Warriors Helping Warriors: A New Approach to Healing

Michael Herst00:00:00

Hey, one more thing before you go. Today's episode is part of Podcast Launch Inspiring International Charity event and is one you won't want to miss.

Michael Herst00:00:08

Ptsd, Depression, mood swings, alcohol, drugs, Escape on the verge of suicide where do you go when you're a warrior who has given your life to helping others to get help for ourselves, we as warriors. That includes veterans, active duty military, active and retired, law enforcement, firefighters, EMPs, paramedics, first responders.We all volunteer for our job. We chose to serve others and put our life on the line to protect and serve, to defend the freedom that we all have and take care of the injured.Sometimes those whores of this world catch up to us and we need help.

Michael Herst00:00:51

This isn't just a conversation, it's a message of hope and healing for the American warrior who's dedicated their life to protecting and serving others.We're shining a spotlight on Warrior's Heart, the first and only accredited residential treatment program in the United States, exclusively for warriors only. If you or someone you know is a warrior in need of help, please visit www.warriors.com gethelp that's wwwarriors.com gethelp or call 1-866-380-0023.That's 1 866-380-0023 here in the United States. And don't forget the special episodes, part of Podcast On's global Charity initiative. Learn more about the incredible work Podcast on is doing at.Together, we're building a brighter future for those who need it the most, and those links will be in the show Notes.

Michael Herst00:01:48

So welcome to one more thing before you go.

Michael Herst00:02:00

Joining me is the extraordinary Tom Spooner, a former Special Forces Delta operator and co founder of Warrior's Heart.With 21 years of service in the US army, including deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tom has lived through the struggles many of our warriors face today. Since retiring in 2011, he's made his mission to guide his fellow warriors toward healing and resilience.We'll dive into the topics like breaking the stigma around seeking help, suicide prevention, and the unique challenges our warriors encounter as they step forward for assistance.Tom also shares his personal battles with chemical dependencies, PTSD and mild TBI from combat injuries, showing that his true strength lies in seeking support.

Michael Herst00:02:43

He's dedicated his life to healing fellow warriors and speaks from the heart about our struggles with chemical dependencies, ptsd, mild TBI which he had when he suffered some conduct injury suicide prevention after he almost took his own life and got help from his fellow warriors. We've all been there and more.His military career included time in the 82nd Airborne as a Green Beret in the US Armed 7th Special Forces Group, and ultimately in the US Army 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta as an operator. Spooner joined forces with successful treatment providers Josh and Lisa Lannan to open warrior's heart in 2016. Welcome to the show.

Tom Spooner00:03:26

Hey Michael, thank you for having me on the show.

Michael Herst00:03:29

Absolutely. What a fantastic journey you've had. Actually, it's been very in depth. You are a warrior, you're a combat veteran.You have made it through many tours, as I just said, through combat and made it home and had some personal struggles of your own. And you have overcome. So well done.

Tom Spooner00:03:51

Thank you very much. Yeah, it was definitely with the help of a whole lot more than me. Definitely didn't do it on my own.

Michael Herst00:03:58

Yeah, it's kind of a family, isn't it?

Tom Spooner00:04:00

Absolutely is. It's kind of the family business, you know, 100%.

Speaker B00:04:05

I know that, that you and I had a little brief conversation prior to us taking the interview, but I like to kind of start at the beginning so our viewers kind of understand where you come from and how you got to where you. Because it is a journey. Where'd you grow up?

Tom Spooner00:04:22

So I grew up in a little town called Belglade, Florida. It's on the southern end of Lake Okeechobee.It's right next to Clewiston and Pahokee and a bunch of and chosen and a bunch of other towns you probably never heard of. So it was that, that kind of a small town.And I have a younger brother and a younger sister and I had like we had talked about before, my grandfather was in law enforcement for 30 years. I was a state trooper in Alabama, state trooper in Florida, and then for the police department in the city of Belvoir.And so I grew up, you know what I mean, in that kind of environment.

Speaker B00:05:09

Did you have anybody else within your family that was military?

