Veteran Training

The Alcohol and Drug Education Program was built by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Mental Health (OMH) Offices of Informatics and of Substance Use Disorders (SUD), in partnership with staff from the VA Center of Excellence in Substance Addiction Treatment and Education (CESATE), Seattle Division. This free educational program was designed to provide top notch information about substance use issues to Veterans and the general public.

Original content was created by:

• Tracy Simpson, PhD, CESATE – VA Puget Sound VAMC
• Michele Keller, LPMHC, LAC, Program Manager Web-Based Self-Help, OMH - Informatics
• Ashley Engels, PhD, Director of Training and Education, OMH - SUD
• Michele Crisafulli, PhD, Education & Implementation Specialist, VA Center for Integrated Healthcare
• Dominick DePhilippis, PhD, Deputy National Mental Health Director, OMH - SUD
• Brittany Davis-Hester, M.Ed, Instructional Systems Specialist, OMH - Informatics
• Pearl McGee-Vincent, PsyD, National Manager for Digital Mental Health, OMH - Informatics
• Joseph Liberto, MD, National Mental Health Director, OMH - SUD
• Michael Palmer, MBA, LLMSW, Implementation Specialist, OMH - SUD
• Julie Wildman, PhD, Informatics Educator, OMH - Informatics

Thank you to the following Peer Specialists who graciously shared their personal stories to offer information, support and encouragement to fellow Veterans:

• Mel Costa, US Marine Corps, US Army Reserves, Lead Peer Specialist, Providence VAMC
• Johnny D. Davis, US Army, Peer Specialist, Boston VAMC
• Theo Dixon, Sr., US Army, Peer Specialist, Wilmington VAMC
• William Jones, US Army, Peer Specialist, VA Puget Sound (Seattle)
• Anthony Luton, US Air Force, Peer Specialist, CMC VAMC Philadelphia
• David Muniz, BA, CPS, US Navy, Peer Specialist, Grand Junction VAMC
• Derrick Ontai, US Air Force, Peer Specialist, VA Pacific Islands HCS
• Michael Reano, US Army, Peer Specialist, Oklahoma City VAMC
• Matthew Reed, US Army, Peer Specialist, Milwaukee VAMC
• Michael Roland, US Navy, Peer Specialist, Hines VAMC
• Rob Shaw, US Navy, Peer Specialist, Iowa City VAMC
• Erik Stirk, US Army, Peer Specialist, Altoona VAMC
• William "Billy" Truesdell, US Navy, Peer Specialist, Tennessee Valley VAMC
• Olga Wuerz, US Army, Peer Specialist, Dallas VAMC

The creators of this course greatly appreciate the contributions of the following Peer Specialists who reviewed course content to offer feedback from the Veteran perspective:

• Clayton Keys, US Marine Corps, Peer Specialist, Montana VAMC
• Anthony Luton, US Air Force, Peer Specialist, CMC VAMC Philadelphia
• Daniel Reinoehl, US Army, Peer Specialist, Montana VAMC
• Larry Vahle, Peer Specialist, Retired
• Alton Willis, US Marine Corps, Peer Specialist, West Haven VAMC

We are grateful to the following individuals who shared their broad expertise in treating Veterans who have struggled with substance use issues by providing videos to enrich the program:

• Yoanna E. McDowell, PhD; CESATE and Addiction Treatment Clinic, VA Puget Sound VAMC
• Tracy Simpson, PhD, CESATE – VA Puget Sound VAMC
• Kevin D. Skiena, LICSW, Addiction Treatment Clinic, VA Puget Sound VAMC

We gratefully acknowledge the following partner offices, organizations, and individuals for offering expert content review in their respective areas:

• VA OMH Offices of Communications, Family Services, Homeless Programs, Tobacco & Health, Veterans Justice Programs, Vocational Rehabilitation Services, VA Office of Suicide Prevention, VA Program Evaluation and Resource Center - Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution
• Jonathan Buchholz, MD, VA Puget Sound Healthcare
• Nitigna Desai, MD, VA New England Healthcare System
• Amy J. Kennedy, MD, CESATE and Primary Care, VA Puget Sound VAMC
• Neissha King, M.Div., MBA, BCC-SUD VA Central California Health Care System
• Thomas Meeks, MD, Portland VA Health Care System
• Marc Rosen, MD, VA Connecticut Healthcare System
• Brian Sands, MD, VHA NY Harbor Healthcare System
• Andrew J. Saxon, MD, CESATE, VA Puget Sound VAMC