Veterans Mental Health and the VA Vet Centers

As PTSD Awareness Month draws to a close, it’s important for veterans and their families to know they are not alone. When someone suffers from PTSD, there are highs and lows, good and bad days, but regardless of what that day seems like, it’s okay to ask for help.

As many know, veterans are eligible for care at the VA Medical Center for both physical injuries and for mental health concerns that developed due to military service. For veterans seeking treatment for PTSD, the VA offers two avenues – Mental Health Services at the hospitals and the relatively unknown Vet Centers.

Many are familiar with the Mental Health Services at the primary hospitals, but what many don’t realize there is a second avenue to access mental health support through the Vet Centers. As with every resource, it may not be a perfect fit for everybody; but, for those who go to the Vet Centers, its often due to the center’s people-oriented focus in providing care to eligible veterans and their families.

The Vet Centers were created in 1979 by an act of Congress in recognition that many Vietnam War veterans were experiencing difficulties readjusting to civilian life. As a result, Vet Centers were created to be a community-based counseling center that could provide a wide range of services to veterans ranging from Readjustment Counseling to Outreach and Referral services. While initially meant to address this need for Vietnam War veterans, eligibility for their services expanded to veterans of other conflicts from Lebanon and Grenada, the Persian Gulf and Somalia, and most recently to those who have returned from serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and subsequent conflicts in support of the Global War on Terror. However, over time more veterans have become eligible to seek care through the Vet Centers. Now in 2021, a veteran can be eligible if they fall into one of the following categories: 1) served in a combat theater, 2) was a victim of military sexual trauma (regardless of gender, or service area), 3) provided mortuary support, 4) or served as operators of unmanned aerial vehicles in support of combat operations, 5) and now more recently served in response to a national/state emergency or disaster as declared by the President or governor of their state’s the National Guard.

The Vet Center, like the VA Mental Health Services at the hospitals can also provide the in-depth mental health services from supportive counseling, to in depth psychotherapy treatments such as Cognitive Processing Therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy. However, the center’s staff also organize a variety of non-clinical activities that can be beneficial to veterans who suffer from PTSD, and veterans seeking readjustment counseling. Some of these activities include organizing group hiking and fishing trips, yoga and wellness coaching at the centers, to occasional barbecues that helps staff and veterans better connect to each other.

In Nevada, we have three Vet Centers within the state’s borders but are serviced by four different ones. Should you need to reach out to find your nearest Vet Center or to ask when they will be back in your community, please feel free to call 877-WAR-VETS (927-8387) or check out their information below.

Reno Vet Center

Phone: 775-323-1294

5580 Mill St. Suite 600

Reno, NV 89502

Las Vegas Vet Center

Phone: 702-791-9170

7455 W. Washington Ave.

Suite 240

Las Vegas, NV 89128

Henderson Vet Center

Phone: 702-791-9100

400 North Stephanie Street

Suite 180

Henderson, NV 89014