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Story by Thomas Cieslak, Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point
A Navy officer serving aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point plays a crucial role supporting the mental health and wellness of the base’s Sailors and Marines.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Joelle Borja is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Behavioral Health Provider aboard Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point. In her own words, she walks alongside her patients “through tough stuff.”
“Clinical Social Work is an ethically rooted practice of providing therapy, identifying mental health diagnoses and helping individuals understand self,” said Borja.
Social Workers help their patients work through difficult life events and prepare them to cope with the stress that will come in their lives, she said.
Borja, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, serves as part of the clinic’s Behavioral Health team. A typical duty day for her involves engaging with patients – service members serving on MCAS Cherry Point – through psychotherapy and appropriate resources. A common misconception, says Borja, is that Social Work is confined to Child Protective Services.
“Social Work as a profession is broad in application. At its roots it serves to ensure people are resourced and those without the ability to advocate for themselves are advocated for,” said Borja. “This correlates directly to the military as service members come from different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences; the reasons people sign up to serve are equally diverse.”
By addressing unique stressors of military life like family separation and high operations tempo, Borja and her team help sustain the deployability and operational readiness of base units. She and her team often equip patients with behavioral health tools to help them move towards their goals and self-improve.
“No one has the same starting line, but we are afforded opportunities and benefits equally. Social Work is important in the military because it takes the person as whole into consideration, not just a symptom or stressor,” said Borja.
Borja finds her work assisting service members deeply rewarding.
It is incredibly humbling to walk with people through their struggles, see positive change and help build newfound confidence within them to face tomorrow, she said.
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