This past August, the world watched as Kabul, Afghanistan fell into Taliban control. Among those watching were the 775,000 U.S. service members who were deployed to Afghanistan at least once in their career. For many of those men and women, watching the events in Afghanistan brought back memories that spurred them to seek mental-health treatment.

Dr. Levi Cole is an Air Force clinical psychologist, and in this interview he discusses the surge in mental-health treatment after the events in Afghanistan in 2021, as well as other phenomena affecting the wellbeing of Airmen. He shares his insight into effective coping, treatment, and relationship strategies both for individuals and the units to which they belong.