Consultation With Military Children and Schools
A Proposed Model
Denise Horton
Military children face situations that are
unique. Their parents may be deployed at any
time, causing separations and reorganization of
the family. How to assist these children lead
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
their lives despite constant change and threat to
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
the family is an understudied area. This article
presents a potential consultation model to assist
military children to remain in school and to stay
motivated. By supporting the mental and emo-
tional health of the children, the academic work
could be more consistent. A consultee-centered
approach is reviewed.
There are around 1.2 million U.S.
school-age children who have either one or
both parents in the active component of the
military (Finkel, Kelley, & Ashby, 2003).
About 60% of those now serving have fam-
ilies (Drummet, Coleman, & Cable, 2003).
Desert Storm deployed more women as the
primary military member and Reservists
than ever before (Hardin, Hayes, Cheever,
& Addy, 2003). With the war in Iraq and
many other types of military missions in
place, the military forces are being sent on
more deployments than ever before (Drum-
met et al., 2003).
An online article titled “War Takes a
Toll on Military Kids” quoted Dr. Jean
Silvernail, a program analyst from the Pen-
tagon’s Military Children in Transition and
Deployment Office, as stating, “One of the
things we know is that children under the
stress of deployment are affected academ-
ically, socially and emotionally” (“War
Takes a Toll,” n.d., para 11). An example
of one school in which there is a large
proportion of military children is at Fort
Hood, Texas. The nearby high school ex-
pected to graduate 396 students. The guid-
ance counselor at the school, Barbara
Critchfield, noted that “75– 80%” of the
Copyright 2005 by the Educational Publishing Foundation and the Society of Consulting Psychology, 1065-9293/05/$12.00
DOI: 10.1037/1065-9293.57.4.259
Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, Vol. 57, No. 4, 259 –265
Walden University
high school seniors have already either
dropped out or have skipped too much
school to graduate on time “ (War Takes a
Toll,” n.d., para 4). A Web site (www.
militarystudent.org) has been set up for
military children, parents, educators, and
military leaders to access assistance as a
result of just such concerns. The Depart-
ment of Education has created guides for
educators and schools to understand the
military family; however; it may take a
formal plan of action to make written
guidelines adaptable and useful in the mil-
itary culture.
Military children see themselves as set
apart. Ender (2002) noted that these chil-
dren are a unique subset of the culture.
There have been labels that they, them-
selves, as well as researchers have given
them, such as “military brats” or “global
nomads.”
Drummet et al. (2003) noted that mili-
tary families face unique stressors, such as
relocations to overseas assignments, sepa-
ration from service members, and a contin-
uous level of reorganization-disorganiza-
tion when reunions occur. Since LaGrone
(1978) argued that the military family has a
unique set of patterns and stressors that
Denise Horton, MS, LPC, is a doctoral can
didate in counseling psychology at Walden
University.
She seves the U.S. Army at Fort Dix as an
Alcohol and Drug Control officer and Employee
Assistance Professional. She wishes to thank her
husband William for his love and proofreading.
Correspondence concerning this article
should be addressed to Denise Horton, 46 Hilton
Road, Mount Holly, NJ 08060. E-mail:
w.hortoniii@worldnet.att.net
259
 create a so-called “military family syn-
drome” (p. 1040), there have been conflict-
ing ideas and opinions as to how the mili-
tary family copes with military life and
increased military deployments. The sys-
tems in place that offer assistance to active
component, Reservists, National Guard,
and civilian contractors are not necessarily
linked in ways that offer help in adaptation.
Bowen, Mancini, Martin, Ware, and
Nelson (2003) examined the strong points
that military families bring to the table. A
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
sense of community was used as a mea-
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
surement or variable to examine how a
military community can be brought to-
gether to reduce stress and help adaptation.
Drummet et al. (2003) noted that there is
available information for military families
to learn to adapt, yet accessing it is some-
times the hard part. There is still stigma
attached to asking for help in the military
setting. Programs for families are physi-
cally located on military installations, yet
the families may be far from that installa-
tion. Cultural differences in how these pro-
grams are offered have gone unrecognized.
Being stationed abroad may limit some of
the ways families communicate, gain em-
ployment, stay connected, and deal with the
cultural constraints they encounter.
Although there has been some research
on deployments and staying connected or
encouraging children in their education,
there is scant research into how to offer
consultation to schools in which there are
military children. The Department of Edu-
cation offers a guidebook for educators
who work with children of military fami-
lies. In it there are recommended stages for
consultation services at every phase of de-
ployment. Although there are suggestions
made to refer to mental health resources for
serious stress reactions, there is little in the
way of preventive assistance in the guide-
book. This article offers some initial steps
that could be adapted to assist teachers,
parents, and guidance counselors to help
the military children they serve to stay in
260 Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research
school despite the changes in the family.
