November 2020
Thankful for our veterans and military families
November is a big month for all of us with Veterans Day and Thanksgiving right around the corner. All of us here at the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Veterans Village of San Diego believe there is plenty to be thankful for, including our great community and clients who continue to trust us with their mental health.

For the month of November, we will highlight a few things that we are thankful for on social media with our ABC's of Gratitude campaign. Stay tuned and join us in expressing gratitude this month.
In case you missed it
COVID has created its share of challenges for us all, especially during the school year. Traditional stressors along with the extra wrinkle of remote learning have added pressure on military families and the kiddos nationwide. That's why good coping skills and communication are among some of the topics covered in the latest episode of the "For the Sake of the Child" podcast. The Cohen Clinic at VVSD's very own Marla Monk, MA, MSW, LCSW, was featured in the latest episode hosted by the Military Child Education Coalition. Click here to listen.
As we take time this month to show our appreciation to our veterans and active-duty service members, our clinic's Outreach Coordinator, Jenny Lynne Stroup, helped shed some light on the importance of the many military caregivers nationwide and around the world in her latest "Real Talk: Mental Health" column featured in Homeland Magazine. Column on page 28 and 29. Click here to Read.
A message from our clinic director
As we enter another month amid the pandemic our Clinic Director Shari Finney-Houser, LMFT, is offering words of hope and gratitude to our clients and community.

We all have them. Those huge moments when we know our lives will never be the same. 

It can come after something as epic as a birth or as tragic as a death. It can also be a life-altering change in thoughts or behavior, much like the ones we strive for here at the Cohen Clinic. For me, 2020 has been chalked full of those moments. Almost everything is different, even our daily routines. For many of us, there was no routine as we all sheltered in place. Now that we can go out (in some places), it still isn't the same. 

Who knew going out the door would require not just the traditional car keys and sunglasses, but also clean face coverings, hand sanitizer, perhaps latex gloves, and filled water bottles because drinking fountains are off-limits. If this November finds you and your loved ones a little out of sorts or unsettled, take some solace in knowing that you are not alone.

I wish that the following line would possess some magic formula to make things “feel” normal again, but I don’t have that. I am not sure that anyone does. What I do have is hope; hope mixed with gratitude. I am grateful to everyone who calls our clinic and allows us to work with them. I am grateful for every veteran and military family, for their prior service and sacrifices. I also have hope for each person that calls our clinic for help and an unswerving belief that things can get better for everyone. It’s a hope that says “hang on,” even if you are at the end of your rope. This November, particularly this Veterans Day, to all the veterans, families, and active-duty families we serve, I would like to say thank you and hang on! 

If the changes are too much, we are here to help; reach out to us. If you see someone struggling, help them hang on. Together we can make it through.
CONTACT US
The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic
at Veterans Village of San Diego

Phone: (619) 345-4611
Email: info@cohenvvsd.org