Tom Spooner00:05:14

I did. I had a, I had an uncle that was a three tour Vietnam veteran.And then my grandfather on my mother's side was a World War II veteran and spent time in the Philippines, you know, during the island campaigns. But he was in the army also. So those were kind of my military mentors and kind of heroes as far as wanting to join.And I've always just wanted to join the military. It was just something I've always wanted to do it for as long as I can remember.

Speaker B00:05:45

So in lieu of college, you decided to join the military out of high school?

Tom Spooner00:05:50

Well, that was my plan, was to join right out of high school, but my, my uncle and my grandfather were both enlisted and, you know, and they said, well, if you're going to join the military, you need to be an officer, so you need to go to college and get a degree, you know, and be an officer. And I said, okay, well, how I was raised and how I grew up during that time, you know, you did what you were told.And so I pretended to go to college for about a year and a half, which was a disaster. I had a lot of really good times, but it really, I didn't really succeed in that endeavor.So in 1990, you know, I decided to stop my college route and enlisted into the United States Army.

Speaker B00:06:47

Did you know what you wanted to do? What was your MOS when you first went in? Did you have a. Did you pick one out or did they pick one for you?

Tom Spooner00:06:53

I did. All I ever wanted to do whenever I came in was, was be a Ranger. Like, I just wanted to go to the Ranger regiment. I just wanted to be a Ranger.It was in all the Soldier of Fortune magazines that I would read. All the, you know, all the books that I was reading was all the Vietnam vet books.And it was just my sole focus was be into infantry and, and to go into the Ranger regiment. And the funny thing is, out of my whole military career, that's the only thing that didn't happen.

Speaker B00:07:28

Life kind of throws you those little curve balls occasionally.

Tom Spooner00:07:31

Yeah, yeah. And the. Everybody's got recruiter stories, you know, as my recruiter lied to me and, you know, said I would get this and that and everything. But.But I did. I joined in 1990.But my, you know, my family influences, it's in all the services, you know, whether it's the military, firefighters, law enforcement, EMT.It's, you know, the majority of the time, 80% rule, you know, is it's a family business, you know, everybody kind of gets into the family business, you know, and in ours is one of service, you know, and. And so that's. That's what I got into. And I loved it, you know, and I was pretty good at it from the get go.

Speaker B00:08:17

Yeah, the. I had mentioned you earlier, there's a. On your website, which we'll give you guys the website here in a little bit, but.And it'll scroll across the bottom when it comes back to you again.But I would highly recommend everybody to kind of take a look at that trailer that's on there because it tells a little bit about your journey there as well, and has some. Some visuals that are very helpful to kind of understand where you came from and, you know, what you had, what you had done in your career. You.You did many tours in combat, correct?

Tom Spooner00:08:49

That is correct.

Speaker B00:08:51

Where'd you start off?

Tom Spooner00:08:53

So when I. When I first came into the military, it was when I was at basic training is whenever the Gulf War kicked off.So right out of basic training, AIT jump school, I went to the 82nd, and within, after about a month and a half of being at the 82nd, immediately shipped over to Saudi Arabia, and then for the next six months, you know, was in the Gulf War. So that was my initial entry into the military, you know, straight from civilian life right into combat.So it obviously set the tone for the rest of my career, you know, from that point on. And so I ended up. That was the first piece of it. And then my next combat experience was obviously post 9, 11.And, you know, I ended up doing 40 months total time of combat. I did 12 rotations, one to Afghanistan, 11 to Iraq, until I retired, you know, in 2011.

Speaker B00:09:59

I know that you had talked about you've had some TBI during that time period there. I know that TBI has probably been around for. Since. I mean, as far as we got, as we can remember with war.World War II veterans may have had traumatic brain injury, but they called it something different than they call it now. When did you first realize that you possibly had some tbi?

