Healing After Service: A Veteran Therapist’s Guide

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What happens when “service before self” collides with the limits of a human soul? We sit down with veteran, board-certified psychotherapist, and spiritual transformation coach Malaysia Harrell to unpack moral injury, the stigma around getting help, and why healing takes more than motivation. Malaysia’s path runs from the Air Force and the U.S. Public Health Service to senior roles in addiction medicine and presidential support, giving her a rare view of how policy, culture, and people intersect. She shares unflinching stories from deployments and the Afghanistan withdrawal, where lawful actions still left deep ethical scars—and where guilt weighed on those who deployed and those who never could.

Malaysia also opens up about her near-death experience with sepsis after returning from leading mental health support on the Navajo Nation during COVID. The missed diagnosis, the reflex to route her to psychiatry, and the slow recognition of acute infection reveal how systems can fail the very people they’re meant to protect. Together we talk about clearances, “fit for duty” decisions, and the truth that high-functioning PTSD is real. The takeaway is pragmatic and hopeful: trust can be rebuilt when pathways are trauma-informed, family is integrated into care, and leaders advocate for their people.

We shift from policy to practice with strategies employers can use right now: veteran-centric EAPs, embedded virtual counseling, flexible responses to triggers, and training managers to recognize distress without stigma. Malaysia’s coaching work with high-achieving women exposes another hidden battlefield—public success masking private pain. She guides clients to align with their gifts, set boundaries, and build careers that restore rather than drain, blending clinical skill with spiritual clarity so progress sticks.

If you’ve wrestled with questions like “Was it worth it?” or you’ve struggled to ask for help without risking your future, this conversation offers tools, language, and a path forward. Subscribe, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review with the moment that shifted your perspective—what support would have helped you most?

You can find Malaysia on these social media sites:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/malaysiahharrell?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15YFYAy18u/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malaysia-h-harrell-a322b19b?utm_source=share&utm_c

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