When the mission ends but the mode doesn’t: supporting veterans and first responders in transition

Leaving military or first responder service can be a bigger adjustment than simply changing jobs. For many people, it can mean stepping away from a way of life, a community and an identity that has shaped who they are for years.

In September, our team travelled to Tasmania for the APS Clinical College conference. Among many thought-provoking sessions, one stayed with me in particular: Megan Fry’s presentation on Rewire, a schema therapy group program supporting veterans as they move from military to civilian life.

It got me thinking about something we see in clinical work with veterans and first responders: what happens when the skills that helped you survive and succeed in the job don’t automatically switch off when you’re home?

A gap in support

Leaving service can be an incredibly challenging period in a veteran’s life. Research suggests that 44–72% of veterans experience significant psychological distress during this transition.

While PTSD and trauma-related conditions have rightly received a great deal of attention, there has been less focus on structured support for the identity, cultural and relational shifts that come with leaving service.

Megan, a Clinical Psychologist and an Advanced Individual Schema Therapist and Supervisor has developed a manualised group therapy program that combines psychoeducation, experiential exercises and reflective practice to help veterans understand and adjust to life outside of service.

Understanding the ‘military mode’

Central to Megan’s Rewire program is what she calls the ‘military mode,’ an adaptive way of coping that develops through military socialisation, characterised by stoicism, hypervigilance and unrelenting standards. Training is designed so that, even when the body is flooded with threat signals, a person moves toward action rather than freezing or retreating. When they’re trained to respond to danger, uncertainty or pressure by taking action, your brain and body become very good at doing exactly that. In the field, that protects them and the people around them. The difficulty can come when the environment changes, but those responses remain switched on.

When a strength becomes a barrier

This is the part that resonated most with me. In my own clinical work, I see how this trained “fight” response, shared in similar ways by many first responders, doesn’t switch off when the uniform does. What was once a strength can limit emotional connection, flexibility and wellbeing at home, at work and in relationships.

The same qualities that helped someone remain calm under pressure, push through difficult situations and protect others can sometimes make it harder to:

• Slow down and switch off
• Ask for help or acknowledge when you are struggling
• Tolerate uncertainty, flexibility or a lack of control
• Recognise and process painful or difficult emotions
• Allow yourself to be vulnerable 
• Adapt when things don’t go to plan
• Work out who you are outside of your role

What can help?

Megan’s work reinforces that helping people reset from this mode needs to be a central part of transition support, not an afterthought. Early pilot findings suggest the program shows encouraging signs for improvements in distress, life satisfaction and cognitive flexibility. Here are a few key ideas:

Honour the function. The mode isn’t a flaw. It was learned for good reasons, and starting with respect builds trust and reduces defensiveness.

Build awareness first. Recognising when “Military mode” is mode is running, and what it is protecting them from, creates space for choice.

Work experientially. Insight alone rarely shifts deeply trained responses. Experiential and reflective practice helps new ways of responding take hold.

Support identity reconstruction. Leaving service often means leaving a core identity. Therapy can help clients build a life narrative that carries their values and strengths forward.

Stay culturally informed. Vulnerability and strength can coexist, and our approach should reflect an understanding of military and first responder culture.

Looking ahead

For those who serve and protect, the skills that got them through the job don’t have to define who they are afterwards, and with the right support, they can learn to put the armour down when it’s no longer needed. Therapy is one way that can help them develop the flexibility to choose when those responses are helpful, and when it’s safe to respond differently.

When you are looking for a clinician to support you, be sure to query whether they understand the nature of the ‘military mode’ as this is a key to supporting you to address that fight mode.

Written by Kim Eaton, Senior Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Operations Lead at Lawson Clinical Psychology

More information

If you or someone you know is navigating life after service, we’d be happy to hear from you, please contact our friendly client team to discuss, by emailing us at reception@lawsonpsychology.com.au or calling us on 08 6143 4499.

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