Edmonton Operational Stress Injury Clinic (Veterans Affairs) - Edmonton

Really good service, they help a lot.

I've been out of the military for just over a year now and I go here every week for my PTSD symptoms and I actualy feel a tiny bit better every time I leave. Even though it is just a tiny bit it makes a world of difference to me. Thank you Edmonton OSI.?

The OSI Clinic gave my fiance relationship advice that haunted her for months about my PTSD. eventually she left me because of it. Next off. I ask for a letter to show I'm improving (court ordered) to get more access to my children. one of their doctors said to me my symptoms was in remission. My counsellor praises me for how far ive come. the letter they gave me basically says they can't prove it. When I asked them about it they said they can't say I've made improvements even though they said I have. What a crock.

I had an appointment with Dr. Gerber, the whole time I was there talking with her I wanted to get up and walk out. Her so called bed side manner needs to be worked on completely. She spoke to me in the tone that made me feel like I was wasting her time being there, I wasn't worth anything or she didn't want to be there and taking her frustrations out on the people going there needing help . She renewed my hatred for military doctors.

I may update this review but feel it important to post on this now for the benefit of veterans considering going here. As a healthcare professional and a 19 year veteran I have some idea of both the military and healthcare. I have seen one individual who is extremely compassionate and has been slowly helping me. Another individual I have seen lacked compassion and belittled me before telling me she does not want to see me again because I was reluctant to want to take a what I feel is an unsafe medication. I didn’t appreciate having this individual minimize my feelings and suggest to me that without her pills I won’t recover. Her attitude stinks and nobody suffering depression should see her. Thankfully in healthcare you can move on to someone else and seek help elsewhere. I expect retaliatory action based on this post but my goal is simply to spare others the experience I had.

If I could leave less than one star, I certainly would have. My boyfriend was seeing a psychologist here for over a year. He was struggling with therapy but putting in his heart and soul to try to get better every single day. And he was getting better. Bit by bit, week after week, I was seeing positive changes. The man I love was becoming the man I fell in love with again. Then, a couple of weeks ago, during the middle of a session when he was being very open with her, she cut him off to tell him she had decided she would no longer be his therapist. Her reasoning was that she wasn’t making a difference; that the therapy wasn’t effective. When speaking with her prior to that, my boyfriend had come home several times believing that he had personally offended her with some of his own views on government, military and police based on his personal experience. I believe she quit on him because she didn’t like his opinions. Whatever her reasoning, she committed to helping a patient and then when it became too tough for her, she just threw in the towel. On top of that, she went to his Veterans Affairs case manager and told her that the patient simply wasn’t making an effort. That this was somehow his fault and not hers. This lady put my boyfriend into a horrible situation by giving up on him. Then she went on to leave a bad review with his case manager, blaming it on the patient, when her own intolerance likely played a role. As a result, my boyfriend no longer has any desire to seek treatment. His trust is broken.

Veterans affairs will pay for a private doctor to help with mental health. Do not waste your time here as this place is military grade and civi side is hit or miss with wait times.

If you are willing to do the work, and at the proper stage in your recovery, this clinic and staff are amazing. It is a bit challenging to get mentally prepared, and to get through the initial first few visits (not going to lie it is one of the hardest things to do). However, if you treat it like any other challenge, and keep on working at it, the payoff is huge! We all must remember, life is not easy, and looking at our past is even harder. But in order to grow for ourselves and loved ones, we must be willing to put in the hard work. I know the initial process is hard and uncomfortable. But if you give them a chance, the staff here will do everything in their power to help you. However, if you still feel the clinic is not for you, then please at the very least, find a family doctor you connect with. And seek help that way, until you are ready to give the clinic another shot. Just please do not try to suppress or control the trauma yourself. It is more than just emotions you have to deal with. You also have to deal with neurological pathways, and training ones brain to jump out of its loop(s) it has created. In short, getting better is a lot of stressful, exhausting, and challenging work. And sometimes treatment needs to be done in stages. And sometimes one might need to take a step back, breath, and try again. Just remember, you worked a position very few have done. And the experiences you faced are not “normal”. And sometimes you just need another perspective on the events you experienced. Sometimes that perspective may challenge your own view on reality. But let’s be honest, is that really a bad thing?