The Hardest Step After Military Sexual Trauma

By Rachel Mickelsen, Texas Clinical Director, Warriors Heart

The prevalence of sexual assault is the worst-kept secret in the Armed Forces. Military sexual trauma (MST) quietly destroys lives in uniform and long after service members take it off. MST encompasses sexual harassment, threats, or assaults experienced during military service. While it disproportionately affects women, men also experience MST at an alarming rate. Nearly 16% of veterans and service members experience MST, with one in three women and one in 25 men affected.

Barriers to Healing

The military’s “suck it up” culture frequently blocks the path to recovery. From the first day of training, service members learn to prioritize the mission and the unit above their own physical and mental well-being. This mindset is vital for combat, but it handcuffs those who experience MST.

Cultural barriers aren’t the only obstacles between struggling veterans and the help they need. Survivors grapple with shame and fear that others will not believe them or will meet their story with victim-blaming. They also anticipate ostracization and career repercussions as retaliation for coming forward.

All of these barriers deter active-duty service members and veterans who have experienced MST from seeking external support and encourage them to bury their trauma. When bottled up, trauma evolves and manifests as post-traumatic stress (PTS), depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation. As many as 75% of MST survivors report suicidal ideation after their trauma. This cycle deteriorates further as self-medication with alcohol or drugs quiets the thoughts, trauma, and emotional pain stemming from their experiences.

Taking the First Step

The first step in the healing journey requires a fundamental shift in the ingrained “suck it up” mentality.

To begin, the survivor must decide that their life is more important than the culture and fear associated with speaking up. Survivors also have to reframe their understanding of “strength.” Strength is not defined by the amount of suffering, trauma, and pain one can endure before they break, but by their ability to recognize that suffering, seek help, and face it to heal.

This first step involves a series of courageous decisions: admitting the need for help, opening up to a trusted circle, and finally reaching out to a professional resource.

The Healing Journey

At Warriors Heart, my team treated a 30-year-old Navy veteran who faced this internal struggle. After spending five years under the weight of MST and attempting to outrun their pain with alcohol, they finally admitted to themselves that they needed help. As the survivor later shared, that decision proved to be the hardest part of their healing journey.

The difficulty was not entering the facility, completing detox, or attending clinical hours. The greatest challenge was seeking help. After seeking assistance, the veteran received a referral to Warriors Heart and tackled the recovery process head-on.

After that initial turning point passes, the rest of the journey often gains its own momentum. While detox and clinical hours require significant effort and vulnerability, they no longer represent an internal fight against one’s own instincts. The process becomes a series of manageable steps toward their goal: taking back control. For our Navy veteran, once the ball was rolling, the momentum carried the recovery process forward.

Success in this journey depends on finding the right fit for the survivor. Options include the VA, specialized facilities like Warriors Heart, other private facilities, therapy, support groups, and more. There is no one-size-fits-all option, but finding the right environment or environments ensures survivors find the right path forward.

Finding Help

Seeking help is not career-ending or a sign of weakness; it is a sign of strength. It takes more courage to face trauma than it does to bury it. Whether that journey starts at the VA, Warriors Heart, or somewhere else, the mission remains the same: heal and overcome your trauma.

Note: Identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.

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Rachel Mickelsen is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC), a nationally board-certified counselor, and a Level 2 Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-II) specializing in Accelerated Resolution Therapy and EMDR. Rachel has years of experience working in both chemical dependency and behavioral health roles at Warriors Heart. She also has experience in private practice and working for the Defense Health Agency Addiction Medicine programs at Brooke Army Medical Center.

As an Army brat, she spent much of her childhood in Germany and has lived in the Texas Hill Country for more than 20 years. She enjoys spending time with her family, especially her grandkids, golfing, and watching hockey. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology with an emphasis on behavioral health leadership.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.