Give an Hour(TM) Volunteer Mental Health Professionals Provide More than $2.4 Million in Services to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, Families, and Communities

WASHINGTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Give an Hour™, a national nonprofit organization providing free mental health services to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their loved ones, announces results of its March 2010 survey and reports a 22 percent increase (an additional 4,000 hours) in services rendered since the last survey in November 2009.

Give an Hour™ periodically surveys its volunteer providers to assess its impact and effectiveness and to determine how programs and services can be adapted to best meet the needs of this population.

The March 2010 survey found:

• 24,106.25 total hours have been donated in mental health services, not including volunteer hours spent on operations
• 8,643.5 hours were given in direct, face-to-face counseling
• 1,477.5 hours were given in phone counseling
• 10,015.25 hours were given in education and outreach
• 3,970 hours were given in additional ways, such as community events and support to veterans service organizations.

Using a nationwide average of $100 per hour for mental health services, Give an Hour™ providers responding to the survey have donated $2,410,625 since Give an Hour™ began providing these critical services in July 2007.

Give an Hour™ has nearly 5,000 licensed mental health professionals on its network, in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico. Give an Hour™ aims to recruit 40,000, or 10 percent, of the nation's 400,000 mental health professionals to this cause.

"It is gratifying to see a continued increase in the hours our volunteer providers are giving.  It lets us know that the work we are doing to encourage military personnel and their families to seek help is effective," says Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, founder and president of Give an Hour™.  "Many of our providers are offering help in ways other than direct counseling – they are working on education and outreach in their own communities.  This assistance is vital to our mission of reducing stigma," Dr. Van Dahlen adds.

Mental health professionals interested in joining Give an Hour™ can complete an easy online form at www.giveanhour.org. Visitors in need of services can log on and use the provider search to locate a mental health professional in their area who meets their needs. If there is no provider in their area, Give an Hour™ will locate one.

About Give an Hour™

Give an Hour™ (www.giveanhour.org) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), founded in September 2005 by Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, a psychologist in the Washington, D.C., area.  The organization's mission is to develop national networks of volunteers capable of responding to both acute and chronic conditions that arise within our society. Currently, GAH is dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of the troops and families affected by the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

SOURCE Give an Hour