Tom Spooner00:10:25

Yeah, so it was. I know definitively whenever I got it, it was a 8, like a 82 millimeter mortar round probably about 20 yards from me. And because.And how I know that it was definitively then was because I can tell you what my life was like up until that moment, and then I can tell you what my life has been like after that moment. But at the time, Which. That was September 2006, at the time, you know, it wasn't uncommon. You know, everybody that I had known had been blown up.You know, so it was obviously a significant event that occurred along with that. But. But I just, you know, it was like, okay, you just keep going. Right?That's what we do on the job in the professions that we're in is like, hey, you figure it out and you just adjust, adapt, and you keep going. And I did that all for four more years, but whenever it came time in 2010, because we had talked about it before the show, you know, my.I had 20 years in, you know, normal retirement, but I had planned on staying in for, like, 30 years. I was a super Lifer and had no desire to not do anything other than what I was doing. But by the end there, I had a lot of.Had broken my back, back surgery, shoulder surgery, leg surgery, you know, I mean, the normal kind of broken body parts, pieces.But then the big thing was, is I got all this cognitive therapy, I mean, cognitive testing that identified that I had a significant traumatic brain injury, explosive blast wave injury, which is a little bit different than blood force trauma. And so I was basically operating at 50% of processing speed and 50% verbal memory. So I had a lot of.I had a lot of what we'll call issues, you know, going on at that time. I would get lost. I wouldn't know where I was at times. Big, huge emotional mood swings. Nothing in my behavior as far as, you know, negatively.But, you know, emotionally, I wasn't really present. It was just an accumulation, you know, of. On the brain side of the house, but then also on the unprocessed trauma piece of it.What I like to say, you know, they call it post traumatic stress.They have a bunch of different names for it, but it's basically just, you know, emotions that I hadn't processed that were just kind of locked up inside. So. So I had to.Once I got all that diagnosed correctly, you know, then I spent about the next four months in cognitive therapy, vestibular therapy, psychological therapy. I even had to get on meds for probably about eight months because I had a little bit of a chemical imbalance going on. And.But the beauty of that, that stuff is, is that it works, you know.

Speaker B00:13:27

Were you still operating? You weren't still operating at that time, were you?

Tom Spooner00:13:30

No, at that time, it was. I'd made the decision that.Well, the decision was made for me, you know, that, hey, I no longer can physically, physically, mentally, emotionally, you know, handle the profession that I was in. I mean, I could have taken another job, but for me is I was only joined the military to do the job.And if I was gonna do something outside of that scope of work, then why would I be in the military? You know, So I ended up getting out. But like we had talked about before, it was.I had to deal with, you know, a lot of that stuff being and not be able to do what I love doing.

Speaker B00:14:06

Yeah, that's very difficult. When we're told, you know, I relate to you in certain perspectives.When I walked out of the fire, police and pension board, when they handed down my mandatory disability to retirement, and when my wife and I left there, I broke down in the car because I felt Like, I just lost my identity completely. And it wasn't by choice. It was them taking it away from me. And it really had a profound effect upon me.In fact, on a lighter note, in fact, it had it so much that I was calling so much stuff in. They were going, sarge, just put your feet up and relax. We got this. Quit calling stuff in.

Tom Spooner00:14:50

Yeah.

Speaker B00:14:52

But, yeah, it. That presents a whole new set of problems to warriors who have lived that life. And that was their.Because it's not just a job, it's who you are completely, you know, and it's difficult to let that go or be told that you have to let that go for any particular reason. And it. It's kind of a life adjustment within itself. Isn't.

Tom Spooner00:15:16

Absolutely is. I mean, that whole, you know, like you said, you can't. I had done a really good job of. Of broadening myself. You know, I mean, I had.I had struggled with alcoholism at an early age, and I ended up getting sober in 1992, you know, with 12 set program and fellowship and all that kind of stuff. And so I had been part of that the whole time. So I had a lot of emotional tools in the tool belt, mental tools. I had support groups.I had a lot of things in favor for me. However, that didn't make it any easier, that transitioning of.Of like, wow, a huge part of my identity and who I was and what I was, you know, laid in. In the job. I. I have an incredible family. I mean, my wife and I have been together for. This year will be like 33 years.

Speaker B00:16:14

Congratulations.

Tom Spooner00:16:18

Yeah. So it's. So I had all these different things. However it was, I had to define what my next purpose would be.You know, once I was separated, you know, from. From my job, from what it was that I was doing, you know, I had to now define, like, hey, why am I getting up in the morning now?Why am I, you know, pushing through my struggles? Why am I trying to get better? You know, I had to. I had to define that for myself.

