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MWSA Review
To say that retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Elliott Robert Worthington lived a full life is an understatement. A three-tour combat veteran with service in three military branches, a family man, a PhD with multiple degrees and related job descriptions, over two thousand publications, a pilot and a businessman, Bob Worthington never shied away from an opportunity to learn something new. Last in a trilogy depicting his military life, The Making of an Army Psychologist: from Fighting in Vietnam to Treating Fellow Veterans, is a professional memoir bordering on narrative inquiry that exemplifies how change presents opportunity. Sparing no details, he takes the reader on a journey through numerous PhD application rejections, promotions up the ranks and demotions down, to end up Chief of Psychology Services at Brooke Army Medical Center. As a former school counselor, I connect with his clinical methods, his listening with hearing, his digging deep into a patient’s past, his fact checking and his commitment to team building and empowering others.
Driven by an intense curiosity, Bob’s first research project, conducted not long after the conflict officially ended, challenged the popular belief that Vietnam veterans would have difficulty adjusting to life at home. Validated by a study some twenty years later, his research revealed that the majority of veterans maintained stable relationships, raised families, and resumed their studies and careers. His research further shed light on the impact of childhood trauma and substance abuse as precursors to an inability to cope postwar rather than their military service. As a two-tour Vietnam veteran, Bob took returned prisoners of war under his wing, revealing how the life “the real heroes” hung onto during their internment was, for many, unrecognizable when they returned home.
So what if some sections of the book are redundant or long winded, the narrative lacks an arc, or that several minor technical issues interfere with an otherwise perfect flow to the writing. Bob Worthington’s memoir is a valuable guidepost for military personnel aspiring to a career in psychology, a wonderful reference for those in the field of clinical practice interested in knowing how those skills transfer to business, defense cases, and team building. Bob Worthington passed away five weeks before this review was written. I’m disappointed to have missed the opportunity to have a conversation with the remarkable human being whose memoir I am privileged to review.
Review by Janette Stone (June 2023)
Author's Synopsis
In the early 1970s the US Army was undergoing traumatic change. The Vietnam War ended, almost 600 American POWs were released by North Vietnam, the draft was terminated, and the Army was in dismal shape. Doctoral educated behavioral scientists, former combat soldiers, were brought on active duty to assist the Army to navigate the necessary changes to become an effective force for future challenges.
Simultaneously the profession of psychology also faced change. Clinical psychologists, no longer satisfied with only seeing patients in a medical setting, branched out into other areas such as management, sports, aviation, industry, organizations, and community. The field of psychology was growing, expanding, and entering new areas where behavioral science knowledge could make a positive impact.
The psychology education of Worthington is described, a former decorated combat infantryman returning to the Army as a clinician, becoming a senior psychology consultant to the Army, assisting to make the Army better. He became a pioneer researcher in PTSD and Vietnam veterans, served as a sport psychologist for the US Olympics, managed a clinical service and mental health center, became a pilot and aviation psychologist, treated patients, and conducted military research, authoring numerous journal articles and book chapters.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 268
Word Count: 95,000