Marriage Education Military and Veterans News

Warriors Discover Healing Power of Love, Intimacy

Summary

Veterans impacted by visible and invisible wounds of war, separated by generations almost half a century apart, came together this weekend in Mobile, Alabama to learn skills to win the battle for the health, resiliency and happiness of their marriages. The program is part of an innovative effort funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation Initiative to help improve the health of Veterans nationwide.

Couples hold hands at PAIRS Marriage Retreat for Veterans.

MOBILE, ALABAMA — They fought in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. While they came from generations almost half a century apart, these warriors share a common bond as Veterans who sacrificed for America’s distant wars.

Eager to learn skills very different from those that helped them survive and return home from the battlefield, they came together with spouses and significant others this weekend at an intensive marriage retreat at Mobile’s historic Admiral Semmes Hotel. Forever warriors, they spent 2-1/2 days locked within the arms, eyes and hearts of loved ones as they learned to battle for the health, resiliency and happiness of their marriages and families.

“The possibility that our Veterans lose their marriages and families as a result of their service and sacrifices to protect ours is something none of us should accept.”

~ Seth Eisenberg, PAIRS Foundation

PAIRS VA Retreat
James and Carolyn Milstid coach couple through “Fair Fight for Change” exercise during PAIRS weekend marriage retreat for Veterans.

The weekend marriage retreat, developed by the nonprofit PAIRS Foundation in Hollywood, FL, is one of dozens taking place nationwide this summer through funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Patient-Centered Care and Cultural Transformation Initiative. Since 2009, the VA has provided grants for hundreds of chaplains and behavioral health professionals to receive training to lead PAIRS programs. Research has shown the program is highly effective boosting communication, emotional connection, and problem-solving skills; tools that can help Veterans reclaim and restore marriages that are too often casualties to the visible and invisible wounds of war.

“I wish that someone would have offered us an opportunity to learn these skills when my husband first returned from Vietnam. I feel like we were robbed of 45 years of our married life.”

~ Carolyn Milstid
Wife of Vietnam Veteran

Carolyn Milstid said she’s waited more than 40 years for the opportunity to reconnect with the man she fell in love with before he left for Vietnam.

PAIRS Marriage Retreat for Veterans
Veteran and VetDog take a break during weekend marriage retreat for Veterans.

“I wish that someone would have offered us an opportunity to learn these skills when my husband first returned from Vietnam,” Milstid said. “I feel like we were robbed of 45 years of our married life.”

PAIRS Marriage Retreat for Veterans
Couple embrace after completing confiding exercise at PAIRS weekend marriage retreat for Veterans.

Jill Rogers didn’t have to wait 45 years. “The impact that this will have on our marriage is huge,” Rogers said.

PAIRS Marriage Retreat for Veterans
Veteran and wife work with peer coaches during PAIRS weekend marriage retreat for Veterans.

Brandon Lloyd agreed. “This really makes me look forward to the future,” he said.

Rose Denton left the weekend grateful for what she called an “opened door I know will help our marriage.”

Jo Kirkendall, a staff chaplain with the VA’s Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi, MS began putting the weekend together a year ago after completing four days of PAIRS certification training in San Antonio. While funding was awarded by VA in 2012, gaining local and regional approvals and working through contracting requirements delayed the start of the program by nearly 12 months.

PAIRS Marriage Retreat for Veterans
Seth Eisenberg, left, and VA Chaplain Jo Kirkendall, right, congratulate Veteran and spouse on their competion of PAIRS Essentials Weekend.

Seth Eisenberg is President of PAIRS Foundation. He has trained many of the VA professionals who are leading PAIRS workshops through local VA Healthcare facilities around the country. Eisenberg traveled to Alabama to lead the weekend with Chaplain Kirkendall, her husband, Chaplain Jim Kirkendall, and VA Social Worker Bill Hall, all of whom have been certified as PAIRS Instructors.

“It’s impossible not to be deeply touched by the experience of meeting and serving these heroes and their spouses,” Eisenberg said. “The possibility that our Veterans lose their marriages and families as a result of their service and sacrifices to protect ours is something none of us should accept,” he added.

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One thought on “Warriors Discover Healing Power of Love, Intimacy
  1. My fiancé and I wanted to express our deepest thanks to you and the team, for an extraordinary weekend. You guys have taught us so much; we stripped our hearts and emotions and found several elements which we may not have seen, if it was not for the safe environment the retreat provided for us and all the other couples. We are seriously working on our relationship, as we bring our families together. PTSD can be a home wrecker, however, God has placed people like yourself and programs like these, to help families find and create ways to strengthen and restore relationships.

    Every home must be built on a strong relationship, thank you again, may God bless you all, please stay in touch.

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