SARASOTA COUNTY – A Suncoast organization is helping veterans returning from active duty heal through alternative methods not normally offered through the Veteran’s Affairs Office.
Since 2019 Operation Warrior Resolution has helped hundreds of veterans looking to take care of their health by offering a holistic approach to healing.
“We all have this common bond in the military when we serve together, and we know we each have each other’s back and that we have each other’s best interest and always support one another,” said Kendra Simpkins
For Simpkins the President & CEO of Operation Warrior Resolution helping veterans heal from their past trauma is a personal battle.
“I myself am a U.S. Army Veteran so I’ve personally gotten my care through the VA, and professionally I’m a licensed clinical social worker so because of my personal experience in knowing that the VA only offers talk therapy and medications,” said Simpkins. “I saw the need for specific therapy’s that the VA isn’t offering.”
From Rapid Resolution Therapy, to Combat Conscious Yoga, and even offering children and family services – Simpkins says the array of programs offered have helped more than 200 vets and their families.
“It’s a way to get them up and lifted out of the past out of the traumas so that they are no longer feeling those emotional reactions and focused on the future and creating their future and looking forward to what they can build in their life,” she said.
For Christopher Anastasia – the Rapid Resolution Therapy has changed his life for the better.
“This is not a fault – this is a part of you. You’ve got to realize this a part of you this past and what happened to you is really a part of you so you have to cross that line and take that step,” said Anastasia. “And once I took that step – it was, the light opened up.”
Simpkins says her goal with the organization is to venture out of the Suncoast area and offer it to troops worldwide in order to battle the stigma that comes with taking care of one’s mental health.