continue to grow and we look forward to seeing more peer support groups developing."
Project Trauma Support includes follow-up care, and an invitation to join local peer support groups, which the program participants and volunteers are developing on an ongoing basis.
“In less than three years, a small cadre of medical professionals and peer support volunteers has taken an idea and made it a reality,” says Joannou.
Testimonials from many participants to date, reflect how much their lives have changed positively as a result of the program. Ultimately, PTS leaders hope the project will be seen as a provider of effective therapy covered by medical insurance, eliminating the additional stress of participants having to figure out how their participation in the therapy program will be funded.
Over 250 men and women from across the country have completed the PTS program to date, and over half of those participants were military members or veterans.
For more information on Project Trauma Support please visit: projecttraumasupport.com
About The Royal Canadian Legion
Founded in 1925, the Legion is Canada’s largest Veteran support and community service organization. We are a non-profit organization with a national reach across Canada as well as branches in the U.S., Europe and Mexico. With close to 260,000 members, many of whom volunteer an extraordinary amount of time to their branches, our strength is in our numbers.
Public Relations / Media Inquiries: PublicRelations@Legion.ca; 343-540-7604
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