Coming Home Project's expertise is well earned. From 2006-2015, Coming Home Project served 3,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, service members and their families from all 50 states with a range of integrative programs including groundbreaking evidence-based healing and wellness retreats for veterans and their families, female veterans, student veterans, and care providers. For residents of the greater San Francisco Bay Area, we also provided confidential, pro bono psychological counseling. For an executive summary of these services, click here.
An experienced team of psychotherapists, veterans and interfaith leaders committed to alleviating the unseen wounds of war, Coming Home Project skillfully addressed the emotional, social, moral, and spiritual injuries and the family challenges experienced during all stages of deployment, especially reintegration. Coming Home was the only evidence-based group reintegration program in the country. Click here for a brief summary of our research findings, a study in which Coming Home Project is featured, and participant testimonials. We also documented significant post-traumatic growth in our program participants, publishing our research data in a peer-reviewed professional journal (PDF link).
Research
Since 2007, the Coming Home Project (CHP) has provided residential retreats for Military and Veteran Families, Veterans and Service Members and Service Providers.
While initial retreats provided anecdotal evidence of the positive effects of our programs, we developed methods to systematically measure the retreats’ effectiveness.
Findings from retreats provided in 2010 and 2011 show significant improvement across the multiple dimensions. Participants felt:
- Less stressed
- Less exhausted
- Less burned out
- Less anxious
- Less isolated
- Less emotionally numb
- A greater sense of connection
- More energized
- More supported
- More hopeful
- Happier
- More relaxed
- Better able to calm themselves after a stressful day
- Better able to care for themselves as well as others
This summary contributed to the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) recognition of the Coming Home Project as a best practice for reintegration.