{"id":25505,"date":"2023-08-31T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=25505"},"modified":"2023-09-01T06:40:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T06:40:42","slug":"comprehensive-work-therapy-helps-veteran-beat-substance-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=25505","title":{"rendered":"Comprehensive Work Therapy helps Veteran beat substance abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tai Do spent six years as a soldier and 22-years at work with the Postal Service. He had a successful career, a home, a solid purpose and sense of belonging, and the financial ability to help his family. Life was good for Do.<\/p>\n

But then everything took a horrible turn.<\/p>\n

Do lost his parents to illness in quick succession, and he turned to drugs and alcohol to quell his sadness and cope with reality. In December 2019, he lost his job, his home, his car to repossession, and spiraled into a suicidal depression.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a>
Veteran Tai Do<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI never thought I\u2019d be one of those people I\u2019d seen standing in lines for food near a homeless shelter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Desperation led Do to an ill-conceived idea of renting a car to live in despite not having a way to pay for it. After the car was reported stolen, Do was arrested and found himself in front of a judge in a Veterans Treatment Court (VTC)<\/a>. He was quickly released but was still homeless.<\/p>\n

VTCs are community initiatives that work to help Veterans get treatment for their unique clinical needs within the context of the criminal justice system. Local courts administer these programs and tailor program elements to their jurisdictions, so eligibility and processes vary. \u201cAll I could think of was getting my dog and my cat back. Nothing else mattered,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

New to VA, he went in for a flu shot<\/h2>\n

Deciding to get out of the cold one day, Do went to the North Texas VA<\/a> for a flu shot. Having never been to a VA or used its services, medical center staff recommended he enroll and speak with a mental health specialist. Do received care and was selected for the Comprehensive Work Therapy<\/a> program (CWT).<\/p>\n

CWT is a VA clinical vocational rehabilitation program that provides vocational rehabilitation services. It has partnerships with business, industry and government agencies to provide Veteran candidates for employment and supports.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could tell there was something different about Tai right away,\u201d said Susan Sangiorgi, North Texas VA mental health physician assistant.\u00a0\u201cHe said he was ready for a change and I knew he would do whatever he could to make that change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sangiorgi helped Do understand and process his depression. He channeled his love for cooking with a local charitable organization where he prepares meals for others who were experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n

\u201cSusan showed me compassion and helped me remember that I mattered,\u201d Do said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelping me honor my mother\u2019s memory.\u201d<\/h2>\n

Do is no longer standing in a food line. He\u2019s fulfilling the promise of giving back that he made to himself four years ago. He is once again enjoying life. \u201cI knew that preparing meals would help me honor my mother\u2019s memory and I\u2019ll continue doing this as long as they let me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Do\u2019s newest passion is education. He\u2019s attending college and hopes to become a rehabilitation counselor. \u201cI know I can help others who just need someone to show them compassion and empathy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tai Do spent six years as a soldier and 22-years at work with the Postal Service. He had a successful career, a home, a solid purpose and sense of belonging, and the financial ability to help his family. Life was good for Do. But then everything took a horrible turn. Do lost his parents to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":25507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25505"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25511,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25505\/revisions\/25511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}