| There are approximately 400 veterans and military service members enrolled at the Ventura County Community College District under the GI Bill, with an estimated 125 military veterans attending Oxnard College. Teachers, academic counselors and support staff are often the first to see the soldier after they return from service. It is critical for college staff to understand the effects that military service has on soldiers and their families and to assist them as they undergo the transition to civilian life.
Yasmin Attar, PhD, coordinator of The Soldiers Project, a program of the Ernest Lawrence Trauma Center of the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies, has designed an educational seminar for college counselors and instructors who may soon see more returning service men and women who recently served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The seminar, “Shall I Go Back to School?” will be held Tuesday, March 24, 2009, beginning at 1 p.m. in OE-10 and OE-11 at Oxnard College. The presentation, which is free to participants because of a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation, includes information about the experiences of military service members. It will cover the topics of:
· Understanding the needs of soldiers attending college;
· The effects of post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury and how it manifests in the classroom;
· Issues affecting female veterans;
· Civilian response: What the community can do.
Presenters include Judith Broder, MD, and Carol Tanenbaum, PhD, faculty of The Soldiers Project. Dr. Broder is a psychiatrist and the founder-director of The Soldiers Project. Dr. Tanenbaum is chairperson of the Ernest Lawrence Trauma Center. The Soldiers Project was established four years ago as a response to the mental health needs of military service members that have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Free, confidential counseling is provided to soldiers and their families, including active duty military veterans, Reservists and National Guard. Ventura Soldiers Project is an affiliate of The Soldiers Project.
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