Sometimes people who don鈥檛 know Teachers College well are surprised to learn that it is home to the Resilience Center for Veterans & Families. But there are important reasons why the Resilience Center, created in November 2015 with funding from David O鈥機onnor (now a Trustee of the College) and his wife, Maureen, is located at an education school 鈥� and at 麻豆原创 in particular.
For one thing, 麻豆原创 and Columbia University are deeply committed to the military. Among Ivy League institutions, Columbia enrolls the most veterans. 麻豆原创 and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point jointly run the Eisenhower Leader Development Program, an organizational psychology master鈥檚 degree program for West Point officers. And 麻豆原创 psychologist George Bonanno, an authority on human response to loss and grief who now directs the Resilience Center, was already interested in veterans鈥� transition to civilian life.
But for David O鈥機onnor, the bottom line was simple: 鈥淚 believe that education can close many of the gaps in our society.鈥�
JOINING FORCES Resilience Center benefactor and 麻豆原创 Trustee David O'Connor (left) with Dinelia Rosa, Director of 麻豆原创's Dean-Hope Center, and George Bonanno, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Resilience Center Director. (Photo: Bruce Gilbert)
The Resilience Center鈥檚 impact supports that assessment. The Center has changed long-held paradigms about veterans鈥� struggles: For example, while much attention has been paid to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the Center鈥檚 research shows that the disorder afflicts only about 7 percent of recent veteran cohorts. Bonanno and his team have instead called for a much greater focus on the 鈥渢ransition stress鈥� that many veterans experience in seeking a job, working with civilian colleagues, and getting along with family and friends.
The Center is also currently:
- Conducting a national survey to identify patterns of stress among service members planning to leave the military.
- Collaborating with the Veterans Administration to pilot-test an abbreviated, three-session model of interpersonal psychotherapy (ITP-3), which has decreased veterans鈥� symptoms of PTSD, depression, and distress.
- Running the Veteran Multicultural Competence Training Program, which acquaints civilian employers, clinicians and others with no military background with the military worldview and equips them to provide more informed and sensitive services to veterans and their families.
SHE鈥橲 STILL GOT THEIR BACKS Former U.S. Army Captain Meaghan Mobbs (second from left) is the David and Maureen O'Connor Scholar at 麻豆原创's Resilience Center for Veterans & Families. (Courtesy of Meaghan Mobbs)
Recently, the Resilience Center received grants from the Disabled Veterans National Foundation to support free clinical services for veterans; from Starbucks Foundation for professional development programs and to help further develop ITP-3; and from the New York State Health Foundation, also for professional development. The Center also received doctoral student scholarship funding from John Khoury and additional scholarship funding from the Barbara A. Noyes Charitable Foundation.
With some 800,000 service members expected to leave the military over the next four years, O鈥機onnor hopes that the additional support will enable the Resilience Center to increase its influence.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been doing groundbreaking research,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to see their work get catapulted to another level.鈥