“It’ll be okay. I think you’ll find that Mr. Haggarty will help. He’s been doing this a long time.”
As he entered the counselor’s office, he was surprised to find a man just a few years older than him.
“I’m Michael Haggarty. I’ll be your counselor. Since we’re going to be working closely together, you can call me Michael, and I hope you’re okay with me calling you Rob. I find that it helps to be informal. Together we’re going to work on moving you beyond the PTSD you’ve been experiencing.
“I’d like to ask you a few questions that will help me figure out what approach will work the best for you. We set goals for our sessions, and hopefully, after a few months, you won’t need to see me anymore. I understand you’ve already met with Dr. Rodriguez, and he’s recommended both individual counseling and the Tuesday night group. He wanted to wait on possible medication to see how you respond to counseling. Do you have any questions before we start?”
“Yes, actually I do. I wondered if it would all right to read up on PTSD so that I’d know more about it. I’d like to know what to expect from these sessions.” Had this guy ever served in a war zone? Would he understand what Rob had experienced? He didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot by challenging the man’s background, but he wanted to make sure he wasn’t just a guinea pig for someone who had only book learning. He’d try to reserve judgment.
“Not at all. I can give you some references, and the VA has some information available online about trauma. I totally understand why you’d want to know more about what’s involved in treatment of PTSD, more about what causes it, and what will help you recover from it.”
“Have you seen a lot of people with PTSD?”
The man laughed. “Oh, yeah. It’s very common with servicemen and women who’ve been deployed to any of the war zones, even if they haven’t seen combat. Plus, I’ve seen it from the other side.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I came back from Operation Enduring Freedom in 2014 with PTSD. I’ve had to conquer it myself. So I have an idea what you’ve been going through, even though PTSD affects each person differently.” Michael smiled at Rob’s open-mouthed shock. “You didn’t expect that, did you? Now, in order for me to figure out what will be the best approach for you, I’d like to know what sort of symptoms you’ve been experiencing.”
Rob gave him the abbreviated version of his symptoms, when they had begun, and how that last tour in Afghanistan had affected him.
“How’s your sleep?”
“Not great. I tend to have nightmares of being back there. Not of what actually happened, but my mind creates new horrors for me and my unit in my dreams.”
“How often do you have them?”
“Several times a week.”
“Do you ever get out of control or violent?”
“My girlfriend tried to wake me up, and I started to choke her. Thankfully, I came to my senses before I’d hurt her. That’s what made me realize I needed to see somebody.”
“That’s smart. I’m glad you came. The thing about PTSD is that it tends not to go away on its own. Do you talk with anybody about what happened or what you saw over there?”
“No. I’ve tried to avoid thinking about all of it. Most of the time it only intrudes at night.”
They talked a bit more, with Michael asking questions and Rob answering. Occasionally, Michael would make a comment. It hit Rob that he’d been talking about things he hadn’t talked about outside of his unit.
“I don’t usually talk about this stuff.”
“I know. How does it feel to talk about it with me?”
“I’m not sure.” He checked his gut that always told him whether something was okay. “I’m surprised. It feels okay.”
“Good. We’re going to talk about things that happened to you, and you’ll learn how to manage anxiety, depression, and any problematic thoughts or beliefs you might have related to the trauma. We’re going to use a method of therapy called Cognitive Processing Therapy, which is a type of cognitive therapy. We’ll look where you’ve gotten stuck by thoughts, beliefs, and feelings that have stemmed from the trauma. They might be things that are hard to accept. I’ll ask you to write and read aloud an account of the traumatic events. This approach is designed to help you change your beliefs about the things that usually bother vets: trust, safety, power, control, and intimacy. How does that sound?”
“Okay, I guess. How long does this approach take?”
“We’ll have twelve weekly sessions, and then we’ll evaluate your progress. If you need more, we’ll take longer. The more honest you can be, the better the results.”
“I’ll do my best, Michael.” He’d beat this thing or die trying. Even though he’d been discharged from the Corps, he was still a Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Semper Fi. He reached out and shook the other man’s hand. “Thank you.”
“I’ll see you next week, Rob, and we’ll start looking at the traumatic events. Meanwhile, I’d like you to keep a log of what you experience between now and your next appointment.”
“Okay.” He turned to leave. He could do this.
Chapter Twenty-One
The morning dragged. From the time that Sheriff Bo Daniels called to tell her the results of the test on the meat, all MJ thought about was Maverick and Rob. Who would want to hurt a dog as sweet as hers? What sort of subhuman would poison a dog or any other animal? Nobody she knew would do such a thing. Did somebody hate
