Colorado Springs mental health clinic celebrating women veterans

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Less than a year ago, the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Red Rock opened their doors in Colorado Springs.

“We serve post 9/11 veterans, active service duty members, as well as their families, however they identify their family members. We provide evidence-based practices for therapy to include individual, group, family, and couples counseling,” explained Clinical Director, Amy Moore.

For Women’s History Month, officials tell 11 news they want to celebrate the sacrifice and service of women veterans.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 2 million women veterans live in the United States and make up the fastest growing group in the veteran population.

“In 2000, it was 4% of women veterans and now it is, I believe, 10% and its projected by 2040 to be up to 18%,” explained Moore.

While the accomplishments of women veterans should always be praised, Moore notes they may face certain challenges that their male counterparts do not including; PTSD, sexual harassment, military sexual trauma, and gender discrimination in the workplace.

“We make sure that we take those challenges into consideration and do everything we can to not only educate ourselves in those challenges and those needs, but make sure that we have a warm, and welcoming environment,” said Moore adding many of the people employed in the Cohen Veteran Network are female veterans.

“I think, women in general, there’s this expectation to not only be the primary caregiver for their children, for their family members who are in need, but also to maintain careers and to be able to perform in all these different areas at 100%,” said Moore adding being the primary caregiver can oftentimes prevent a woman from making time for their own mental health, despite women veterans being 2 times more likely to commit suicide than civilian women.

“A lot of times, women are the primary caregiver for children and other family members, and they may struggle to find services that are offered outside of traditional hours. That’s why we ensure to offer both telehealth services as well as after-hours services as requested,” stated Moore.

At the end of the day, if you are struggling and need any sort of help, never hesitate to reach out.

“It’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to ask for help, and they carry so much. Even in the workplace, there are so many challenges that naturally exists with being a woman in the workplace and access to mental healthcare should not be one of them,” said Moore.

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988

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