Sarasota Vet Center
We can help connect you to substance use programs both inpatient and outpatient with VA. We also work closely with our community partners to help you with addiction, detox, or to gain stability.
We offer opportunities for your partner or other family members to join your individual therapy sessions, once or twice. This can provide an opportunity for your family members to learn more about your needs and ways to best support you during your treatment.
Counseling is available to couples, or as an individual, based on your needs.
We value community partnerships and engage with our local communities regularly. Established partners include:
- National Guard and Reserve units
- State universities and community colleges
- Veterans Services Organization
- AARP
We offer:
- Bereavement counseling to families who have lost a loved one while serving on active duty
- Grief counseling
- Services to family members of a Veteran or service member who was receiving Vet Center services at the time of their death
We offer both individual and group counseling. After you meet with your counselor and receive an assessment, you may be referred to a group.
Our specialty groups include:
- Vietnam Combat Veterans
- PG/OEF/OIF groups
- Combat Veterans (era integrated)
- Women Veterans
- Military Sexual Trauma (MST) - women only
We offer evidence-based therapies, including:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
We offer individual counseling to people of all genders. We have both male and female counselors available to help.
We offer evidence-based therapies, including:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
In addition to individual counseling, we offer group counseling, such as:
- Vietnam Combat Veterans
- PG/OEF/OIF groups
- Combat Veterans (era integrated)
- Anger management and insomnia help
Group attendance is determined by counselor or referral.
We can provide basic information about:
- VA medical benefits and care registration
- Connection to a local Veterans Service Officer (VSO) for claims and benefits support
- VA education benefits
- VA burial benefits
If you need additional information on another topic, give us a call. We would be glad to help.
We can provide basic information about:
- VA medical benefits and care registration
- Connection to a local Veterans Service Officer (VSO) for claims and benefits support
- VA education benefits
- VA burial benefits
If you need additional information on another topic, give us a call. We would be glad to help.
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.
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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.