Training program helps counselors reach vets with service-related mental health issues

The Ohio Valley Center Traumatic Brain Injury Star Behavioral Health Providers training program teaches counselors how to address mental and behavioral health issues that are specific to military service members and their families. By the end of 2015, the program will have trained nearly 500 participants throughout Ohio, including Kellie King Feciuch, a licensed professional counselor and chemical dependency counselor at Quest Recovery Services in Canton.

Feciuch is herself a former active duty military member. She joined the Army in 1996 as diesel mechanic, serving 3 years at Fort Hood in Texas. She deployed to Afghanistan in 2003 as a diesel mechanic in support of convoy operation missions, and she deployed to Iraq in 2008 and 2009 as executive assistant to a Brigade Colonel. Now, in addition to her current role at Quest Recovery Services, Feciuch serves in the Ohio Army National Guard as a platoon sergeant in support of a combat artillery unit.

Through SBHP, Feciuch has learned how to counsel military members and veterans on a broad range of mental and behavioral health issues, including addiction, adjustment, anger and aggression, anxiety, ADHD, depression, grief, infertility, mood disorders, relationships, sexual assault, sleep disorders, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, and self-harm.

“It’s an honor to work with veterans, and it’s fulfilling for me, personally, because we speak the same language, we come from the same culture,” says Feciuch. “It’s also been great therapy for me to share my story and help other providers understand what it’s like for a military member to transition out of service.”