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Check out our newest products made by VA mental health care providers and researchers. These products address topics that impact the mental health needs of Veterans and their families. Access our full collection of products.
A Good Fit: Making CPAP Work for You
This user-friendly guide helps Veterans get started and relaxed with using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask for obstructive sleep apnea. The guide:
Defines obstructive sleep apnea and how it is diagnosed and treated.
Gives tips for troubleshooting equipment-related problems with a CPAP therapist.
Helps Veterans identify helpful and unhelpful thoughts about CPAP to improve their experience.
Includes relaxation exercises that can be used when wearing a CPAP mask and tips for healthy sleep.
The ACT on Health Toolkit helps VA medical center mental health leadership and clinicians implement 1-day acceptance and commitment training (ACT) workshops in community-based settings.
Supports collaboration between VA staff and partners at community-based organizations.
Provides brief overview of ACT and the ACT evidence base.
Toolkit organized into the workshop’s implementation phases:
Establishing community partnerships
Obtaining training and skills for workshop clinicians
Organizing and conducting workshops
Options for offering virtual online workshops and follow-up ‘drop-in’ sessions for Veterans who complete a workshop
Methods for gathering evaluation data if desired
Resources section details products that can be used to engage VA/community stakeholders and workshop participants.
Includes links to online trainings and cyber-seminars. Also has links to brief videos to publicize the workshops and train ACT clinicians.
NOT a “how-to” guide on becoming an ACT therapist.
Complementary and Alternative Approaches to Treating Headaches
These educational videos and brochures explain complementary and alternative approaches to treating headaches (chiropractic, biofeedback, acupuncture).
Includes Veteran and clinician brochures for each treatment approach.
Videos are brief (5-10 minutes) and explain how each approach may be used to decrease headache symptoms for Veteran and clinician audiences.
Guide to Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome from Alcohol for Clinicians and Veterans
These guides describe the symptoms of and treatment for post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) from alcohol for clinicians and Veterans.
Each guide defines PAWS in language appropriate for clinician and Veteran audiences.
The clinician guide describes the use of Gabapentin as a treatment for PAWS, including an example titration schedule, benefits and misuse of the medication, and how it is used in combination treatment.
The clinician guide also discusses the prevalence of substance use disorders in minority populations and disparities in consequences for substance use.
The Veteran guide describes Gabapentin as a treatment for PAWS and the side effects of the medication.
This four-week program is a time-limited psychoeducational “standalone” group that can be offered either virtually or in person to provide information about moral injury. The curriculum, which includes a facilitator guide and program handbook, provides information for chaplains and mental health clinicians on leading a Moral Injury Psychoeducation Group. The group may be led by chaplains, clinicians, church clergy specializing in pastoral care or mental health ministry with Veterans, or trained para-professionals such as NAMI volunteers or Veteran peer support specialists who have participated in the course.
The program is designed to introduce core concepts related to moral injury and prepare Veterans for more intensive therapy for moral injury, if desired and available.
The program handbook is used to conduct the sessions.
Sessions are nonthreatening and focus on education as opposed to group process or self-revelation.
The facilitator guide includes helpful hints, clinical examples, potential pitfalls, and ways to appropriately involve Veterans during group sessions.
Published 2021
MyBriefCBT
The MyBriefCBT program was developed to improve access and delivery of evidence-based psychotherapies (EBP) in clinical settings that demand rapid or time-limited interventions. Brief CBT was designed to address depressive symptoms and can be delivered in 3-6 sessions. Brief CBT uses measurement-based care and variable treatment intensity models to and streamline the psychotherapy process while respecting the needs of patients. This patient-centered approach to care can also be seen in the way in which the program leverages a flexible skills-based approach that allows providers and patients to select and inform their process of care. Currently, the MyBriefCBT program is being implemented within several Veterans Health Administration Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) across the United States. The MyBriefCBT program includes:
A provider manual and patient workbook that is separated into six sections focused on different skills for mood and well-being.
Each skill area can be a focus of the work done during a session.
Every skill area does not have to be completed. Patients and clinicians can focus on areas that will be the most beneficial.
The final section of the workbook contains extra copies of the worksheets and monitoring forms that will be presented in each skill area.
The Great Outdoors: Engaging with Nature for Mental Health
These materials support Veterans by helping them engage in positive and healthy nature-based activities. The materials integrate the science of the benefits of engaging with nature, with the well-established approaches of behavioral activation, mindfulness, and other positive psychology exercises. The clinician manual supports the delivery of a very brief (1-2 session) or brief (3-5) session intervention in a variety of settings. The Veteran guide can be used as part of a clinician-delivered intervention, or as a self-help intervention. The material:.
Provides an overview of the science on the benefits of nature engagement and greenspace exposure.
Includes an activity to review one's past and current engagement in nature.
Integrates principles of motivational interviewing to resolve ambivalence.
Encourages value identification/prioritization and discovering nature-based activities that can support living out those values.
Uses goal setting, activity scheduling, and behavior monitoring to help Veterans increase their nature engagement.
Provides links to guided audio exercises, including 5 mindfulness exercises, 1 savoring exercise, and 2 guided imagery exercises.
Please note that the health care information provided in these materials is for educational purposes only. It does not replace the role of a medical practitioner for advice on care and treatment. If you are looking for professional medical care, find your local VA healthcare center by using the VA Facilities Locator & Directory.
