WHAT’S NEW

Celebrating five years of strength, stability and growth at Atlas

Our latest impact report is now available and it is a special edition that celebrates a significant milestone: five years since Atlas began operating in service of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Veterans and their Families.

As we look at what these past five years have meant, we chose the maple tree — Canada’s national tree — as a visual representation of our short but strong history.

Read our 2019–2024 impact report and join us in looking back at how our roots have been firmly planted within the Veteran and Family community across Canada and beyond. And thank you to our community for your friendship and partnership over the years!

“I don’t know what it’s like to be the child of a person with a mental health injury, I need to hear from them. And I think if we just sit back and listen, they have something to teach us. They really do. We just need to give them the space and listen.”

— Laryssa Lamrock

Mind Beyond the Mission co-host Laryssa Lamrock featured on Co-Created podcast — Mind mission: Military Families and mental health

Laryssa Lamrock, National Strategic Advisor for Families at Atlas and co-host of our Mind Beyond the Mission podcast, was recently featured on Co-Created, a podcast hosted by Kristy Wolfe that looks behind the scenes of digital storytelling.

Laryssa emphasizes the impact of digital storytelling in supporting military and Veteran Families, and shares how her own story became a powerful tool for healing and connection with other military and Veteran Families. She also reflects on how that experience informs her role as co-host of Mind Beyond the Mission and her other work at Atlas.

More than a witness: A military child’s perspective

“Turns out, I had nothing to be ashamed of. My story resonated with everyone … It meant something to everyone there. It was incredibly validating.”

In a new Perspectives blog post, Grant Winfield, the adult child of a Veteran, reflects on his experience being part of the Atlas Institute’s 2025 digital storytelling workshop. He shares how his self-doubt transformed into confidence and healing as he shared his story with Veterans and Veteran Family members who all found meaning and connection in what he spoke about.

COMMUNITY CORNER

“When it comes from the first-person voice … people with lived experience are able to give voice to things they believe are important, and for researchers, the lived experience voice strengthens what they’ve set out to do.”

— Corporal (Ret’d) Sarah Lefurgey, former RCMP member

Spotlight Series

Read Sarah’s story and more voices from the community in our impact report.

EVENTS AND TRAINING

September 2, 2025 — Digital stories screening

Don’t forget to register for this year’s digital stories screening, happening on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. United by a common desire to tell their stories, these Veterans and Veteran Family members have come together to connect us through shared experiences, inspiring hope and healing.

This year, we invite you to watch the five new digital stories ahead of time so you can be prepared to fully engage during the live event, where you will have the opportunity to ask the storytellers questions directly. This is your chance to dive deeper, reflect on your own experiences and join a conversation about releasing the past and embracing change.

September 9, 2025 – RCMP Veterans: Mental health dialogue session in Edmonton, AB

Are you a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Veteran (former member) who will be in the Edmonton, AB area on September 9, 2025?

Atlas is hosting a dialogue session to explore RCMP Veteran needs and perspectives relating to mental health. To ensure our future work is reflective of the needs of the community, we need to hear directly from its members.

Through facilitated discussion questions, developed with RCMP Veteran input, this dialogue session will explore experiences and perspectives relating to mental health to identify research priorities, knowledge needs and areas of public policy action.

This RCMP Veteran dialogue session continues a series of conversations that started in Moncton, NB earlier this summer. Over the next year, Atlas will host several RCMP Veteran dialogue sessions, both in-person and virtually. Future sessions will include discussions on the experiences of RCMP women Veterans, RCMP Family members and Francophone RCMP Veterans.

Once the dialogue series is completed, we will summarize what we heard into a public report so all organizations working in the area of RCMP Veterans and Family mental health can better understand the needs of the community and potential focus areas for future efforts.

The next dialogue session will be held in Edmonton, AB on September 9, 2025.

Please note that spaces are limited. Registration will close on Tuesday, September 2 or when all spaces have been filled.

September 17, 2025 — Webinar: Exploring evidence-informed peer support guidelines for Veterans, military, public safety personnel, and their Families

Atlas has teamed up with the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) to host a webinar on the new peer support guidelines for Veterans, military, public safety personnel (PSP), and their Families. This resource, created in collaboration with CIPSRT and the national Peer Support Community Network, fill a need in the community for guidelines tailored to the unique needs of the Veteran, military and PSP community.

In this free webinar, we will discuss how the guidelines were created and why they are needed in the community, and answer questions from participants.

September 18, October 2 and 9, 2025 — Webinar series: The psychiatric management of PTSD

Atlas is hosting a three-part webinar series designed to provide participants with an understanding of the role medication and other forms of treatment play in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), emphasizing the significance of a personalized approach that addresses the distinct needs of the Veteran population. The webinar series, The psychiatric management of PTSD, will be hosted by Dr. J Don Richardson, Medical Advisor at Atlas.

Each webinar is tailored to a specific audience — prescribers, non-prescribing professionals (such as therapists, counsellors and social workers) and Veterans and Veteran Family members interested in deepening their understanding of medication-based treatments for PTSD, making informed choices to manage PTSD symptoms effectively and compassionately, and enhancing support for Veterans.

September 19 – 21, 2025 — Canada Army Run

We are just over a month away from the Canada Army Run! Atlas is proud to be an official partner of this of this meaningful event, which gathers participants from across Canada and the world in support of two important organizations in the serving and Veteran community: Support Our Troops and Soldier On.

