Deployment Psychology Evidence-Based Strategies to Promote Mental Health in the Military

The impact of combat on service members' mental health has received considerable attention both in the popular press and in scholarly publications. Yet few books have focused on systematic, evidence-based attempts at preventing mental health problems and enhancing service members' well-being and resilience. This book is intended to fill that gap. The editors have gathered leading clinicians and researchers in military mental health to examine how mental health providers and military leaders can best moderate the negative impact of combat. Contributors discuss the importance of individual screening, training, peer support, leadership and organizational policies, as well as the development and implementation of large-scale mental health programs that incorporate these elements and more. The editors promote a broad occupational health model of prevention and include the latest research on delivering mental health services in pre-deployment, in-theater settings, and VA hospitals. The psychological health of not only service members but also military families is approached as an integral aspect of deployment psychology. The result is a ground-breaking book that emphasizes what we know-and don't know-about evidence-based interventions. It represents the first comprehensive review of mental health interventions across the deployment cycle and will help guide the field of military psychology in developing a much-needed support system for service members in the years to come.

Amy B. Adler, PhD, is a clinical research psychologist and chief of science at the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit–Europe, Walter Reed Army Institute for Research. She is the manager of the army's medical research on psychological resilience training, has led several of the army's randomized trials on psychological resilience training, and has worked on psychological health issues related to deployment for more than 15 years.
 
Besides serving as a U.S. representative on NATO research groups, Dr. Adler has also been invited to speak and to consult with militaries in several other nations. She has published more than 40 articles and has coedited five books, including the series Military Life: The Psychology of Serving in Peace and Combat.
 
Paul D. Bliese, PhD, is the director of the Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), Silver Spring, Maryland. Dr. Bliese has served as the commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit–Europe, located in Heidelberg, Germany, and as the chief of the Department of Military Psychiatry at WRAIR. In 2005, 2007, and 2009, he deployed to Iraq as part of the annual Mental Health Advisory Team (in the latter 2 years as team leader).
 
Dr. Bliese has published numerous scientific articles, has developed and maintains the multilevel library for the open-source statistical language R, and serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Applied Psychology. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Society and a colonel in the U.S. Army.
 
Carl Andrew Castro, PhD, is director of the Military Operational Medicine Research Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command at Fort Detrick, Maryland, where he oversees a wide range of research programs, including Psychological Health and Resilience, Injury Prevention, Environmental Medicine, and Physiological Health and Well-Being. Most recently, Dr. Castro has served as the commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit–Europe, located in Heidelberg, Germany, and as the chief of the Department of Military Psychiatry.
 
He was the original author and developer of the Battlemind Training System, the U.S. Army's resilience training program. His operational experience includes serving tours of duty in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq. In 2003 and 2006, he deployed to Iraq as part of the annual Mental Health Advisory Team (first as senior science officer and then as team leader).
 
Dr. Castro has published more than 60 scientific articles and has served as coeditor of the four-volume series Military Life: The Psychology of Serving in Peace and Combat. He also leads several NATO research groups and other international activities. He is a colonel in the U.S. Army.