Federal Way Vet Center
The Federal Way Vet Center has licensed clinicians standing by to provide counseling services for couples, spouses, children, and partners.
We keep in touch with LGBTQ+ service providers at VA Puget Sound and can make a direct referral for you. Mental health counseling or case management is also available if you meet eligibility criteria
The Federal Way Vet Center offers a variety of appointment modalities to meet your needs to include in-person, video, and phone appointments. Ask how we can complement your in-person care with virtual services.
The Federal Way Vet Center understands that the transition from military to civilian life can be a challenge. We offer a variety of ways to assist you in that process. We help you get VA medical benefits by assisting you with the filing process. We also work closely with VSOs that will guide you through the claims process. Housing and home loans can also be explain and assisted with.
We provide education on our Veteran community and military culture to private organizations and community agencies. Together, we build referral networks to expand support for Veterans, service members, and their families.
If you're having trouble adjusting to a difficult life change or someone close to you has died the Federal Way Vet Center can offer counseling and other support, such as:
- Bereavement counseling for families who have lost a loved one while they were serving on active duty
- Grief counseling
At Federal Way Vet Center we offer individual and group counseling. We also provide referral to VA counseling resources and therapy resources in your community. Care at our center includes:
- Interpersonal and relational counseling for readjustment issues affecting Veterans, and their families
- Evidence-based therapies, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Skills-based treatments for mastery of readjustment symptoms
We offer supportive services through confidential individual and group therapy counseling to assist the Veteran in working through their traumatic events and provide coping skills to help.
Currently we are conducting 2 Vietnam and 1 gardening group to assist in PTSD therapy. Space is always available.
The Federal Way Vet Center can help you know where to go and how to register for:
- How to get VA medical benefits and register for care
- Where to go to file claims and other forms
- Understanding your VA education benefits
- Education and referral for VA burial benefits
- Housing and home loans
How we're different than a clinic (FAQs)
How we’re different than a clinic
What are Vet Centers?
Vet Centers are small, non-medical, counseling centers conveniently located in your community. They’re staffed by highly trained counselors and team members dedicated to seeing you through the challenges that come with managing life during and after the military.
Whether you come in for one-on-one counseling or to participate in a group session, at Vet Centers you can form social connections, try new things, and build a support system with people who understand you and want to help you succeed.
Who is eligible to receive services at Vet Centers?
Vet Center services are available to you at no cost, regardless of discharge character, and without you needing to be enrolled in VA health care or having a service-connected disability. If you’re a Veteran or service member, including members of the National Guard and Reserve, you can access our services if you:
- Served on active military duty in any combat theater or area of hostility
- Experienced military sexual trauma (regardless of gender or service era)
- Provided mortuary services or direct emergent medical care to treat the casualties of war while serving on active military duty
- Performed as a member of an unmanned aerial vehicle crew that provided direct support to operations in a combat theater or area of hostility
- Accessed care at a Vet Center prior to January 2, 2013, as a Vietnam-Era Veteran
- Served on active military duty in response to a national emergency or major disaster declared by the president, or under orders of the governor or chief executive of a state in response to a disaster or civil disorder in that state.
- Are a current or former member of the Coast Guard who participated in a drug interdiction operation, regardless of the location.
-
Are a current member of the Reserve Components assigned to a military command in a drilling status, including active Reserves, who has a behavioral health condition or psychological trauma related to military service that adversely effects quality of life or adjustment to civilian life.
We encourage you to contact us, even if you’re unsure if you meet these criteria. If we can’t help you, we’ll find someone who will.
Our services are also available to family members when their participation would support the growth and goals of the Veteran or active-duty service member. If you consider them family, so do we. We also offer bereavement services to family members of Veterans who were receiving Vet Center services at the time of the Veteran’s death, and to the families of service members who died while serving on active duty.
Do I have to be enrolled in VA health care to access Vet Center services?
No. You don’t have to be enrolled in VA health care or have a service-connected disability.
What about my privacy?
Safe and confidential. Our records can’t be accessed by other VA offices, the DoD, military units, or other community networks and providers without your permission or unless required to avert a life-threatening situation. Here, you can be as open as you want—there’s absolutely no judgment.