Seeking Safety Model

New Direction for Veterans’ main mission is “to empower men and women who served in the military and their families, to lead productive and fulfilling lives” (2017). They predominately focus on the highest equity veterans while seeking to get them service connected to the VA (Boden, 2012). More specifically, they do this through a Vocational Men’s Program, transitional housing program: Veteran Opportunity Center East (VOCE) and Veteran Opportunity Center West (VOCW). In addition to housing, the VOCE consists of 132-beds for homeless veterans receiving support services: groups, rejoining the workforce, legal aid, meals, mental health, and case management. With the maximum capacity of 50-persons, VOCW offers treatment for substance abuse and

mental health services specifically for those with a dual-diagnosis of addiction and mental health disorder(s). The majority of clientele are court mandated and/or transitioning from another program.
One of the main required support groups is Seeking Safety (SS).

It is an evidence-based practice (EBP) designed to create healthy habits while addressing dysfunctional behavior with 25 topics. SS is a highly structured treatment program. Each session is intended to model managing time, demonstrating appropriate containing skills, exhibiting how to make precise decisions, and show the importance of sticking to set goals as well as planning. The predictable structure is vital to the success of those struggling with PTSD and substance abuse. Each session begins with a check-in about any current problems, quotation focused on creating emotional engagement, handouts for the session, and check-out focused on safe responses to problematic behavior (Witkiewitz, 2007). Thus, due to the organization of this EBP, the facilitator of SS must be well versed in the content and material in order to be prepared for treatment challenges (Najavits, 2002). SS predominately focused on the first stage of PTSD treatment used for groups or individuals (Feeney, 2003). The SS topics used New Directions’ 12-week course: Grounding, Safety, Compassion, Honesty, PTSD: Taking Back Your Power, Creating Meaning, Asking for Help, Red & Green Flags, Boundaries, Integrating the Split Self, Coping with Triggers, and Discovery. According to the director, the other 13 topics of Seeking Safety are addressed in the other main courses of Anger Management and Recovery. This EBP aims to modify cognitive-behavioral

therapy for those with PTSD and substance abuse in an integrative way administered a binder and handouts in order for easy access and mass reproduction (Najavits, 2002).
The way in which New Directions utilizes the SS program is questionable. It begs the question whether or not SS is successful when only certain elements are used and not in its intended entirety. While New Directions argues that all topics of SS are covered in the other required groups, it is not in the designed form of this EBP. Consequently, the purpose of this evaluation is to determine the merit of partial SS implementation and its effectiveness.