Speaker B00:16:48

Yeah. Define new purpose, find new purpose. And that's.Sometimes it's really difficult, especially when you're indoctrinated and inbred within that for so long, it's difficult to move past it and to try to redefine yourself. And unfortunately, some. Some can't. And that's where I think, you know, warrior's heart comes into play.Because when we get to a point where we have that. That struggle with. Trying to hold onto the identity that we were and.Or what transpired during that identity that, you know, we, we need to talk to somebody that really understands from the inside out and not, not just from a clinical perspective.

Tom Spooner00:17:33

Yeah, absolutely. And it's always go back to what the language that, that we're familiar with. Right. Like on the job.And, and most of us are familiar with like, hey, if I'm get of injury, you know what I mean? Of, hey, is self aid, there's buddy aid and then there's call, you know what I mean?A medic or EMT or paramedic, you know, that's beyond our level of care, you know.And you know, so that's like what you said a lot of times, just the, our culture and the personalities that each of us have that made us really good at the job also kind of get in the way of seeking and asking for help.

Speaker B00:18:20

You know, like you said earlier, it's kind of a push down and override. You push down your override, you get the job done.

Tom Spooner00:18:26

Exactly.

Speaker B00:18:27

And that's in both of our professions, you know, it's. You push down, override. And I broke, I broke my finger, two fingers while I was arresting somebody for that stolen a car was violent and so forth.And you can't just stop and go, ow, right, Let me go take care of this. You just have to keep doing stuff until you get it done.You know, even after I got hit by the car, when the suspect hit me by the car, we still arrested him and took care of the job. Then, then I kind of collapsed and went, I can't anymore, I'm done. But I got you.

Tom Spooner00:19:12

And that's what, you know, and that's the one thing that, that the most of our population, you know, you know, it's really. I'll just speak for myself, you know. And it was, that was the big part of the struggle of seeking help. It had nothing to do with ego.It had nothing to do with me of fear of talking to psychologists or getting help. Like, like I said, I'd already. That was already part of my lifestyle.The thing that really I couldn't wrap my brain around was how did I go from the guy that's providing help, you know, to others, who's helping others, and now I'm the guy that needs help. It was, it was just like I said, no, there wasn't any ego, there wasn't any stigmas. There wasn't. I just really had a plus. I had the TBI going on.So that affected my executive decision making functioning. So. So it required another warrior, you know, to help me along the Way, you know, we, we say that, well, we change the narrative about it.But you know, a lot of times you'll hear people say like, hey brother, if you need any help, you know, just let me know. It's like, let's pause and think about that a second. You and I just described how number one, we're not gonna let the team down, right.And we're gonna get the job done. And then number two, I'm not gonna ask for help because that, that's part of how I can get things done.

Speaker B00:20:47

Right.

Tom Spooner00:20:48

And then now I'm gonna say, hey, if you need something, let me know. And it's like, hang on a second.We just have to switch that around where, you know, I mean I, we know our brothers and sisters that, that are in need, you know, and it's up to us to kind of get in, into their business.

Speaker B00:21:07

Yep.

Tom Spooner00:21:08

What they will be allowed. You know, obviously grown people make grown decisions. But, but it's just a, it's really.And we had talked about it before the show, you know, we've lost, you know, friends, family members, whether it's the suicide, self medication, you know, results of the profession. It's like, it's like, hey, it's our, our responsibility as much as we can, you know what I mean?To be doing what we can to provide what it is that they need and not just to let them go quietly in the darkness, you know.

Speaker B00:21:42

Absolutely. One. Yes. Absolutely profound. What you're, as you're saying, it's, it's humbling.It's humbling because it's difficult, as you said, for us that are there when everybody's running away from. We're the ones that are running into.

Tom Spooner00:21:59

Yep.

Speaker B00:22:00

And it's difficult to have to say, I'm sorry, can you pick me up and help me walk to the bathroom? Yeah.

