The number of "cases of COVID-19 among U.S. military personnel, family members, DoD civilians and contractors" since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a recent article on the Military.com website reporting on an anticipated $1.8 billion budgetary shortfall in the Defense Health Agency (DHA).
It has now been over a year since the majority of behavioral health providers have moved to predominantly or exclusively providing therapy via telehealth. This week’s blog will examine several publications sharing initial findings about the experience of online couples therapy by providers and patients as well as some lessons learned over the past year.
Dr. Rita Brock recently shared her thoughts on moral distress and injury and COVID-19 frontline workers with me. Dr. Brock has spent much of her career as an academic in philosophy and religion, obtaining her doctorate in this field in 1988. Her interests turned toward moral injury after a 2009 article by Dr. Brett Litz “grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go.”
The weekly Research Update contains the latest news, journal articles, useful links from around the web. Some of this week's topics include:
● Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in a Cohort of Pregnant Active Duty U.S. Military Servicewomen.
● Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment Dropout Among Military and Veteran Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
● The impact of COVID-19 social isolation on aspects of emotional and social cognition.
Repeatedly on the news and in academic journals, I’ve been seeing reports about and concerns regarding rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) as our world is dealing with the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the CDC (2021), intimate partner violence is defined as “physical violence, sexual violence, stalking, or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse. This type of violence can occur among heterosexual or same-sex couples and does not require sexual intimacy.” This blog will examine the dynamics present when men perpetrate intimate partner violence toward their female partners during a pandemic.