American Red Cross Offers Class to Help Families Cope with Military Deployments

is offering Coping With Deployments: Psychological First Aid for Military Families, from 10 am to 2:30 pm on April 14, 2012, at 106 North Broadway in White Plains.

This important class addresses the stress and strain of deployments on military families and provides helpful tools for managing these challenges.   

 “While all branches of service pay increased attention to helping service members to cope with the psychological stress of combat, the Red Cross believes it’s just as important to ensure families are ready too,” said Jennifer Baker, Greater NY Red Cross Regional Manager, Service Programs, Emergency Services.

“Loved ones often face their own challenges when a family member deploys and we don’t want to overlook their needs. 

Licensed Red Cross mental health professionals lead participants through information and discussions designed to help them respond to the challenges of having deployed loved ones.

The course is targeted to spouses, children, parents, siblings and significant others of service members and veterans. Participants learn the easy steps involved in psychological first aid—which involves providing immediate emotional support to people in distress.

A section on referrals also teaches families how to identify other agencies or community resources they can turn to for help and support.  All of this happens in a supportive and confidential environment.

The course is approximately 4½ hours in length and can be divided into an adult module (2½ hours) or a children’s module (2 hours). The children’s module specifically teaches adults how to help young people through the stressful changes that accompany a deployment in the family. The course is free to members of the military and their families. 

This course it is taught in a confidential environment. 

The course is open to 8–25 participants—service members, veterans and close family members/friends who are or have recently experienced military deployment—adults only. 

Participants should register by April 9. To register for this class or to learn more, email Jackie.Jones@redcross.org or call 914-945-6500 X309.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.nyredcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.