New Options Program for Soldiers
Junction City Campus
1735 W. Ash
Junction City, KS 66441
(785) 238-3487
Helping People Get Better Fast
New Options (Junction City) is an intensive behavioral health partial hospitalization program that treats soldiers whose mental health symptoms are too severe to be managed in an outpatient setting, yet do not require 24 hour care.
Intensive work with soldiers began in 2006 with the development of a specialized soldier track to meet the mental health needs of soldiers, guards and reservists returning from combat as well as needs of their families. The effort has been an attempt to establish a model that can be used around the country for collaborations between military installations and community mental health programs.
In May of 2009, a Junction City Campus was opened. The move improved access for soldiers and allowed greater family involvement; it allowed soldiers to more fully coordinate their appointments within their spectrum of care. Increased interaction with Fort Riley physicians, therapists, and case managers was an added benefit.
The program is dedicated to the healing and development of resiliency skills to return our service men and women to an optimal level of functioning. It is about helping soldiers be exceptional soldiers again. It is about helping families cope with the changes brought about through combat exposure. It is about building solid mental health.
Soldiers attend daily group psychotherapy and participate in individual and family work. Psycho-educational strategies and cognitive behavioral models are stressed. Psychiatric assessment and management underpins the day. Suicide prevention and crisis management are an integrated part of services. Frequency is coordinated with Mental Health on post and close interaction with the soldier's case managers. Accountability is of high importance so soldier attendance is monitored and daily reports are called to mental health. Providers are engaged in keeping abreast of the most recent evidence-based research developments and are genuinely passionate about their work.
The desired program outcome is to return as many soldiers as possible to healthy functioning duty status and to develop a skill set to improve their lives with their families and in their communities. It is about giving soldiers hope that they can get better. It is about giving soldiers the skill to keep that hope for the remainder of their lives.
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