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The University of ��ݮ��Ƶ’s Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) has expanded its range of mental health care for the local community with a specialized assessment service for veterans, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP. The service was created by an important new partnership with (OSIC) part of St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s).

This week U��ݮ��Ƶ held the official opening ceremony of the Operational Stress Injury (OSI) service with distinguished visiting guests including Dr. Cyd Courchesne, director general of health professionals and national medical officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Heather Tales, director of the Veterans Care Program at St. Joseph’s, and Michael Newcombe, OSISS peer support coordinator for Southwestern Ontario and director of casualty support management, for the Department of National Defense - and a veteran himself.

Through this relationship with St. Joseph’s, the CMHR provides veterans and active members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP with a comprehensive mental health assessment, a vital first step in supporting those with potential operational stress injury. The service is provided by Dr. Shannon Gifford, a senior member of the OSI clinical team at St. Joseph’s and adjunct faculty member in Psychology here at U��ݮ��Ƶ. Dr. Gifford also supervises PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology, Brenda Chiang, and ��ݮ��Ƶ Region Psychology Consortium Resident, Yue Zhao, who currently conduct the assessments. The CMHR plans to offer more student clinicians the opportunity to train in the OSI service.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one example of several persistent psychological difficulties otherwise known as operational stress injuries (OSI) that military and RCMP personnel can develop as a result of duties performed during their service. Others include major depressive disorder, substance abuse, general anxiety and difficulty adjusting to civilian life.

 “We know from decades of research that PTSD tends to develop into a chronic condition that rarely gets better on its own without effective psychological treatment,” said Professor David Moscovitch, executive director of CMHR. “Providing culturally aware, evidence-based assessment services through the CMHR will allow access to these assessments closer to home for those in our region who are struggling with service-related psychological injury.”

At the OSI launch this week, Dr. Courchesne delivered a keynote address. “Mental health is of the utmost importance to Veterans Affairs,” she told the audience that included members of the Department of Psychology, partners from St. Joseph’s, ��ݮ��Ƶ President Feridun Hamdullahpur and Dean of Arts, Douglas Peers.