Mental health clinic opens at Bagram

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Mental health clinic opens at Bagram
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, February 26, 2009

A mental health clinic has opened at Bagram Air Base that is modeled after a program successfully used in Iraq, officials say.

Called the Bagram Freedom Restoration Center, the clinic houses servicemembers for several days during a structured program. Servicemembers come from across Afghanistan, according to Capt. Don Hawkins, officer in charge of the clinic.

They are offered some creature comforts — including hot meals, showers and a good night’s sleep — and taught techniques for coping with the stresses they face, officials said.

The servicemembers are referred to the clinic by the psychologists or psychiatrists they are already seeing. The program supplements the counseling troops are getting, officials said. The clinic does not see walk-in patients.

The three-to-five-day program covers topics such as anger management and post-traumatic stress. It may even include training in basic soldier tasks, such as weapons cleaning, to build confidence.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60983