Communicating and Connecting with Veterans
Communicating and Connecting with Veterans
Transcript
Many of us who haven't served in the military feel unsure and intimidated when it comes to communicating and connecting with veterans, even if we have a great deal of experience and skill in working with other groups of students. One doesn't need to understand every aspect of military life in order to be able to work effectively with veterans.
Applying the same principles of good communication together with a little bit of knowledge can give us confidence in this area. Just as with other groups of students, each student veteran is an individual with their own story and a range of identities other than veteran.
Our desire to meet each student where they are should not lead us to focus on veteran status first and foremost, when speaking with a student veteran. Veterans have a wide range of military experiences and feelings about their time in the service and it's important to avoid overgeneralizing or stereotyping.
Common phrases such as, thank you for your service, can come across as hollow or off-putting, especially if the veteran has conflicted or negative feelings about their military experience. Similarly, characterizing a student veteran as a hero, for having served, may seem empty or even trigger imposter phenomenon.
One point that cannot be emphasized enough, never ever ask a veteran if they've killed anyone. On the other hand, we should not be so afraid of saying the wrong thing that we don't say anything at all. So how should we engage with student veterans around their service?
It's always good to start by asking or acknowledging which branch the veterans served in. After that, one approach is to acknowledge how much or how little you know about military life. And to ask questions like, do you mind sharing with me what you did in the service? Or how has your military service shaped you and how does it factor in how you think about yourself now?
These questions are taken from 15 things veterans want you to know. A terrific and brief introduction to military culture created by PsychArmor and viewable on YouTube.
Questions like these validate the range of feelings that veterans have regarding their service, and allow the student veteran to share as much or as little about their military experience as they wish. The answers you get, will let you know whether to spend more time talking about of student veterans military service or whether to move on to connect with the student through other parts of their identity.
Applying the same principles of good communication together with a little bit of knowledge can give us confidence in this area. Just as with other groups of students, each student veteran is an individual with their own story and a range of identities other than veteran.
Our desire to meet each student where they are should not lead us to focus on veteran status first and foremost, when speaking with a student veteran. Veterans have a wide range of military experiences and feelings about their time in the service and it's important to avoid overgeneralizing or stereotyping.
Common phrases such as, thank you for your service, can come across as hollow or off-putting, especially if the veteran has conflicted or negative feelings about their military experience. Similarly, characterizing a student veteran as a hero, for having served, may seem empty or even trigger imposter phenomenon.
One point that cannot be emphasized enough, never ever ask a veteran if they've killed anyone. On the other hand, we should not be so afraid of saying the wrong thing that we don't say anything at all. So how should we engage with student veterans around their service?
It's always good to start by asking or acknowledging which branch the veterans served in. After that, one approach is to acknowledge how much or how little you know about military life. And to ask questions like, do you mind sharing with me what you did in the service? Or how has your military service shaped you and how does it factor in how you think about yourself now?
These questions are taken from 15 things veterans want you to know. A terrific and brief introduction to military culture created by PsychArmor and viewable on YouTube.
Questions like these validate the range of feelings that veterans have regarding their service, and allow the student veteran to share as much or as little about their military experience as they wish. The answers you get, will let you know whether to spend more time talking about of student veterans military service or whether to move on to connect with the student through other parts of their identity.