Tom Spooner00:22:09

We don't even know how to do that, you know, I mean it's not like in our vocabulary.It's not, you know, I mean the folks that are in the profession fully understand that, you know, and it's because a lot of people, they'll confuse that with ego, you know, and they'll confuse it with being hard headed and stubborn and. Well, that may be a little bit of truth to the hard headed and stubborn piece, but it's, but it's really not.It's like I, I had to be trained on how to ask for help and you know, take care of myself because to me it was, it seems selfish, you know, you know, I mean my job is, you know, like the, the law enforcement saying protect and serve, right? Like that was, that was from in my bones, you know what I mean?That's what I love and enjoy and, and everything and, and so that's why I had to, it was part of my training and part of my skill set to learn that, hey, it's okay to take care of yourself and to do the things that you need to do so that you can be healthy in mind, body and spirit. But the intent is so I can be there for others.You know, that's how I had to make it make sense in my own head is because what would jump into my mind is like I'm being selfish and self centered. It's like, no, you're doing these things that you need to do so you can be there for others, you know, and that's.To date, that's the narrative that, that I have to use on myself, you know, in order to do the things that I need to do.Because it always comes down to one thing for me is, is that I don't really care that much about myself, but I care about you and I care about not letting my family down. I care about not letting my team down. So therefore I have to take care of myself.But that's what we did on the job too, you know, that's why we maintained physical fitness. That's why we maintained our marksmanship. All the different trainings that we did was so that we could be there for the job and for each other.

Speaker B00:24:22

Yeah, exactly that. We had each other, that we counted on each other. We had each other. They were family. Not just co workers, family. And it, the environment.I can't remember this individual's name and I should have remembered it from the documentary which I'm going to have a link to the documentary in the show notes. Everybody can see this. You have to watch this documentary.It is a profound opportunity for people to understand what warriors go through and the struggles and the issues that I won't even need to call them issues really the, the obstacles that they need to overcome in order to ask for help. And the fact that this environment was created by you and your partners to allow that obstacle to be removed by people we trust.

Tom Spooner00:25:17

Absolutely.

Speaker B00:25:19

That's one thing that my wife and I all saw in that because you know, we all trust.We in this environment, we in this job, we on this job, my job, your job, the firefighters, paramedics, we're all within a certain unique family, but we all walk the similar path and we're all brothers and sisters within that because we're all serving and protecting in various forms. And it's difficult to step outside of that family to ask for help. And when we do step outside that family to ask for help, it's in.I know that you know this as well as I do in no disrespect to any clinician that is out there trying to help. My niece is a psychologist. I have no disrespect. But they don't always really understand from our perspective.

Tom Spooner00:26:11

Right, because our perspective, yeah.And that's the one thing that, because of the amount of time that I've spent with our population when it comes to healing and clinicians and everything, we talked a little bit about it before the show. Like just if we were talking about post traumatic stress is the thing is, is that, you know, that has to be broken down.And like you said, for the effectiveness of the clinicians and their approach of healing, you know, and processing trauma is it's broken down into two categories, you know, and that's victims and volunteers.And you know, in victims, you know, is obviously that an event has happened, you know, to them, obviously with us, event, you know, things have happened to us, but we volunteered to be in that position.So if I'm trying to go do some mental and emotional work and, and you approach me as if I'm a victim, you know, that's never going to work because it's the wrong approach. But if you approach me as, hey, you volunteered to put yourself in this position and this trauma, this traumatic event occurred.So let's, let's process it in that manner, not from a victim standpoint, but from a volunteer standpoint, you know, and then it begins to, to make more sense.

Speaker B00:27:44

I love that. I love that. I was going to bring that up to you when watching that documentary. That statement within itself touched my heart.It touched my wife's heart because, you know, we, we don't think of ourselves as victims. Like you said, we chose. We chose to do what we do. We chose to take that profession. We chose to help other people.We chose there, chose to be there for those other people. And what I like about this facility, the Warrior's Heart facility in itself is the fact that it approaches healing from that perspective.And there are individuals there that have gone through it themselves and they understand why you're there. They don't have to ask you, why did you put yourself in that position? Why did you run into the firefight? Why did you run into the fire?Why did you run towards the bullets when everybody's running away? From the bullets.

Tom Spooner00:28:39

Right?

Speaker B00:28:40

Because they understand that's like you said.

