Veterans experience high rates of PTSD, depression, substance use, and suicide, yet often underutilize mental health services. This proposed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) explores how veteran therapists experience shared military identity with veteran clients during assessment and treatment. Guided by second-order cybernetics, the study conceptualizes assessment as a relational, co-constructed process. Findings may inform counseling assessment by highlighting therapist positionality, cultural understanding, and relational factors that influence engagement.