Each branch of the military (Army, Navy,
Air Force, and Marines) shares similar is-
sues. This article focuses on the Army as an
example of what can be done. As this may
be considered a pilot program, the initial
efforts report on one on-post school that
has students whose parents are deployed.
The type of consultation model is defined
and explained.
Mental Health Model:
Consultee-Centered Approach
Brown, Pryzwansky, and Shulte (2001)
suggested that the main goal of the mental
health model would be to improve the con-
sultee’s ability to solve a problem. This
type of consultation is most appropriate in
an on-post, military, school-based setting
as the recipient of the consultation services
may also be a military spouse. In addition,
it may be that the military service member
is deployed, creating problems in objec-
tively handling the level of stress children
may have with their parent’s deployment.
Teachers or school personnel may have ex-
pectations that the children who need assis-
tance should be able to handle their prob-
lems in the same fashion their own children
can. Theme interference may also be prob-
lematic, especially when the deployment is
to a war or combat zone. The teacher may
be extending his or her own fear of loss
onto a client or child (Brown et al., 2001).
The added cultural burden of rank may
cause confidence to be a problem. If the
teacher is having problems with the com-
mander’s child, there may be a need to help
show a sound and fair way to deal with
concerns without fear of retribution or
harm to the service member’s career.
In the case where the receipt of consul-
tation is not a military member, but a civil-
ian, with little background or experience
with the military, there may be a knowl-
edge gap where a consultant can help (Ed-
ucator’s Guide to the Military Child Dur-
ing Deployment, n.d.). The need to link
Fall 2005
 services or to make the school personnel
aware of how to access military systems
could be very helpful. There is a possibility
that the civilian staff members may have
strong feelings about the nature of the mil-
itary that may be hampering their view-
point with an individual child. Whether the
consultant is internal or external to the or-
ganization, there is a need to be account-
able to the chain of command. Knowing the
cycle of deployment and what can be put
into place is outlined as a pilot proposal.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
Proposed Consultation Model
Services could be developed at each
stage of the deployment process: prede-
ployment, deployment, and postdeploy-
ment. The Educator’s Guide to Military
Children During Deployment (n.d.) sug-
gested that there are specific and clear chal-
lenges at each stage. Bell and Schumm
(2000), working from the Army Research
Institute, noted the particular concerns for
adults and families at each stage of deploy-
ment. Knox and Price (1999) also sug-
gested that the combined efforts of profes-
sional providers and families can ease the
stress of deployment through family readi-
ness support groups at the unit level.
Project Outline
The target setting for the program could
be any on-post elementary school where a
large contingent of military families has a
military member who is deployed. Most
Army installations have a school liaison
officer who could act as a gatekeeper. The
position is one in which the person knows
the school, child development, and the
teachers. The intended client should be the
teachers.
Purpose and Objectives
The purpose and objectives are as fol-
lows: to train and support the teachers on
how to handle behaviors associated with a
Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research
Fall 2005
parental deployment (i.e., acting out) in a
preventative fashion, to link the parent who
is at home with school resources before
there are problems in academics or behav-
ior, and to allow the child(ren) to know
who and how to access help before they
need it. There are existing programs, such
as fire prevention training or child abuse
prevention training, that could serve as
models to increase buy-in from the parents
and children.
Stages of Deployment
Predeployment. Prior to the military
parent’s departure, the unit often receives
some type of warning order before their
specific date for deployment. During this
phase, several useful interventions can be
implemented to offer an inoculation against
the strain of potential separation.
Stress management classes for both par-
ents and children can help them understand
the stress they will feel and that they are not
alone. Art projects can be done in a class-
room setting or in a specialized class of-
fered through family support centers at ev-
ery military installation. Drawing and cre-
ating pictures of what they expect their
parents to be facing may help children to
integrate and express their concerns so that
an adult can help to sort them out. Johnson
(1998) suggested that art and art therapy
can enhance trust, build rapport, and help
children to process internal struggles. Dur-
ing the initial stages of the current conflict,
art has been used as a way for the children
to express their pride and patriotism for the
mission their parent was involved in. Art
can be used in family readiness groups in
the Reserve and National Guard sectors
during support meetings to get to know the
children and families. Active involvement
processes can help to work out the feel-
ings—for example, the use of poetry and
writing to give voice to the fears and con-
cerns. Army family team-building classes,
which are designed and offered by family
support programs, already exist and teach
261
 everything needed to understand the mili-
tary culture. Parents and teachers can and
should attend at initial stages of military
life. It helps the adults to become members
of the Army team. Creating a children’s
version of this program would help by link-
ing it to the needs of children and creating
supportive ways to make them also feel a
part of the team. Existing services could be
used to manage this. Classes on how to
handle the media are important to consider.
