A study on the problems faced by war veterans and their spiritual counselling needs

This study aims to examine the problems faced by veterans who have served in the army and who have been injured physically, psychologically and spiritually during homeland defense, to determine their spiritual counseling needs within the framework of these problems and to reach solutions for these needs. The method of this study is qualitative research, the working group consists of a total of 30 veterans, including 16 disabled, 11 combatants and 3 wound-bearing personnel. In the study, a semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool and the obtained data were subjected to descriptive analysis. Four top themes were identified in the study. These themes are; the physical and psychological problems experienced by veterans during the trauma process, the meaning of life for veterans, the practices of coping with the support resources provided by veterans after trauma, and the spiritual counseling that veterans need. According to the findings obtained; It has been observed that veterans experience various physical health problems due to the trauma they have experienced, struggle with psychological health problems due to trauma, and experience spiritual problems due to the loss of meaning they have experienced. It has been determined that veterans try to find meaning in life in order to make sense of what they have experienced and reconnect to their lives, that they have tendencies to receive spiritual support from different sources during the trauma process and that they will benefit from spiritual counseling practices if given and have various expectations in this direction. In the light of the data obtained; It has been suggested that the spiritual counseling to be given to veterans will be beneficial in a meaning-based and holistic way within the Existential Approach and that the spiritual counseling for veterans should be done cognitively, physically, psychologically, socially and religiously.