Detailed Description
This taster session will take place on the 12 December 2023. This webinar will be facilitated through Microsoft Teams and will take place between 10.00 am - 11.30 am.
The York St John University Military Human CPD taster session takes a person-centred approach to explore and better understand the recruit to transition and adjustment journey service personnel and families take when living, working and ultimately leaving the armed forces cultural environment (behind the wire). This approach is aligned to recent research findings that suggests people from the armed forces community ‘don’t feel understood’, that there should be improved training and information provided for professionals (NHS,2021) and that barriers to engagement are because many health professionals ‘do not understand military life’ (Mills et al, 2022).
The session will highlight how recruits join a unique military cultural environment where the needs of the team are paramount compared to personal needs (Hofstede,1980), where a sense of identity is created (Erikson,1963) and where most human needs are met and provided (Maslow,1943). We will also explore how the embedded core values and ethos of the armed forces contribute to military culture and a sense of belonging and family military personnel rely on. Discussions around the definition of emotive words such as loyalty, trust, leadership, and selflessness demonstrate how military language and orders may differ in intensity to most civilian settings due to the challenging environments they operate within. This shows how service personnel are required to personally invest in others around them on a physical, psychological, and emotional level. In addition, the approach also demonstrates how families, partners and spouses are required to accommodate the military lifestyle and culture, and the unique demands on them.
By taking this approach it is possible to observe how although most transition well (Ashcroft,2014), the emotional adjustment experience (MOD,2015), not only affects service leavers but also their families (Walker et al,2020) and may take longer than anticipated (Fisher et al, 2021). This can manifest itself in culture shock (Adler,1975) and a sense of loss that many experience (Kübler-Ross,1969).
By applying such a person-centred approach and incorporate recognised frameworks, theories, and research it is possible to successfully explore the military to civilian life journey
