Veterans Transition Network program comes to Ottawa

A new program is coming to Ottawa to help veterans transition from military to civilian life.

The Veterans Transition Program was developed more than 15 years ago at the University of British Columbia to help soldiers reduce stress and trauma after coming home.

"You go from being in charge of people's lives to more or less, being qualified as a security guard," said Stephen Clews, who was 23 years old when he returned from his second tour in Afghanistan in 2009.

He said he felt a loss of purpose when he made the switch to home life in Vancouver.

"I came back with a lot of anger issues. I ended up going out to the bars and I was picking fights all the time, and I did have a lot of personal problems," he said.

Connecting with his family and girlfriend was also a struggle, until a friend convinced him to register for the Veteran's Transition Program in 2011.

'I was easier to put at ease'

It's a retreat-style program runs for three weekends spread over three months. Psychologists and fellow veterans help soldiers develop strategies to cope with trauma and adjust to life at home.

"The biggest thing for me is the communication skill set I took away from it. I was able to actually effectively communicate what I was feeling and what was really going on inside of my head and what was really affecting me to my girlfriend, to the people around me, to my family," Clews said.

"They were able to understand, not only the triggers I had which made me angry, they were able to understand why I was getting angry. ... And because of that, I was also easier to put at ease."

The first Ottawa session starts at the end of October.

"It's intense work that the individuals are doing. ... And it's time now to bring it further into Ontario and Quebec, where the bulk of our veterans tend to reside," said Sherry Lachine, the program's operations coordinator for central Canada.

The program has helped more than 400 veterans, including Clews. He recently proposed to his girlfriend and now works with the program in B.C.