When Thank You Is Not Enough

In this season’s final episode , Butch sits down with T’Liza Keil, director of alumni engagement with The Mission Continues, for an inspiring conversation about volunteerism, veterans service organizations, and finding a sense of community and purpose. Following her service in the Army National Guard, T’Liza saw firsthand the debilitating effects of untreated mental health conditions. Recognizing...

As a veteran and licensed clinical social worker, RanDee McLain Malone, Ph. D. has been a driving force behind helping justice, treatment, and social service professionals better respond to female veterans. In this episode, RanDee shares her insight into the unique challenges female veterans face and talks with Butch about overcoming barriers to identifying female veterans, ways to avoid retraumat...

“As a law enforcement liaison in a treatment court, you are going to be that first point of contact. So you need to be able to show them that not only can you trust me as a fellow veteran, but I am going to have a pathway that doesn’t lead to a jail cell, I am going to have a pathway that leads to resources, and success, and empowerment.” After 9/11, Jesse Holton put his law enforcement career on...

"There really is a light at the end of the tunnel, and there are people there for you. I don’t care what you are going through. I am not going to judge you. I’ve been there." Paige Ott served in the United States Navy. Her experience was transformative and positive, but her transition out of the military was anything but smooth. Her life was changed in a Nebraska courtroom, where instead of punish...

“It flips the justice system on its head from this notion that it has to be incapacitation or retribution or deterrence. And instead, we think, how can we make sure that this individual, after they've touched the justice system, that they leave healthy?” In episode 4, Butch continues the conversation about peer support with Dr. Jacqueline van Wormer, director of the All Rise Center for Advancing J...

Episode 3 kicks off a two-part series on peer support, starting with how the VA is expanding peer support to ensure justice-involved veterans have access to veterans with lived experience who provide individualized assistance connecting to VA services. Butch talks with the VA’s National Peer Services Coordinator Antonio Harris, LCSW, about the difference between VA peers and veteran mentors and th...

Veterans who are homeless or at risk for homelessness often face legal issues that make it difficult for them to obtain or maintain stable housing. Thanks to the VA's Legal Services for Veterans program, these needs are now being met in unique and effective ways. Butch sits down with program's national coordinator Madolyn Gingell to talk about how veterans can access legal support and the new gran...

In the first episode of season 2, Butch sits down with Katie Stewart, L.C.S.W., national coordinator of the Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) Program for a deep dive into the the many ways VJOs ensure that justice-involved veterans have access to the care, services, and other benefits they’ve earned. VJOs help maximize veterans’ potential for success and stability in the community, including by help...

"So our primary goal is to maintain peace in the community and to repair breaches of that peace. So when there's an offense against an individual or an offense that threatens the community in any way, we go into problem solving mode and we try to do that in a just and fair way." Season 1 concludes with a discussion with Montgomery County, Texas First Assistant District Attorney Mike Holley. Mike t...

“VTCs [veterans treatment courts] are critical to veterans because many of them I have found are ashamed that they are defendants in criminal courts. They have committed crimes against the very society they have sworn to protect, and it’s a long, hard fall from grace. These veterans really need our help.” After seeing the success of Kansas’ only veterans treatment court, Kansas Chief Justice Lawto...

“These [veterans treatment court] mentors, it's not the traditional mentor model...They're just there to listen. I think we underplay the power of listening." Todd Kramer is living proof that the justice system can play a role in facilitating treatment and recovery. His story also exemplifies the therapeutic camaraderie that exists among those who serve. Todd served in both the Air Force and the A...

“I would like to see a veterans treatment court in reach of every veteran that's in need. Let us in the justice system be cognizant of the needs of the veteran. And if there's something we can do to assist them in their journey, let us do that.” S1E5 profiles a true hero of the veterans treatment court movement, retired Buffalo Judge Robert Russell. In 2008, Judge Russell forever transformed the w...

“I tell all my buddies, if you tried VA 10 years ago like I did, try us again.” Is the VA a waste of time? Can it really provide the services and care you need? John Boerstler, Chief Veterans Experience Officer at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, joins the podcast to share just how much the VA has expanded, evolved, and modernized post-9/11 to better listen to veterans and respond to meet...

“Vet Center’s current motto includes the three Cs: connection, camaraderie, and community.” What are Vet Centers? How do they differ from VA hospitals and other VA services? E3 takes a deep dive into Vet Centers, looking at their origin, role, and unique approach to providing mental and behavioral health services to our nation’s veterans. This episode features Laura Felten, director of the Milwauk...

“How do you pull a weed? You get it by its root, so it doesn’t grow back.” E1P2 takes the conversation on trauma and post-traumatic growth to the next level and discusses mental health treatment, therapy, and trauma-informed resources to help veterans recover with James Puckett, a licensed professional counselor and professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin.

“It took one thing to be successful in combat; it takes something very different to be successful in my current life.” E1P1 explores the effects of trauma and post-traumatic growth on our military veterans with guest Jaymes Poling, the creator of Modern Warrior LIVE, an immersive music and narrative experience that chronicles his journey through three U.S. Army deployments in Afghanistan and subse...