News reports can be very scary as often
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what they report is the number of deaths.
Reporters seeking a good story will ask for
information they have no real need to know
and could essentially compromise security
of a unit without realizing it. Drummet et
al. (2003) suggested that incomplete reports
or rumors have increased the fear and anx-
iety in the general public and, more specif-
ically, military families. Children may re-
quire help to sort out the media messages
and learn for themselves how to understand
the reporting. Each installation has a public
affairs specialist who could serve as an
additional source of support to such a class.
Deployment phase. When the service
member actually boards a plane and departs
for a location that is subject to change, the
children and parent left behind are “reorga-
nized” to adjust to the loss. A deployment
newspaper for children could be developed
that passes on information about their par-
ents in language they understand. This may
prove helpful as a communication tool.
Support groups for parents and children can
aid in providing a safe place to share com-
mon concerns and get answers that come
from the command.
Grief training for guidance counselors
may support the transitional loss felt by the
children as a result of the departure of their
parent. Younger children may experience
separation anxiety from the parent who is at
home. Providing Web links to family readi-
ness groups and the phone number of a
person who knows what is going on could
262 Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research
increase intergroup communication, which
is so important when families are separated.
Postdeployment. This phase is marked
by an effort to reintegrate the service mem-
ber back into a system that may have dra-
matically adapted without them. Depend-
ing on the age of the child, several useful
programs could be implemented. A class to
explain the impact of trauma and stress
reactions that is geared toward specific age
groups may serve to educate the family to
what the military member may be experi-
encing. Fathers and mothers experiencing
posttraumatic stress reactions may not be
prepared for the amount and degree of need
in their children (Caselli & Motta, 1995).
Children need an understanding that they
did not cause the changes in their parents.
Continued use of support groups and active
methods like poetry or art to allow children
to express themselves can be helpful. There
should be a focus on classroom structure
and how it is affecting the children. There
may be a need to offer more or less struc-
ture depending on how the children work
through the adaptation of the family. Anger
management and antiviolence programs
should be a part of the prevention strategy.
Preventive approaches to behavior may
stop serious incidents from happening as
the reorganization of the family may create
a number of feelings, including the anger
that the parent may feel as a part of the
posttraumatic stress. A project such as this
may take up to a year or more depending on
the amount of time a unit is deployed. Fol-
low-up services to ensure that the consult-
ees are managing their needs may further
extend the time line to 18 months to 2
years.
Data Collection Strategies
Perhaps most helpful as a starting point
at the outset of a consultation would be for
the consultant to review the previous years’
records, including both guidance counselor
records and disciplinary records, and to of-
fer a pretest for stress before the deploy-
Fall 2005
 ment for the family. Postdeployment com-
parisons to this type of baseline data would
assist in determining the impact of the in-
terventions offered. Surveys of client satis-
faction with the programs implemented
would also offer qualitative data. One crit-
ical sign of satisfaction with the military is
retention in service. Drummet et al. (2003)
noted that satisfaction with military life has
been seen by some as one of the most accu-
rate predictors of retention in the service.
There are multicultural considerations in
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
this type of consultation with this popula-
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
tion. For disabled or special needs parents
or children in the unit, classes and instruc-
tion may need to be adapted given their
special needs. Any foreign-born spouse
whose language is other than English may
need translation services. An understanding
of the differences in culture with the mili-
tary setting would be critical. There may be
families who are new to military jargon and
lifestyle. This group would especially ben-
efit from Army family team-building
classes offered by the Army community
service center on the installation. Linking
them to the needed service would be facil-
itated through this consultation.
Challenges and Limitations
It is not always known when a unit is
deploying so the timelines for a consulta-
tion may be different or hard to put into
place at critical times. The unit may be
redeploying after a short time home, mak-
ing the reunion phase nonexistent and cre-
ating yet new turmoil for the family. Com-
mand pressure to quickly have a viable
program for families may interfere with the
consultation being properly organized and
adequately assessed. Commanders are held
accountable for the results of any family
program. If a consultation is not successful,
it may be seen as poor leadership by a
commander. This kind of pressure can
lessen the support for the program. There
may be territorial overlap with current ser-
vices, which may need to be coordinated
Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research
Fall 2005
well with other agencies. Linkage across
programs may not work. There may be a
need to make referrals that are not readily
available, for example, psychological ser-
vices for children.
