Warriors and Protectors
Active duty and veteran warriors, law enforcement and other first responders can face challenges related to the high-pressure, intense nature of their professions, including how to transition to their time off.
Interrelated health and functional impairments can emerge, such as the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress (PTS), sleep disturbance, long-term pain, depression, addiction and suicide, among others.
It is time to capitalize on neuroplasticity to build proactive brain health AND to enhance resilience to help people rebound more quickly.
Military operators never stop training so they can stay physically fit and constantly ready for action. At Center for BrainHealth, we bring similar, proactive attention to brain health.
Cognitive strategy training taps into the brain’s remarkable capacity for continual:
- Strengthening across domains (i.e., clarity of thinking, ability to quickly turn input to insightful action, emotional balance in adversity, and empathetic connection to team members, loved ones, and sense of purpose).
- Rewiring to enhance brain performance, even years after suffering a brain-related event.
In this two-minute video, national spokesperson Adm. William McRaven (ret.) shares why brain health is so crucial for the military – and our future.
Over the past 10+ years, we have trained more than 5,000 military cohorts, veterans and spouses in Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Tactics (SMART™) brain training.
Randomized trials have reported significant gains in neural health, cognition, well-being, connectedness and real-life function. They have shown significant continued recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress (PTS) – even years after sustaining the insult – in stress, depression and anxiety, as well as neural correlates.
We have also successfully trained “brain health coaches” embedded within other military organizations to adopt and implement SMART protocols (Baillie, et al., 2023; Venza et al.).
A trial with the Intrepid Center at Camp Pendleton revealed SMART training achieved significantly higher gains and greater compliance ratings – in one third the intervention time – on some executive function measures, with comparable gains across all other domains, compared to the traditional intervention offered across their center and Walter Reed.
Optimal BrainHealth for Warfighters is an initiative to provide essential brain health tools for United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) operators, veterans and their families – helping those with traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress (PTS) and similar issues, as well as building resilience ahead of deployment.
Thanks to time-sensitive $2 million challenge match from Admiral Bill McRaven, funds raised for this program will be matched through July 31, 2025.
Habits to Enhance Well-Being
As a service member, Jonique Young wears many different hats. In this video, she shares how her performance in roles for the Air Force Reserve and National Guard benefit from brain-healthy habits that help manage stress, minimize multitasking and build better brain health.
Tools for Better Decision-Making
The Rockwall Police Department has taken a unique approach to public safety by providing SMART brain training to officers and civilian supervisors.
"It’s unlike any police training ... It isn’t focused on policing. It is focused on the brain."
– Max Geron, Rockwall Chief of Police
See the press release and the full story on NBC5-TV
Strategies to Support Recovery
After being diagnosed with a TBI, service member Jake Schick struggled with post-traumatic stress, anxiety and other brain health challenges. In this video, he describes how SMART Brain Training helped him take control of his own brain brain health and recovery.
Through partnerships with active duty military, veterans, law enforcement and fire departments, we have successfully delivered SMART strategies to a wide range of first responders, including special operations units and people who have experienced an injury.
- Military and veteran groups
- Law enforcement departments
- Athletic teams
- Community groups
- University and college faculty
- Executive leadership teams
- Corporate departments
- City managers' offices
- Nonprofit teams