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VETERAN SUPPORT
Transitioning from Military and RCMP service to civilian life can be complex and demanding. Many Veterans and Retired Members face challenges related to physical injuries, psychological trauma, chronic pain, or changes in identity, routine, and role. Tasks that once felt manageable—such as navigating paperwork, using online portals, managing appointments, or adapting to new technologies—can become overwhelming, particularly when service-related injuries, concussion, chronic pain, or PTSD are present.
At Stratford Occupational Therapy and Counselling Services, we recognize that no single approach is sufficient to address these layered challenges. Veterans often benefit most from a coordinated, team-based model of care that supports both mental health and daily functioning. With extensive experience supporting Veterans and Retired Members, our clinicians understand both the visible and invisible impacts of service. This depth of understanding informs a respectful, trauma-informed approach that prioritizes safety, clarity, and trust.
WHY OT + COUNSELLING TOGETHER?
Veterans often face challenges that affect both emotional well-being and daily functioning. Counselling supports trauma recovery and mental health, while occupational therapy helps restore confidence and control in everyday tasks. Together, this coordinated approach reduces overwhelm, builds practical strategies, and supports meaningful, sustainable progress—at a pace that feels safe and respectful.
Our clinicians have extensive experience working with Veterans and navigating the systems that support them, including paperwork, processes, and service coordination. This familiarity helps reduce frustration and allows Veterans to focus their energy on recovery and rebuilding daily life.
COUNSELLING SUPPORT FOR VETERANS
Our counselling services provide a safe, respectful space for Veterans to process experiences related to service, transition, injury, and trauma. Our clinicians are experienced in working with PTSD, anxiety, depression, grief, and moral injury, and understand the unique cultural context of military life.
Counselling may support Veterans in:
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Processing service-related trauma and operational stress injuries
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Managing symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, or depression
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Navigating life transitions, identity shifts, and role changes
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Improving emotional regulation, sleep, and stress management
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Strengthening relationships and communication
Art-based approaches can be offered as an option for Veterans who find it easier to process emotions through creative and sensory experiences rather than words alone.
Our approach is trauma-informed, strengths-based, and paced to meet each individual where they are.
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OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SUPPORT FOR VETERANS
Occupational therapy focuses on helping Veterans manage the practical demands of daily life while accounting for physical, cognitive, sensory, and emotional challenges. OT support is especially valuable when injuries or mental health conditions interfere with everyday tasks, independence, or participation.
Occupational therapy may assist with:
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Navigating Veterans Affairs paperwork, forms, and online portals
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Improving computer skills, technology use, and digital organization
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Managing chronic pain, fatigue, and concussion-related symptoms
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Developing routines, pacing strategies, and energy management
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Supporting return to work, meaningful activity, or community participation
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Building strategies for focus, memory, and executive functioning
Our occupational therapists take a practical, collaborative approach, helping Veterans develop tools and strategies that make daily life more manageable and sustainable.
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View Occupational Therapy Services
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VETERAN SPECIFIC MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS
STEADY GROUND - VETERAN TRANSITION SUPPORT
Steady Ground is a coordinated, multi-disciplinary program designed to support Veterans as they transition from military to civilian life. Service-related injuries, chronic pain, trauma, and cognitive changes can make everyday tasks feel overwhelming—especially when faced with complex systems, paperwork, and shifting life roles.
Our team works collaboratively to help Veterans “see the forest through the trees”—stepping back from immediate stressors to identify priorities, clarify goals, and build practical, manageable plans forward. Through integrated counselling and occupational therapy, we support both emotional recovery and the real-world demands of daily life.
Steady Ground helps Veterans regain clarity, confidence, and direction—one steady step at a time.​
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COURAGE THROUGH CONNECTION
Courage Through Connection is a Veteran- and family-centred program designed to support connection, confidence, and a renewed sense of belonging through meaningful shared experiences.
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The program offers low-pressure, trauma-informed activities that bring Veterans, families, and peers together through creative workshops, hands-on projects, games, and community events. Activities are intentionally structured to support emotional regulation, choice, and gradual social engagement, making them accessible for Veterans living with PTSD and other mental health challenges.
Participants can engage at a pace that feels right for them — whether through individual participation, family-focused experiences, peer groups, or larger community gatherings. Creative and recreational activities such as woodworking, epoxy projects, pottery, painting/drawing, games, and shared meals provide opportunities to reconnect with interests, build skills, and experience success alongside others.
Courage Through Connection also integrates simplified psychoeducation and practical regulation strategies for Veterans and their families, helping loved ones better understand mental health challenges while strengthening communication and connection at home.
At its core, the program is about rediscovering identity beyond service, fostering meaningful relationships, and creating welcoming spaces where Veterans and their families can feel seen, supported, and connected.
The Courage Through Connection program is presently offered free of charge to Veterans and their families until March 2027 through grant funding provided by the Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund. ​
BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU FOR TRAUMA TREATMENT ©™
This Program is being run out of the Stratford Occupational Therapy and Counselling Services Clinic, in partnership with Wulfrun Martial Arts Academy, and introduces an alternative approach to trauma recovery through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The concept is that physical movement can help restore a visceral sense of control, offering an important step in healing from trauma.
The qualified team includes a Mental Health clinician who specializes in complex PTSD in the Military and Veteran community and also acts as the clinical lead for the program, a 4th degree black belt experienced in supporting veterans and marginalized groups, and a mental health occupational therapist trained in multiple evidence-based therapies, who also specializes in working with the Military and Veteran community.
Sessions are designed to be inclusive, adaptive, and clinically safe, with oversight embedded throughout, and can be run in individual and group format.
Please refer to the PDF below to learn how the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for Trauma Treatment©™ program is able to be offered free of charge to Veterans and their families at this time through grant funding provided by the Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre, Department of National Defence | Government of Canada. This is delivered in partnership with the PEI Military Family Resource Centre.
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