Chapter 6: Psychotherapy and Its Supervision in the U.S. Military

Abstract

The practice of psychotherapy has had an active and early history within the U. S. Armed Forces, despite an apparent philosophical conflict between the value psychotherapy places on individual growth and development and the military's emphasis on institutional subservience. This article provides an orientation to the way that therapists enter and train within the military and the contextual influence of the military's war mission. Specific contextual issues also include those of rank and authority, the nature of different work assignments, and problems of limited confidentiality. With a proper awareness of these contextual concerns, military psychotherapists are in a potent position to alleviate human suffering.