PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Dr. David Stiffler, Medical Director of Military Family Center at NYU Langone Health
2:17:22
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148 sec
Dr. David Stiffler, Medical Director of the Military Family Center at NYU Langone Health, testified about the center's mission to provide mental health services to veterans and their families. The center offers comprehensive, free, and accessible treatment for various mental health issues, regardless of veterans' discharge status or combat exposure.
- The center has treated over 4,000 veterans and family members since 2012.
- Services include individual, couples, and family therapy, as well as treatment for PTSD, depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders.
- Dr. Stiffler emphasized the importance of civic engagement in veterans' transition to civilian life and its positive impact on mental health.
Dr. David Stiffler
2:17:22
Good afternoon.
2:17:23
Chair of Holden and members of the New York City Council Committee on Veterans.
2:17:26
I'm Doctor David Stiffler, the medical director of the Military Family Center at NYU Langhorne Health.
2:17:32
Military Family Center at NYU Langhorne Health was established in 2012 with the goal to fill in the gaps in mental health services available to veterans and their family members in the New York City area.
2:17:43
The center's mission is to address the mental health challenges of this population by providing accessible high quality evidence based treatment to veterans and their family members.
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Since inception, our military family center has provided mental health treatment to over 4000 veterans and their family members.
2:17:59
To summarize our program, we provide comprehensive evaluations and personalized evidence based treatment for a month a number of mental health problems, including push max stress disorder, depression, anxiety, ADHD, insomnia, and substance use disorders.
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For couples or families experiencing relationship difficulties, we offer either couples span couples or family therapy We are also able to offer individual psychotherapy for children and adolescents.
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We provide services completely free of charge and offer our services to veterans regardless of their discharge status, combat exposure, or aeroserved.
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Our services are available to family members of veterans even if the veteran is not involved in the treatment.
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To maximize engagement and access care, we offer appointments during the evening outside of normal business hours both in person or by video through a virtual health platform.
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It's common for veterans who struggle with depression to have difficulty with engagement in civilian life after service.
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Young veterans often face challenges with the transition from their military service into the next steps in their lives as civilian adults.
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After service, some veterans struggle with finding meaning in their lives or activities to engage in that leave them feeling fulfilled or like they have made a valuable contribution.
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It has been reported that civic engagement contributes to growth and maturation as young people transition into adulthood and that volunteer engagement reduces depressed feelings and service members.
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More specifically for veterans in school, research has shown that civic engagement may promote higher utilization of mental health service on campus.
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Research has shown that veteran civic engagement is important to the transition to civilian life.
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The military family center at NYU is proud to be a link for veterans to engage with their community, and we thank the counsel for holding this important hearing.
