New Year, New You: VA’s online resources can help you handle life’s challenges

It can be hard to begin making new changes in life. Adjusting to life’s challenges can be stressful at any point in your life, even more so now.

If you’ve had trouble in the past with solving problems or just don’t know where to start, VA has skills and tools that can help you. The online, self-help program, Moving Forward, is a free, anonymous resource that can help you take on challenges step-by-step.

How to use the course

• The Moving Forward course can be taken on any device that is connected to the internet, and you can move through it at your own pace.
• Find out what your current stress level is by taking the “How Stressed Are You? quiz. It’s harder to make decisions when we are stressed.
• Use any of the seven relaxation exercises available in Moving Forward to help you find a technique that works well for you.
• Learn what kind of problem solver you are so you can identify your strengths and weaknesses.

Moving Forward is just one of the many resources available on the Veteran Training website that can help you start the new year right. If you’re having trouble sleeping, managing your anger, or dealing with parenting issues, you should also check out Path to Better Sleep, Anger and Irritability Management Skills, and Parenting for Veterans.

All of these resources are free, online, anonymous, and mobile-friendly.

Learn more about how to make a plan and set actionable goals to work toward achieving progress.

If you need more support, you don’t have to go it alone. Reach out to your VA health care provider for help.

Dr. Carolyn Greene, Ph.D., is the Web Services national manager at VA’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.