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Battle Buddies and Lovers. Vignette Learning Points. Issues Raised in Vignette. Matt is a Vietnamese American raised by first generation Vietnamese parents. He is deeply patriotic and highly values his freedom. He volunteers at a Boy Scout youth camp and has good rapport with
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Battle Buddies and Lovers Vignette Learning Points
Issues Raised in Vignette • Matt is a Vietnamese American raised by first generation Vietnamese parents. • He is deeply patriotic and highly values his freedom. • He volunteers at a Boy Scout youth camp and has good rapport with • underprivileged kids whom he shares a common experience of marginalization • by mainstream society. • He enlists in the Army, is trained as a combat medic and is deployed to Iraq. • He is continuously exposed to trauma, fear, death, pain and suffering, high • stress, long days, extreme temperatures and constant uncertainty about his • safety with varying degrees of anxiety.
Matt is wounded in an IED explosion and falls in love with Captain Danielle • Robaire, his recovery nurse. • She suddenly disappears from the camp, and he never sees her again. • He returns home, and has difficulty transitioning back to life as a civilian. • Matt seeks therapy to help his transition. In therapy, he admits feeling depressed, • has thoughts about death and questions whether or not the relationship he had • with the nurse was real. • Captain Robaire, was a possible CIA operative, and her mutilated body had been • located and positively identified by the Pentagon. • Matt seriously considers taking his life.
Matt began therapy to deal with traumatic symptoms related to his • war experiences, including depression, sleeplessness, anxiety, hyper- • vigilance, difficulty concentrating, thoughts about death and difficulty • transitioning back to a civilian world. • Matt addresses the emotional intensity and painful loss of his • romantic relationship in the war zone. • The abrupt and unexplained disappearance of his lover Danielle has • left him feeling sad and confused, and he questions whether or not • the relationship he had with her ever existed.
Matt, being a combat medic, could have been • assessed with “compassion fatigue”, i.e. burn-out • experienced by health care providers.
Issues Addressed in Therapy • Matt began therapy to deal with traumatic symptoms related to his war experiences, including depression, sleeplessness, anxiety, hyper-vigilance, difficulty concentrating, thoughts about death and difficulty transitioning back to a civilian world. • Matt addresses the emotional intensity and painful loss of his romantic relationship in the war zone. • The abrupt and unexplained disappearance of his lover Danielle has left him feeling sad and confused, and he questions whether or not the relationship he had with her ever existed. • The therapist validates that Matt’s love relationship was real as evidenced by the picture as well as his feelings and memories. • Matt, being a combat medic, could have been assessed with “compassion fatigue”, i.e. burn-out experienced by health care providers.
Questions • What Stages of Change were progressed through? • What was done well? • What would you do differently?