Trisha Pearce Whether active duty personnel and their loved ones are dealing with deployment or a return to civilian life, there's someone out there who wants to help.

Soldiers Project Northwest, operated out of director Trisha Pearce's Stanwood home, offers free, confidential counseling from licensed, private practice therapists for active duty military and veterans connected to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and their loved ones.

Pearce, a registered psychiatric nurse, and a group of professional therapists started the project out of a desire to help. After a meeting in October 2007, Pearce searched for a way to offer free therapy, and found it in becoming an affiliate of the Los Angeles-based Soldiers Project.

Since then, Pearce has recruited 50 professionals in the state to offer counseling. Her goal is to increase the number of therapists in Eastern Washington, and reach 100 statewide by the end of the year.

The project is in need of licensed mental health counselors, Pearce said.

Rather than counseling patients herself, as she originally thought she would, Pearce said she has found herself coordinating and administrating the local program, which operates on an all-volunteer and nofunding basis.

Pearce handles the initial contact and intake with military personnel and loved ones looking for assistance. She then refers them to a participating therapist in their area.

Some weeks, Pearce will refer three to four people to a therapist. Sometimes it's three to four a month.

The therapists can help both the member of the military and his or her family adjust to deployment.

Those in the Washington National Guard and the reserves can receive orders to deploy on short notice, which can be difficult for them and their families.

In some cases, those facing deployment at Fort Lewis have already been deployed two to four times, and may have anxiety about returning, Pearce said.

Therapists can suggest ways to make deployment easier, she said. For example, the U.S. Navy has a program where parents can record themselves reading books for their children.

Returning to civilian life represents its own challenges, Pearce said. In addition to stress, veterans may have lost members of their unit while on active duty.

Traumatic brain injury, which has been referred to as the injury of the war on terror, is also a possibility, Pearce said.

When a blast occurs, it sends a wave of energy out. When the wave hits a human body, it moves organs suspended in fluid, such as the brain. The brain can hit the back of the skull, causing brain damage.

That injury may cause cognitive difficulties, memory problems and difficulty learning and focusing, she said.

If someone knows they have it, they can learn ways to adapt, Pearce said.

When there are no therapists in the person's immediate area, or if they are veterans from the Vietnam, Korea or Gulf wars, Pearce said she helps them find other resources.

She does encourage veterans to hook into the Veterans Affairs (VA) health benefits. Many times, those with mental, emotional or re-integration issues also have medical issues, Pearce said.

Although help is available, the resources can be difficult to navigate, she said.

"There's a lot out there that's available," Pearce said. "People just don't know about it."

She keeps up to date on the various resources, and provides information on them to all of the therapists involved in the project.

The project helps people who can't get help anywhere else, such as friends of a serviceman or woman, a samesex partner, or someone with a less than honorable discharge from the military, Pearce said.

In addition, many insurances limit the number of sessions allowed. Through Soldiers Project Northwest, people can receive the free aid for as long as they and their counselor feel that they need it, Pearce said.

Some find the confidential, civilian-run aspect of the project attractive.

Despite the military saying that needing help with mental, emotional, or re-integration issues won't impact someone's military career, many of the active service members do not believe it, Pearce said.

"It's so ingrained in the military that it's seen as a weakness," she said.

It's helpful that more high-ranking members of the military are talking about having psychological issues resulting from their service, Pearce said.

Still, servicemen and women want to be certain receiving help won't impact their careers, she said.

Since starting the project, Pearce has learned more about what active military duty personnel are going through. Some have told her about working in 135 degree weather while carrying heavy packs. The water can be 90 degrees, and many of those newly stationed in the Middle East become dehydrated.

The heat, along with the dust storms, flash floods, spiders and scorpions can be stressful to deal with, she said.

The project allows civilians to help those who have and are serving in the war on terror, Pearce said.

Most civilians don't seem to have an idea of the sacrifices servicemen and women and their families make, Pearce said.

The war is still ongoing, she said.

U.S. military presence in the Afghanistan is being increased.

81st Brigade of the Washington National Guard is returning in August, and around 4,000 soldiers are preparing to be deployed from Fort Lewis this summer.

"We want to be able to help with that," Pearce said.

For information, contact Soldiers Project NW at 206-290-1035 or soldiersprojectnw@ yahoo.com or visit www.thesoldiersproject. org.

Staff Reporter Kristi Pihl: 629-8066 ext. 125 or kpihl@scnews.com.