Tom Spooner00:28:43

That'S the one of the key things about keeping that population.Because like you said, there's this, there's a great billet, there's a great bit of difference between let's say what a combat veteran has experienced and what a stateside paramedic has, has experienced. That's true. You know, there's very different physical locations, you know, foreign countries, all of that stuff.However, the things that are eaten up, eating us up inside are all the same. They're, they're absolutely the whole all the same. And that's the humanity aspect of it, you know what I mean?It's always whether it was the car wrecks, whether it was the innocence getting killed, whether it was the things that just didn't make any sense, you know, and how that affected our humanity. Like you said, we volunteered for the job. Got it? You know what I mean? We volunteered for the job.However, we're still humans and unless we're a psychopath or a sociopath, you know, there's going to be things that we run into that, that you know, are, that, that don't just set well with us and, and we need a professional's help or I have needed professionals help that time just to help me connect the dots, you know, and just to help me. But it has to be the right people. Like you said, I've had my fair share of therapists or clinicians that just weren't a right fit for me.But then I have had some that were absolutely the right fit and that's what gave me the progress that I needed.

Speaker B00:30:27

Well, Annette, I think that let's talk about a little bit how we keep talking about the foundation. The facility. The facility. The facility. How did you come about Warriors Heart Warriors Healing Warriors. I mean what an amazing name as well.Can we talk about how you got to there?

Tom Spooner00:30:48

Yeah, absolutely.And it's a, the super long story because it's my whole life and it's Josh and Lisa Lannan's, it's their whole life's work and my whole life's work and everything that I've experienced, you know, coming together and that's why we were part where we are partners, you know, where I can't do what they can do, they can't do what I can do.So together in a partnership, you know, we forged warrior's heart, you know, and that is, is that, you know what Warrior's heart is, is a 42 day impatient treatment facility for the warrior class which Defined as those that face life and death as a. On a daily basis, as a profession. You know, that's. That's who goes to warrior's heart, and, and it's not a military isk in any kind of way.However, the. The main thing that we do there is to remind everybody, to remind them of who they are.You know, everybody comes to us at the bottom end of where they're at in their lives. You know, no one comes to rehabilitation center on an upswing. You know, it's, it's.We all come there at the lowest parts that we've been, you know, so everything that we do there is about reminding them of who they are, not who they are not. You know, we want to get rid of those pieces that no longer serve, and that's what we do there in that population.You know, people talk about peer support network, they talk about mentorship and those kind of things, but we all know that that occurs naturally in our profession. You know, we naturally help out the new guy.We naturally help out someone who's down and needs to be up, you know, so all of those things just occur naturally with. With our population.

Speaker B00:32:50

You know, the interesting part is it's. Lisa was a. Was it Las Vegas police officer.

Tom Spooner00:32:57

Yes.

Speaker B00:32:58

So she comes from the law enforcement family as well.

Tom Spooner00:33:02

Yeah, absolutely. And Lisa also is a result of war, meaning her father was a Vietnam veteran and. Or is a Vietnam veteran, and her mother was a Vietnamese translator.So they met, you know, in war and then.And he was also in law enforcement after he got out of the military, you know, and that's where the unique capabilities that me, Josh and Lisa bring to the table, you know, because I couldn't run the facilities, you know, Josh and Lisa had successfully run treatment facilities in Utah, Arizona, and then now in Texas, successfully, which is a key word with high quality of care, you know, for 15 years prior to me meeting them, you know, so.

Speaker B00:33:55

And that was for drug and alcohol abuse counseling and things like that, right?

Tom Spooner00:33:58

Absolutely. Yeah. But it was open to everyone, you know, and that's what they. They noticed whenever they were running their facilities. You know, when they.For an example, when they had law enforcement officers, you know, come to the facilities, you know, the words that they use is like, well, I kind of have to be undercover in my own treatment because, you know, the person sitting across the table from them was a drug dealer or, you know, someone that they would be arresting. So it didn't create, obviously, a peer network, even though the same things have to be done and for. In order, for Healing to occ.There's, there's no hope. It's just like a combat veteran sitting next to a business guy.You know, hey, they may be great and they can share in certain things, but there's not going to be a peer network that can be created when you put folks that are like minded and like professions because they already have a stable platform to move forward with, you know.

Speaker B00:34:58

Well, it puts, it puts, it put them in a safe environment within their mind and their hearts. They're in a safe environment because they grew. Their, their job was that their family were that. So you feel more safe around your family.You know, even if you had not been in combat with them or on the street with them in any form, you still know that they carry the same blood, so to speak.

