Workshop offers tools for military transition difficulties
VA Research News Briefs

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(02/19/2026) VA Boston and Houston researchers developed a tool to help Veterans adjust to civilian life after military service and better cope with mental health stressors. In a pilot group of 184 Veterans, those participating in the STEP-Home program showed improved daily function and reintegration, as well as better impulse and anger control, when compared with Veterans receiving the standard present-centered group therapy. The STEP-Home workshop was delivered in 12 voluntary, 90-minute group sessions. The sessions were designed to provide a concrete framework for understanding emotions, thoughts, and behaviors resulting from stressors. Workshop leaders provided strategies to solve problems with the goal of self-awareness, a sense of agency, impulse control, and control over one’s own behavior. The results suggest STEP-Home could offer an efficient method of helping Veterans struggling with reintegration into civilian life. (Behavior Therapy, Dec. 17, 2025)