The Veteran Supported Education Service Treatment Manual: VetSEd
The Veteran Supported Education Service Treatment Manual: VetSEd
The Veteran Supported Education Service Treatment Manual: VetSEd
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vii.<br />
Peer Support<br />
As a peer <strong>VetSEd</strong> provider, your lived experience as a <strong>Veteran</strong> in recovery who has or is<br />
pursuing education is an essential tool in your work with returning <strong>Veteran</strong>s. By using<br />
your own story as a tool and by encouraging returning <strong>Veteran</strong>s to connect with other<br />
returning <strong>Veteran</strong>s who are pursuing education, a sense of belonging and community can<br />
be cultivated. When returning <strong>Veteran</strong>s meet with other <strong>Veteran</strong>s who have ―been there‖<br />
and who have been successful in their recovery and educational journeys, the possibility<br />
of personal recovery and educational success becomes more real.<br />
viii.<br />
Respect<br />
Respect comes with acceptance. For returning <strong>Veteran</strong>s in recovery, self-respect comes<br />
as they regain belief in their abilities and their inherent self-worth. At a community level,<br />
respect is manifest when colleges, churches, volunteer organizations and other groups<br />
accept and appreciate returning <strong>Veteran</strong>s, while working to minimize discrimination and<br />
other barriers they might face. When respect is maximized, returning <strong>Veteran</strong>s are more<br />
fully participating across life areas.<br />
ix.<br />
Responsibility<br />
As a peer <strong>VetSEd</strong> provider, you will be promoting responsibility in returning <strong>Veteran</strong>s.<br />
Every day, each returning <strong>Veteran</strong> pursuing an educational goal makes choices about<br />
engaging in self-care and wellness practices, implementing study skills and learning<br />
strategies, and engaging in their recovery process. As a peer <strong>VetSEd</strong> provider, you can<br />
encourage <strong>Veteran</strong>s to take responsibility by offering them choice, using motivational<br />
interviewing and using other engagement strategies discussed later in this section.<br />
x. Hope<br />
When returning <strong>Veteran</strong>s believe that change is possible and that a brighter tomorrow<br />
exists, they are experiencing the most essential element of the recovery process - hope.<br />
Although hope is an internal process for each returning <strong>Veteran</strong> it can be inspired by<br />
peers, co-workers, family members, <strong>VetSEd</strong> providers and many others. As a peer<br />
<strong>VetSEd</strong> provider, you are an ambassador of hope for each returning <strong>Veteran</strong> with whom<br />
you work. Positive change is not only possible, it‘s happening by the very fact that the<br />
<strong>Veteran</strong> is engaging in the supported education process.<br />
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