Page 312 - Total War on PTSD

counseling or treatment with a favorable prognosis by a duly qualified mental health professional;
(c) recent opinion by a duly qualified mental health professional employed by, or acceptable to and approved by the U.S. Government that an individual’s previous condition is under control or in remission, and has a low probability of recurrence or exacerbation;
(d) the past emotional instability was temporary, the situation has been resolved, and the individual no longer shows indications of emotional instability;
(e) there is no indication of a current problem.
Security Executive Agent Directive 4 (“SEAD 4”), National Security Adjudicative Guidelines (Effective June 8, 2017).
As you can see, much of the mitigation surrounds actually seeing a mental health professional, obtaining treatment, and following through on the treatment plan. Consider the officer who self-referred because of his drug use. That concern was mitigated because seeking counseling for his addiction meant that the acknowledged his drug involvement and substance misuse, and his seeking counseling was evidence of completing a treatment program. Conversely, the concerns about his psychological condition were never raised. Put another way: seeking mental health guidance is not a problem; it was the underlying factual solution that mitigated the government’s concerns.
To underscore my point, I will use a more extreme example. A few years ago, I had someone retain me who had attempted suicide on two occasions. This individual self- reported the incidents on the SF-86 because they were involuntarily hospitalized. The situation was serious and, given the facts initially disclosed, we had to go through a robust appeal for their security clearance, which we ultimately prevailed in.
So, what was the evidence we provided? Well, plenty of statements from fact witnesses who knew this person well and could attest to their mental stability. However, the critical evidence came from two medical professionals: a clinical psychiatrist and a licensed
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