Train Vets to Treat Vets
Funded by the WJC Train Vets to Treat Vets Program and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Veterans’ Services.
What is the Train Vets to Treat Vets® program (TVTV)?
Founded in 2011 through a contract with the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services (DVS) and continues to be funded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Veterans Services. The Train Vets to Treat Vets® (TVTV) program is a student success, mentorship, and community support program that:
- Supports SMVF students (Service Members, Veterans, and military family members) enrolled in any WJC program.
- Provides mentoring, belonging, and connection as students navigate school, training, and career pathways.
- Engages military-connected students in outreach to other SMVF individuals interested in behavioral health.
- Expands access to culturally competent care through student placements at VA, Vet Centers, community agencies, and nonprofits.
- Connects students to national research programs and helps them present posters and presentations at regional and national conferences.
- Mentoring students to develop skills in training and consultation to community-based providers on culturally competent mental health care for military and Veteran populations, including their families.
TVTV is not an academic concentration. It is a community of care and connection, designed to ensure military-connected students thrive at William James College and go on to serve others with compassion, skill, and lived-experience-informed insight.
For more information, please contact: tvtv@williamjames.edu
WJC’s TVTV is affiliated with APA Division 19, the Society for Military Psychology. Students are encouraged to join the Division 19 Student Group to access national leadership opportunities, mentoring, and networking.
Division 19 Student Group info: https://www.militarypsych.org/
For more information, please contact: tvtv@williamjames.edu
Since its inception, the Military and Veterans Psychology and the Train Vets to Treat Vets® programs have striven to support student veterans as they navigate the process of achieving their educational goals and developing into competent clinicians. The following is an excerpt from an article published by WJC which highlights one of the first graduates from the TVTV program.
David Heilman, MA, LMHC, a Marine Corps Veteran with two Iraq tours as an Infantry Squad Leader, graduated in 2014 from WJC from the Counseling program. Reflecting after a year as a professional counselor serving Combat Veterans at a local Vet Center, David gives insight into the often challenging road for Veterans securing meaningful employment, and sums up his experience at WJC below.
Yellow Ribbon Scholarship Program
Qualifying Veterans and family members will receive a matching Yellow Ribbon grant of up to $10,000 from William James College, which has been awarded unlimited student Yellow Ribbon spaces.
Learn more here“The education I received at WJC provided me not only with the knowledge I needed in this professional field, but also the internship opportunities that allowed me to work directly with Veterans, placing me in the best position possible to gain the experience I would need to get a job with Veteran Affairs. I was hired by a Vet Center in Massachusetts and began working a month before I graduated. The VA Vet Centers have put a priority on hiring Veterans with the proper training to be mental health clinicians. I began this journey to help my brothers I served with, and I am now in a position where I can not only help them, but help our brothers and sisters from all branches who are struggling after leaving the military.”
—David Heilman, MA, LMHC, Marine Corps Veteran, Infantry Squad Leader, Counseling Psychology Graduate
Please consider helping to support this leading edge initiative!
With your help, we can provide additional, much-needed scholarship support to veterans who might not otherwise be able to enroll at William James College. We can expand our outreach efforts to potential student-veterans, as well as our direct mental health services to at-risk area vets. Your contribution to our timely Yellow Ribbon Fund is fully tax-deductible, and provides match funding towards our award from the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services.
For more information about Train Vets to Treat Vets, please contact admissions at 617-564-9376 or email us here.
For admissions information about our graduate programs, please call 617-564-9376 or email us here.
To make a donation to support this initiative go to our contribution page here.