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Using Two Intersubjective Perspectives in Combat Deployment: A Military Mental Health Professional’s Experience

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Abstract

The stress and demands of combat deployment create challenges for a military mental health provider (MMHP) to operate in a helper role in an environment adverse to the helping process. A case is presented featuring the experience of a MMHP while deployed to establish the existence of two types of intersubjective space in a combat environment. Modern attachment theory and interpersonal neurobiology are used as a theoretical framework, and concepts of emotional self-regulation, implicit communication, and attunement are applied to the case. The work of the MMHP is shown within and between the two types of intersubjective space and emphasize the seizing of unexpected clinical moments. The MMHP must remain emotionally regulated to participate in the implicit communicative process and rapidly form a therapeutic relationship. Creative and improvisational methods are demonstrated by the MMHP that challenge rigid adherence to clinical models. Applicability is significant to the specialty field of MMHP’s to improve deployment preparation, clinical skill development, and personal health management. Work with veterans can be enhanced by understanding deployment experiences and recognizing the importance of attunement by regulating affect for both the provider and client.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, DSW Program, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Phil E. Miller

  2. Elon University, Campus Box 2337, Elon, NC, 27244, USA

    Phil E. Miller

Authors
  1. Phil E. Miller
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Correspondence to Phil E. Miller.

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Conflict of interest

The author declares that the author has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments of comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the original qualitative study.

Research Involving Human and Animal Participants

This case study is part of a qualitative pilot study that involved extensive interviews with twenty-seven individuals. The original study was approved by Elon University’s institutional research ethics committee. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by the author.

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Miller, P.E. Using Two Intersubjective Perspectives in Combat Deployment: A Military Mental Health Professional’s Experience. Clin Soc Work J 46, 83–91 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-018-0658-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-018-0658-5

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