Good afternoon. It is an honour, and humbling, for me to be with you today.
My name is John Champion, and I am before you as a prior member of the Canadian Armed Forces, regular forces, a former regional police officer, a former United Nations homicide investigator, a currently serving combat engineer, a Legion branch veteran service officer and zone C-2 veteran service officer, as well as a board member of Mission Butterfly, a not-for-profit organization that provides a multimodal therapy called “healing invisible wounds”.
Throughout my work life I have witnessed the horrors that mankind can inflict, and I have seen the aftermath of destruction that political agendas can make. I have also witnessed the incredible results that Canadian peacekeepers and peacemakers have made while selflessly risking their lives for people they don't know. Unfortunately, I have also witnessed first-hand the long-lasting effects of these actions and the destruction they cause, not just to the veteran or first responder, but to their families and communities.
PTSD and suicide are running rampant within our military, veterans, and first responders. We can no longer sit on the sidelines and do little. PTSD and suicide are like a communicable disease—others around start to suffer and can be triggered.
Among the many hats I wear, the hardest is that of veteran service officer. Twenty years ago, a VSO helped vets and widows navigate the quagmire of Veterans Affairs paperwork. Now it means finding housing, employment, and treatment for vets. Having stared into the abyss myself, I can tell you that the hurdles to seeking treatment are fear of losing your job; being ostracized by your peers, family, or community; and the belief that the therapist can't relate or have knowledge of what you're feeling.
PTSD is different with each veteran. Mission Butterfly has a program with numerous models of therapy. To ensure the success of the client, we do extensive testing before the therapy begins. Veterans don't need a weekend of fly-fishing to heal. They need therapy that heals the mind, body, and soul. That means having their families involved and dealing with topics like finance and nutrition. What it doesn't require is the current medical solution of overmedication. There is a time and place for medication, make no mistake, but masking one's symptoms makes it harder to treat the real cause. Mission Butterfly offers a non-drug therapy that covers all of these.
Mission Butterfly therapists also undergo an intensive Canadian Armed Forces culture workshop so that they can bridge the barrier more quickly. Military members speak a different language. They have a different sense of ethics and respect for each other that the average civilian can't understand. Unless you know the impact of signing the oath with the string of unlimited liability attached to it, how can you relate to a veteran?
Dealing with PTSD has to be started quickly and with the individual's custom therapy in mind. Sending them to a psychiatrist for anti-depressants and time off work is not the answer. That is the current method used, and it needs to stop. Real change starts now, right here, in this room.