'We Need to Terminate Treatment': VA Mental Health Providers Say They Are Under Pressure to Limit Care

It was a Friday last November when Robert H. got the news: He would no longer be able to see his VA therapist.

After nearly two decades as a Marine and military contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan, he had been working through PTSD with the same VA psychologist for 10 years after a suicide attempt.

“That one hour a month of emptying that five-gallon bucket of 10 gallons of shit was just heaven-sent,” said the 49-year-old veteran who shared his story and records from his VA medical files with The War Horse but asked to be identified by his first name and last initial to protect his medical privacy. “It let me reset every month.”

He was furious when his psychologist told him of a recent directive from management, spelled out in Robert’s medical notes: “We need to terminate treatment with pts [patients] who have been receiving long-term psychotherapy and are functionally stable.”

He could join a therapy group, but the one-on-one sessions were done.

“My anxiety was under control for a good time,” he said, “until this.”

https://thewarhorse.org/va-mental-health-limits/