As a race partner, we are proud to be able to offer the Atlas community a discount code for 30% off your registration fee for you in-person or virtual race. Run, walk or roll in person in Ottawa, ON on September 21, or participate virtually from wherever you are between September 5 and 26. Participants can sign up for race distances of either 5 km, 10 km, 15 km, 21.1 km or 26.1 km. Participating virtually is a great way to support the cause if you can’t make it to Ottawa. Use code ATLAS to save at checkout.

This year, Atlas will be hosting a booth in the Expo Hall, where racers will be able to discover our many resources and ways to get involved. If you will be there, don’t forget to swing by the Atlas booth on September 19 and 20.

SELF-PACED TRAINING

FEATURED RESOURCE

Summary report on access to mental health care for rural and remote Veterans and Families

Veterans and Families in rural and remote areas face unique challenges in accessing mental health care services. Hearing from the experiences of people in these communities is a vital first step in driving systemic change and improving access to care that is equitable, effective and meets their needs.

Last fall, Atlas hosted a roundtable in Winnipeg, MB to explore barriers to mental health care for rural and remote Veterans and Families and possible solutions to address those barriers. The event gathered service providers, researchers, government policy makers, as well as Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces, former Royal Canadian Mounted Police members and Family members with lived experience of working or living in rural and remote communities. We have been working since then to summarize what we heard during this event into a report.

We are excited to now share the findings and hope that these insights can be used to inform change and create more equitable access to mental health care for Veterans and their Families in rural and remote communities.

Through collaborative discussions and knowledge-sharing, participants offered their perspectives in identifying critical issues that are hindering care. These included challenges related to geographic isolation, limited providers and resources, lack of cultural competency and stigma.

Suggestions for ways to improve care for these Veterans and their Families included increasing the number and frequency of licensed and/or registered mental health professional visits to rural and remote communities, supporting the use of information communication technologies, and providing culturally safe and competent care.

We invite you to read the summary report for additional details.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

An exploratory study of the sleep health of Canadian Veterans and their Families

Calling Veteran Family members! We need to hear from you. Atlas is conducting a study to better understand how Veterans and their Families experience sleep. Recruitment is well underway, but we need to hear from more Family members!

We know that sleep problems are highly prevalent in Veterans for a multitude of reasons and that they often occur alongside many mental health conditions. However, there is limited knowledge about the sleep experiences, quality and outcomes of these experiences on Canadian Veterans and consequently on their Family members. The results of this study will allow us to better understand the factors associated with sleep health, how sleep impacts daily activities, what health, behavioural and environmental factors are associated with sleep quality in Veterans, and what should be captured in sleep health resources.

Led in collaboration with a Veteran who sought to ask the questions that weren’t being asked, the survey will ask questions about your sleep habits, routine and quality, as well as about your information needs when it comes to sleep health. Participation involves filling out a one-time online survey that should take about 30 minutes to complete.

Seeking participants: Functional MRI neurofeedback study for posttraumatic stress disorder

RESEARCH PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITY IN LONDON, ON: Atlas is recruiting participants for a study at the Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph’s Health Care London to test the use of real-time functional MRI (rt-fMRI) in training the brain to control trauma symptoms.

Researchers will use state-of-the-art fMRI brain imaging technology to provide real-time feedback to participants about the brain’s activity, with the goal of learning how to help those with PTSD self-regulate brain activity associated with their symptoms. This work has implications on the treatment options available to address PTSD symptoms and for Veterans and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members, who are more likely to experience operational stress injuries from their service.

You may be eligible to participate if you are between 18 to 65 years of age and have gone through a traumatic event, and experience any of the following:

• Vivid memories or nightmares of the trauma
• Unwanted or upsetting thoughts of the trauma
• Overwhelming feelings related to the trauma

Participation involves:

• 3 MRI scans
• Clinician-administered and self-report assessments
• Wearing a wristband device to measure sleep tracking

Eligible participants will be compensated for their time and travel reimbursement for parking or public transit expenses is available.

If you have questions about the study, please contact jonathan.lieberman@sjhc.london.on.ca.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Jean Théberge

Moral injury in Veteran Families

Atlas is pleased to support the University of Alberta in an important study on moral injury in Veteran Families, the emotional and psychological distress experienced by loved ones who are deeply affected by the traumatic or morally injurious experiences of a Veteran.

While moral injury is commonly associated with Veterans themselves, it can extend to their Family members, including spouses, children and close companions. These individuals may struggle with their own feelings of betrayal, confusion or conflict as they witness their loved ones’ internal struggles with actions or events that clash with their personal morals, ethics or values. The impact of moral injury can cause fractures in relationships, create feelings of isolation and lead to a lack of trust in others or in humanity.

As researchers in Canada explore the broader effects of moral injury, understanding how it affects Families is crucial in developing the right support systems and interventions to help them heal and cope with these unique challenges.

If you’re a Family member or have a close relationship to a Canadian Veteran and have ever questioned what’s right or struggled with a sense of trust in humanity, your experience may hold valuable insights. Researchers at the University of Alberta want to hear your story and learn about the kinds of support or interventions that could make a difference for you or your loved ones.

This study is seeking participation from Family members (partners / siblings / adult children / close relationships) of Veterans who are 18 years of age or older.

Participation will involve a one-hour interview and an optional focus group.

PARTNERSHIP AND STAKEHOLDER SPOTLIGHT

New partnership: Military and Emergency Services Health Australia (MESHA)

We are excited to announce a new partnership with Military and Emergency Services Health Australia, a research, training and programs centre that supports the mental health and well-being of current and former Australian military members, emergency service personnel and their Families.

Through this partnership, we aim to strengthen our efforts towards the development of culturally informed, evidence-based supports and training for the health care community who work with Veterans and their Families. Stay tuned for more information about this partnership!

COMMEMORATIONS CALENDAR

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