Other ethical and clinical considerations
should be taken into account as the consul-
tation is developed. The consultant should
clarify the need to report child abuse con-
cerns. A child left at home without adult
supervision is not unheard of in a military
setting. Children may disclose concerns
about the parent they are at home with, who
may be experiencing depression, alcohol or
drug problems, or any number of mental
health concerns. Family support centers or
Army community service offices have
trained social workers available to meet the
problems of spouse and child abuse in the
military settings (Knox & Price, 1999). The
consultant must be clear about how these
situations are to be handled and docu-
mented. With increasing military deploy-
ments, all service branches within the mil-
itary could adapt this type of program.
Web-based models are being developed al-
ready. The Army has a contracted service
for families called Army One Source that is
intended to meet the needs of the spouses
primarily. Kelley (2002) noted many other
civilian sector employers are offering more
mobile jobs to women, taking them away
for extended period from their children. A
program to help keep children emotionally
motivated and coping well with extended
separations from parents may benefit other
industries, especially those in which a par-
ent has to travel extensively.
Consultation in a Military Setting
W. B. Johnson (2002) stated that when
acting as a consultant in the military set-
ting, it is important to be mindful of the
special cultural context. W. B. Johnson rec-
ommended considering the setting as a
cross-cultural one. The ability to work
within a multicultural setting would be a
valuable skill. Everything in the military
263
 environment is directed toward the mission
of protecting and defending the country.
Support services like the school exist to
allow the military member to focus on his
or her job of preparation for deployment.
Johnson also noted that to be an effective
consultant, one needs to be able to use
clinical skills, such as understanding pa-
thology and therapy techniques, to assist at
both individual and organizational levels.
An understanding of organizational sys-
tems and the ability to apply research and
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statistics were also seen as skills needed to
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
be competent as a consulting psychologist
in a military setting (W. B. Johnson, 2002).
In addition, W. B. Johnson suggested that
an ethical consultant is one who has the
personal traits that engender trust and con-
fidence and who is emotionally able to
work in this type of arena.
Caplan, Caplan, and Erchul (1994) ex-
plained that when the consultant is internal
to the organization, team work, confidenti-
ality, and communication are all areas that
have to be addressed. The consultant must
be able to work within a network or system
of professionals while maintaining dignity
and respect for all. The ability to analyze
and accurately interpret the context are rel-
evant skills for the consultant.
Sandoval (2003) felt that being an active
listener, asking questions, separating and
maintaining healthy boundaries from the
consultee, assessing the needs of the con-
sultee, knowing how to build relationships,
and maintaining body language that trans-
mits trust and confidence are all skills
needed to create change in others.
Discussion
Knox and Price (1999) noted that there
has been tremendous shifting in the way the
military works as an organization. Reliance
on Reserve and National Guard troops has
changed the culture of the military. Fami-
lies who previously did not know much
about the military are being forced to
quickly understand a fairly complex sys-
264 Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research
tem. Reserve and National Guard families
often reside some distance from a military
installation that could offer support and
awareness of the benefits afforded to them.
School systems on-post and school systems
located off the installation have different
levels of understanding and support of the
military. The programming mentioned in
this article can be accomplished, to a great
extent, with support services already in
place. Retention in the military is in part
based on the health and happiness of the
families. In addition, if the military mem-
ber can stay focused on their military job
while in the field, it would enhance their
readiness. If the children could stay focused
on their job at school, the family could also
be more mission ready.
Military children face academic issues
when they are required to move from state
to state as a natural process of the military
lifestyle. Some of the families move to a
temporary location to be closer to family
during the deployment of their military
member. Moving to a new school district
may occur at any time of the year. Little is
known about the children’s inner struggle
with the absence of a military parent. A
comprehensive program such as the one
outlined in this article may provide avenues
for the children to safely express their
needs, without fear of harm to their parents’
careers.
The teacher in the classroom may also
be facing the stress of deployment of a
military member of the family. A consul-
tant can offer objective support to the
school as an organization as well as indi-
vidual support to the teacher. Application
and organization of systems that may not
be accessed could offer increased use of the
already existing programs. The military as
an organization is evolving to accommo-
date the members who have families. Pre-
vention can assist commanders in retaining
unit members as they can offer better as-
sistance to the family left behind.
Fall 2005
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