Broken Arrow Group Offers Counseling Services For Veterans And First Responders

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Veteran suicide rates are at an all-time high after increasing over the past five years.

A group wants to help veterans and first responders and prevent them from taking their own lives.

Patriot Family Counseling Services, a non-profit group out of Broken Arrow, has been open since 2019 and specializes in veteran and first responder suicide prevention.

Therapists want people to know they understand what a veteran may go through and are willing to help.

"Our veterans, our first responders, are some of our strongest, most educated, most capable members of our society,” said Shannon Lucas, a Clinical Administrator and Therapist at Patriot Family Counseling Services. “They don't all come back broken, and seeking mental health treatment doesn't make you broken. It means that you're strong for asking for help."

Lucas is married to a veteran, and she said she uses what she’s learned on their journey to help others who are struggling.

"After I went through it with the very little help that was there at the very beginning of the war, I wanted to be able to provide my lived experience, along with some professional training, and help the ones who are going along now,” said Lucas.

She said what’s unique about Patriot is how they’re able to connect with veterans on a different level.

"Everyone here has either worked for the military or first responder field or is in the military or first responder field, so when we say we understand, we do,” said Lucas. “We speak their language, and we're able to connect with them on a completely different level."

And the need is real. The CDC said Oklahoma has the seventh highest suicide rate in the country, and veteran suicide rates are nearly two times the national average.

Shannon hopes every veteran or first responder who gets counseling learns that they aren’t alone and that things can get better.

"Them walking out of here and saying, I'm completely cured, is unrealistic,” said Lucas. “But with my trauma clients, I always tell them, the goal is to be able, for them, to be more in control of the trauma than it is of you."

Lucas said if you aren’t a veteran or a first responder but you want to help, one good place to start is to check on people around you and ask if they’re okay.

If you or a loved one are going through crisis, help is available now.

Call 988 to speak to someone right now.