'Mental health care desert'

QUINCY – Robert Bates has experienced the mental health challenges of combat first hand and he wants to help his brothers and sisters in arms recover from the same through his work with Washington’s War Trauma Program.

“The (Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs) War Trauma Program – I actually signed their contract this month, and that’s kind of why I’m here is beating the bushes and trying to get the word out, letting people know that we’re actually here and we’re here to help,” he said.

The program provides up to 35 hours of counseling to veterans and their family members, according to the WSDVA. To be eligible, the veteran must be honorably discharged in any of the branches of the military, including Washington State National Guard or Military Reserve members deployed in support of the country’s war or peacekeeping missions.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, while part of what the program is trying to address, is not a prerequisite for assistance, nor is any other military-related disability. Priority is given to those in the most vulnerable situations, according to the WSDVA, or those having no other reasonable options for care.

Part of the concern in Central Washington, including Grant and Adams counties, is that area veterans have a lack of or roadblocks to getting services, Bates said. Not only is the area in a literal desert, it’s also in what could be called the Columbia Basin Veteran Mental Health Desert, with few mental health providers – especially those who can relate to service-related concerns – serving the area. Additionally, many local veterans intentionally chose a rural lifestyle in order to avoid trauma response-triggering spaces, he said.

“This is where veterans come to hide,” Bates said.

He’s hoping to help those folks maintain freedom of choice by remaining where they are or in situations they’re comfortable in, but perhaps having a better quality of life by addressing their mental health concerns, he said. As a combat veteran himself who served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kosovo and Bosnia, Bates said, he understands how working through combat trauma and concerns like PTSD can make life better for vets.

“When I first retired, I could say I had post-traumatic stress disorder. I kind of became overwhelmed; I didn’t know how to transition. I didn’t know how to become successful in this (civilian) world,” Bates said. And then I went through therapy and slowly, over time, with the resources of the (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) and the WSDVA have – they helped me, and that’s why I’m successful.”

As a result of his time in the Army, Bates said he has had to face PTSD, moral injury – the psychological impacts of violence committed by oneself or others – grief and loss concerns and other mental health issues that counseling has helped him to address.

Bates said he was able to use military benefits to get an associate’s, then a bachelor’s and eventually a master’s degree through VA-sponsored programs. The GI Bill helped, and he has his master’s degree because of vocational rehabilitation offered by the VA. Those supports have helped him become a counselor. His goal, he said, is to help veterans live better lives and reduce the impact of their service-related traumas on their civilian lives.

According to the VA, at least 38,000 veterans are living in homeless conditions across the U.S. According to the department’s 2022 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, more than 6,100 veterans committed suicide in 2020, the last year data was available for, which is just fewer than 17 veteran suicides per day, on average.

Combined with more than 20 years of ongoing combat in the War on Terror, Bates said the need for mental health services for former service members is significant and, locally, has not been met. He signed a contract in June to help fill the gap and is excited to help his fellow veterans.

Having a fellow veteran to speak with as a counselor is important, he said. There is an institutionalized culture that those without military experience can’t necessarily relate to if they haven’t been a part of the military.

“We go through basic training, and we’re almost brainwashed into a system and we become a part of that,” Bates said. “We have our own language. We have our own experiences. We have our own knowledge.”

That shared experience helps him connect with his veteran clients, he said. Something not every therapist can offer.

“I went to the VA and I found all these amazing, super-intelligent therapists, but they didn’t really understand my experience, right? They didn’t speak my language and didn’t understand what we did (in the military),” Bates said.

His goal, he said, is to be the therapist local veterans can turn to, who will understand what they’ve been through and what they’re experiencing.

Bates said he’s also credentialed through the VA to help connect former service members with other VA resources and can help them develop a plan of action to connect with the tools they need to improve their lives, not just mentally, but in a variety of ways.

While PTSD has common biochemical symptoms and conditions in the brain regardless of the cause, Bates said the necessary treatment varies depending on the cause of the PTSD. A combat veteran needs a different approach than a sexual assault survivor, he said.

That veteran-centric service is available to area vets, he said, and he’s hopeful that he can make a difference.

“My target audience is really low-income veterans,” Bates said. “I can serve any veteran in the community with a combat-connected trauma. They don’t even have to have a disability claim with the VA. They can just come in and prove to me they’re a veteran and they’re struggling. … We can either work short-term and get through the problem or we can work long-term.”

R. Hans “Rob” Miller may be reached at editor@columbiabasinherald.com.

Need help?

Veterans in need of mental health assistance in the Columbia Basin can reach out to Robert Bates at 425-477-9383 or email him at Rob@BatesCounselingServices.com.

More information on the War Trauma Program and other counseling services and supports for veterans may be found at: www.dva.wa.gov/counseling.