Veterans Affairs committee  First I'll address the study I did as a thesis for my master's degree in family studies and gerontology. It's a rigorous master's degree, an applied master's degree. I used the qualitative framework. I interviewed eight families, eight female partners of military veterans who had experienced operational stress injuries or were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress.

Veterans Affairs committee  The two models I used in looking at the interviews I did of these women were Hill's ABCX model, A being the event--it's an old model of family systems therapy--and the other one was the circumplex model, again a model of family therapy, family functioning. I interviewed the women for an hour and a half to two hours.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's where they're going to get the most support, where their family is accessible. They're going to need to be in an environment where that resource is available to them. However, in this case, it limited the resources available through the military system.

Veterans Affairs committee  As I said, the one family I had that was specifically very rural couldn't access the support. Financially, it meant they would have had to drive an hour and a half to Halifax to access this support, pay for the support, and then drive an hour and a half back. He couldn't drive himself and she had to work.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think the interdisciplinary approach is certainly what the medical model is moving toward. My internship this year has been with an interdisciplinary approach in the school systems. One caseworker brings the case, and if necessary the family as well, to this round table discussion, because not everybody needs the same things.

Veterans Affairs committee  The more proactive we are, the less likely that the dysfunction in the system becomes so entrenched and that we lose the whole family system, that the family falls apart. The biggest thing about whether the family can continue functioning is whether they are able to adapt and adjust.

Veterans Affairs committee  First, thank you for inviting me. I am a graduate of Mount Saint Vincent University in family studies, and I am presently a graduate student in social work at Dalhousie University. I completed my thesis on the experience of the female partners of male military veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.