Life Navigation Coaches for Veterans with TBI or PTSD

The Arms Forces provides a Life Navigation Coach to  veterans or transitioning active duty members of the armed forces who have a traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder, at no cost to them. The Life Navigation Coach (LNC) gives individual assistance to them in defining, accessing and navigating the system of supports and services provided by other nonprofit, government, military and community, or educational organizations.

The Life Navigation Coach is:

a coach,

a mentor,

a voice of reason,

a director,

a motivator,

a facilitator,

an adviser,

a target setter,

a planner,

a time manager,

a confidante,

an ordinary citizen volunteering for an extraordinary mission; someone who is making a difference  in the lives of our invisibly wounded warriors with TBI or PTSD.  

 

The Arms Forces Life Navigation Coach Program Exists because:

  • Though many services and programs are available that link injured warriors with TBI/PTSD services while involved in the hospitalization and transition to home care phases for the more severe cases, the needs of our invisibly wounded warriors does not stop there.  TBI/PTSD can cause lifelong challenges to everyday living whether a case is considered catastrophic or mild.  Where other services stop, The Life Navigation Coach Program begins.

 

  • TBI is not just a medical issue.  Nor is PTSD.  Both can affect every aspect of a person’s life; education, employment, social and family relationships, emotional health, and mobility to name a few.  A Life Navigation Coach can assist in gaining access to services for all of these needs.

 

  • Traumatic brain injury and PTSD have similarities from one person to another, but the uniqueness of the challenges they bring to individuals is not adequately addressed in the system of supports and services now available to the veteran and their families.  Most services at the local state and federal level are not set up to handle “personal, individualized services” which are necessary with the individualized needs of those with TBI/PTSD.

 

  • Existing services for our veterans are not being fully utilized, whether from social service, military/government, community or faith organizations. The cognitive challenges of TBI and PTSD can interfere with a veteran making and keeping appointments.  Websites for services may be too complicated and overwhelming for a veteran to navigate so the site goes unused.  Brochures may be beautiful, but if they end up lost or if reading problems interfere with a veteran reading them, if pictures and print are done in a way that causes visual disturbances, a veteran may toss it in the bottom drawer and never look at it again.  Unused programs mean wasted dollars and broken lives. 

 

  • Those with TBI/PTSD need to know they are understood. It is a basic human need. When you look okay physically, it is easy for others to think everything is fine on the inside too.  With TBI and PTSD, the outside of a person might remain unchanged, while the inside is struggling every moment of every day to overcome the challenge of functioning with a “different” brain inside their head. The Life Navigation Coaches understand TBI and PTSD and the impact they have on a veteran’s life.

If you are a wounded warrior with TBI/PTSD we exist because of YOU!  Reach out.  We want to bring a light of hope to you and your family members!!