Gay Mental Healthcare Providers and Patients in the Military

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Background and Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Introduction

      • Elspeth Cameron Ritchie

      Pages 3-7

   3. Risk and Resilience: A Review of the Health Literature of Veterans Who Identify as LGBT

      • Heliana Ramirez, Katharine Bloeser

      Pages 9-24

   4. “I Can Finally Be Me…Why Did It Take So Long?” A History of US Military Policy Regarding Sexual and Gender Minority Service

      • Anonymous

      Pages 25-34

3. Personal Experiences

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 35-35

      PDF

   2. The Reservist Perspective: Service Before and During “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

      • James R. Batterson

      Pages 37-46

   3. Being Discharged Under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

      • Martin Chin

      Pages 47-51

   4. A Gay Psychologist’s Account of Serving in the Army Reserves and National Guard During Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

      • Clifford Trott

      Pages 53-59

   5. Does Anybody Have Anything They Want to Say?

      • Joseph E. Wise

      Pages 61-70

   6. “Family”: Surviving the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Years

      • Monica Ormeno

      Pages 71-77

   7. Here/Queer/Used to It: An Account of a Post-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Mental Health Provider

      • Jackson Taylor

      Pages 79-89

4. Clinical Lessons Learned

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91

      PDF

   2. Ward 52: A Haven for HIV-Positive Military Personnel

      • Daniel W. Hicks, Steven J. Tulin

      Pages 93-103

   3. Creating Safe Spaces: Best Practices for Clinicians Working with Sexual and Gender Minority Military Service Members and Veterans

      • Heliana Ramirez, Katharine Bloeser

      Pages 105-123

   4. Treating LGBT Veterans with Substance Use Disorders: A Gay Psychiatrist’s Experience

      • Bruce S. Hill

      Pages 125-138

   5. “At Least ‘Shipmate’ Is a Gender-Neutral Insult”: A Military Psychiatrist’s Introduction to Transgender Military Service

      • Anonymous

      Pages 139-151

   6. Ethical Issues Regarding LGBT and Intersex Service Members

      • Edmund G. Howe III

      Pages 153-164

5. Back Matter

   Pages 165-169

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This volume tells the history of homosexuality in the United States military beginning in 1986, when the issue first came to the forefront of social consciousness. Each chapter is written through the eyes of gay mental healthcare providers, covering how to steadily adapt and learn to treat veterans struggling with the traumas associated with the stigma of homosexuality in service. Topics include the “Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell” (DADT) policy, its repeal in 2011, and addresses the current trends and challenges. Unlike any other professional book, this text includes the personal stories of gay military mental healthcare providers, as well as gay civilian clinicians who have worked with the military population in various segments in history. These accounts offer invaluable support for medical professionals working with this demographic. Chapters cover the various psychological damage service personnel encounter as it uniquely pertains to those struggling with the stigma of LGBTQ rights. Chapters include clinical pearls for particular psychiatric concerns, lessons learned for the future, and hard-earned successes as stigmas and perceptions evolved over time.

Gay Mental Healthcare Providers and Patients in the Military is an excellent resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, policymakers, and all professionals who are interested in LGBTQ rights in the context of veteran psychiatry.

• DADT
• Transgender care
• Mental health and boundaries
• Experiences of gay military psychiatrists
• History of homosexuality in the US military

• Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Silver Spring, USA

  Elspeth Cameron Ritchie

• Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, USA

  Joseph E. Wise, Bryan Pyle

COL (Ret) Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, MD, MPH
Chief, Mental Health Community Based Outpatient Clinics
Washington DC VA
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry George Washington University School of Medicine
Professor of Psychiatry Howard University College of Medicine
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine
Professor of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS)

Joseph E Wise, MD
Major, Medical Corps, US Army
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Bethesda, MD, USA

Bryan Pyle, MSW
Department of Social Work
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
US Navy
Bethesda, MD, USA

Policies and ethics