Healing the Invisible Wounds of War

DR. MICHAEL B. BRENNAN ’03—–now an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Rush—–spent five years on active duty with the U.S. Army starting in 2011 and served as the first psychologist to be embedded within the 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas. Deployed to Afghanistan with the regiment for nine months, he was responsible for the mental health of more than 8,000 soldiers and military personnel.

During that time, Brennan developed a deep understanding of the trauma that serving on the front lines can cause—–and the lingering psychological scars that can wreak havoc on the lives of soldiers and their families. Up to 30 percent of the troops deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and returning veterans have a 41 percent higher suicide risk than the general population.

Today, as the clinical director of the Road Home Program: The National Center of Excellence for Veterans and Their Families at Rush, this former Army psychologist has made it a personal mission to ensure that military veterans D Healing the Invisible Wounds of War receive the mental health services and support that they need to heal.

Dr. Michael Brennan '03

Veterans have flown to Chicago from all over the country to participate in Brennan’s intensive, three-week outpatient program, which employs a team of nationally recognized experts who are trained in military culture and skilled in the evaluation and treatment of trauma-based disorders. Many of the treatment providers, like Brennan, are military veterans.

In 2018, Brennan was instrumental in securing a $45-million grant from the Wounded Warrior Project—–the largest in the history of Rush University—–to expand the Road Home Program and cover the cost of therapies, travel, lodging, food and miscellaneous expenses for every veteran in need.

Thus far, the majority of Road Home Program graduates have experienced rapid and life-changing improvements in their PTSD and depression symptoms. For Brennan, nothing could be more gratifying.

“We are transforming the way that evidence-based treatments can be delivered effectively over a short period of time,” he notes, “and we have saved a lot of lives.”

Michael B. Brennan ’03, PsyD, ABPP, shown above (left) in 2014 during his nine-month tour as an Army psychologist in Afghanistan, received the Adler University Leadership and Innovation Alumni Achievement Award in 2019 for his pioneering work on behalf of veterans suffering from PTSD.