An opportunity for you to tell us your story of "Welcome", however that looked, as a veteran, a family member or close friend. Click here to tell your story.
Regarding how the film is used in at least on VA facility (the facility is not named because there is no "official" ok by the powers that be to use the film therapeutically)
"When we show The Welcome, we try to coordinate it so that it is after one of the vets from the movie comes and speaks/plays for the group. We have graduates of the program who have done really well come in on Wednesday mornings as guest speakers and this vet comes every month or so. The reason for that is the group develops a rapport with him and when they see him in the film, they see a friend. Otherwise, his story can be quite triggering. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
As usual, we always have a Process Group afterwards where the guys can talk about what parts of the film they liked and what made them uncomfortable. Especially the latter. We believe being triggered in a safe environment is a good thing. Triggers identify issues that need to be worked on and that, primarily, is why we use it. We know that people will be triggered by different things they hear and see in the film and it helps us identify issues that need to be addressed.
Regarding how the film is used in at least on VA facility (the facility is not named because there is no "official" ok by the powers that be to use the film therapeutically)
"When we show The Welcome, we try to coordinate it so that it is after one of the vets from the movie comes and speaks/plays for the group. We have graduates of the program who have done really well come in on Wednesday mornings as guest speakers and this vet comes every month or so. The reason for that is the group develops a rapport with him and when they see him in the film, they see a friend. Otherwise, his story can be quite triggering. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
As usual, we always have a Process Group afterwards where the guys can talk about what parts of the film they liked and what made them uncomfortable. Especially the latter. We believe being triggered in a safe environment is a good thing. Triggers identify issues that need to be worked on and that, primarily, is why we use it. We know that people will be triggered by different things they hear and see in the film and it helps us identify issues that need to be addressed.
Hope this helps."