The Counseling Association will host a special presentation Wednesday detailing the counseling needs of U.S. veterans.

With Veteran’s Day Nov. 11, the Counseling Association has contacted Amanda McCarthy and Bryan Dallas, rehabilitation instructors at the College of Health and Human Sciences, to give the presentation. Called Counseling Veterans with Disabilities: A Special Veterans Day Presentation, the presentation is meant to increase awareness and give attendees an overview of disabled veterans and their needs.

Dallas said the presentation will touch upon the recent, returning population of post 9/11 veterans. According to estimates, he said, around 2 million veterans will soon need services, and the presentation will discuss the rates at which they are returning with disabilities.

“Hearing impairment is the most common, followed by post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain damage. We’ll talk about those demographics,” Dallas said. “We’ll also talk about comprehensive services for veterans and assistant technologies, such as giving blind individuals access to computers.”

McCarthy and Dallas note that awareness of rehabilitation services is worth discussing, as veterans, especially those in rural areas, may not have easy access to them. McCarthy believes it’s important for students going into the health services field to become acquainted with issues early due to the increased number of veterans.

“It’s a population that, in all likelihood, counselors graduating now will be working with,” McCarthy said. “Regardless of setting, this is something that they’re going to run into, and they’re going to need to know how to help them or connect them to someone who can.”

One of the most important aspects of the presentation, said McCarthy and Dallas, will be raising awareness for future counselors.

“Who is this group? What are their demographics? What are their general characteristics? Just having that level of awareness is something we hope to bring,” McCarthy said. “It’s a population that tends to be underserved.”

“We want to increase knowledge on these issues because modern students may have not been able to work with veterans and their specific needs before,” Dallas said.

Elisa Woodruff, public relations chair for the Counseling Association, helped organize the presentation. She said the presentation was prompted by the oncoming inflow of veterans, and the presentation will make the audience want to learn more.

“There’s so much going on an hour-and-a-half presentation can’t cover it,” Woodruff said. “We want to hit enough bullet points, get people interested, and then point them to where they need to go.”