Dr. Mary Lou Bartkus
Clinical Consultant for "Visions of Hope"
My name is Mary Lou Bartkus, and I’ve worked in the mental health and substance abuse field for the past 18 years. Although I don’t have a military background, I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Community Counseling. I’m also licensed in the state of Ohio as a Professional Clinical Counselor, and am currently in the dissertation phase of my doctoral studies at Cleveland State University, where the focus of my research is on Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, drug of choice, and the self-medication theory. I’m presently employed as the Clinical Services Manager at Cuyahoga County’s Treatment Alternative to Street Crime program.
I found out about Visions of Hope through a conversation I had with one of my colleagues about “secondary” or “acquired” Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, which is sometimes the result of injury to the my area of the brain responsible for executive functioning. I then began relating this to the number of service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, many who have received serious head and other bodily injuries from improvised explosive devices (IED’s). My colleague, Ted Chaplik, began telling me about Visions of Hope, and about what he and his niece, Tricia, were doing to help fill-in the gaps in services that our returning military men and women so desperately need. I began doing my own research on how the military is addressing these issues, and started to discover that the needs far outweigh the available services, and often these returning soldiers have to wait long periods of time before they are able to receive needed services. I also discovered that many returning soldiers don’t even qualify for health benefits, which I found to be quite shocking. I also discovered that many service men and women suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder don’t always seek help when they do have medical benefits, for fear of being stigmatized. If they do seek help outside help, they may be less fearful of being stigmatized, but their treatment might be less than effective if the clinician isn’t familiar with the military culture. This is what inspired me to travel to Blacksburg, Virginia to attend a week-long training provided by the Center for Deployment Psychology and learn more about the military culture and the problems many returning soldiers face once they are back in the states. I was also inspired by Tricia and Ted’s mission and joined with Ideas of Hope so that I could do my part in “paying it forward” to our servicemen and women who’ve given so much for the price of our freedom.
Clinical Consultant for "Visions of Hope"
My name is Mary Lou Bartkus, and I’ve worked in the mental health and substance abuse field for the past 18 years. Although I don’t have a military background, I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Community Counseling. I’m also licensed in the state of Ohio as a Professional Clinical Counselor, and am currently in the dissertation phase of my doctoral studies at Cleveland State University, where the focus of my research is on Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, drug of choice, and the self-medication theory. I’m presently employed as the Clinical Services Manager at Cuyahoga County’s Treatment Alternative to Street Crime program.
I found out about Visions of Hope through a conversation I had with one of my colleagues about “secondary” or “acquired” Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, which is sometimes the result of injury to the my area of the brain responsible for executive functioning. I then began relating this to the number of service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, many who have received serious head and other bodily injuries from improvised explosive devices (IED’s). My colleague, Ted Chaplik, began telling me about Visions of Hope, and about what he and his niece, Tricia, were doing to help fill-in the gaps in services that our returning military men and women so desperately need. I began doing my own research on how the military is addressing these issues, and started to discover that the needs far outweigh the available services, and often these returning soldiers have to wait long periods of time before they are able to receive needed services. I also discovered that many returning soldiers don’t even qualify for health benefits, which I found to be quite shocking. I also discovered that many service men and women suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder don’t always seek help when they do have medical benefits, for fear of being stigmatized. If they do seek help outside help, they may be less fearful of being stigmatized, but their treatment might be less than effective if the clinician isn’t familiar with the military culture. This is what inspired me to travel to Blacksburg, Virginia to attend a week-long training provided by the Center for Deployment Psychology and learn more about the military culture and the problems many returning soldiers face once they are back in the states. I was also inspired by Tricia and Ted’s mission and joined with Ideas of Hope so that I could do my part in “paying it forward” to our servicemen and women who’ve given so much for the price of our freedom.