Tom Spooner00:35:20

Exactly. It makes it more comfortable, brothers and sisters.

Speaker B00:35:24

Yeah, it makes it much more comfortable.So the, the, the perspective of Warrior's Heart when you approach them to create this environment at that time that they did that they had already been, just to clarify, they had already been building the facilities that they were operating successfully with those kind of counseling.But you brought the unique approach to warriors helping warriors, which then develop into the Warriors Heart Facility, which is a huge facility down in Texas, correct?

Tom Spooner00:35:58

It is. It's a 543 acre ranch in Bandera, Texas and Bandera is about an hour northwest of San Antonio.We started, we got our license for the facility in April of 2016 and to date we've had almost 1700 warriors come through the facility.

Speaker B00:36:19

Wow, that's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah. The documentary again, I keep talking about it because it just touched me so much.I want to make sure that that's going to be in the show notes. Everybody can check it out.It's on Amazon prime and I would really encourage everybody to check it out for the basis if you either are going through it yourself or if you have somebody that you are family with or friends with and know that they need help, this is a wonderful opportunity to help them to heal from a very unique perspective.

Tom Spooner00:36:52

Yeah. And what I love about the documentary also is that it really showcases, you know, which is the heart of Warrior's Heart, which is our staff.You know, I mean, it's the humans. Yeah.The facility is incredible and it's wonderful and it's beautiful and it creates an environment of healing the way that warriors heal, you know, opposite of a hospital environment. But it really showcases the staff members and their stories and why, why are they, you know, committing their lives to serving those that serve us.You know, and it's just, it's just amazing. I can't speak enough about the human beings otherwise known as our staff, you know, that.That daily put in the work taking care of those that take care of.

Speaker B00:37:46

Us, you know, which is an amazing thing. And you, you have a foundation that also is with that. Correct. Or associated with that.

Tom Spooner00:37:52

We do. We have the Warrior's Heart foundation because. And it was created out of necessity.You know, Warrior's Heart is completely separate than Warrior's Heart Foundation. And the intention behind that was, is that, you know, it's governed by HIPAA law.It provides that level of anonymity that legally provides with that with. Because with the professions, we know how super important it is because of the stigmas that are out there of seeking help.And then Warriors Heart foundation, you know, our populations don't really make a lot of money.

Speaker B00:39:16

So that's a fact.

Tom Spooner00:39:17

We knew there was going to. We knew there was going to be a need to fill in the gaps to pay for care that currently did. It didn't exist.

Speaker B00:39:30

Which I think is a wonderful thing because like you said, this profession doesn't. Yours or mine, doesn't pay very much.And especially if you go out on a disability, that stability with that salary, even as little as it was, doesn't go very far.So that's a really what have been an amazing opportunity for somebody to get help and not have to worry about whether or not they're going to be able to pay for it.

Tom Spooner00:40:02

Absolutely. Yeah. Because it's. That's, that's the one.The biggest thing that we're proud of, I'm personally proud of, is no one has ever not received treatment at Warrior's Heart due to money. You know, whether we've had, you know, we take Tricare, we take insurances, we take all these different aspects of it.But also there's between the Gary Sinise foundation, between all these other benevolent organizations, the Avalon Funds, all these different folks that step forward, you know, that really want to take care of the people that take care of us. You know, it's just an amazing.

Speaker B00:40:45

View.

Tom Spooner00:40:45

Into humanity, you know, as far as like, hey, let's do what needs getting done. We've got folks that are busted up a little bit. Let's.Let's get them healed up, trained up and back into the fight, you know, whether that's back on the job or whether that's back into their lives, you know, and to be able to.Because that's what it's all about is like, how do we reengage and get back into the business of living and living fully, you know, not just kind of existing and self medicating and just kind of getting by.It's like, hey, let's, let's live for what we fought for, you know, what we all put in the blood, sweat and tears for and in honor and memory of those that aren't here with us, you know, what better way to honor them than to live a full life, you know.But many of us, myself included, needed additional training in how to handle emotions and, and behaviors and, and not self medicate and that kind of stuff, you know, is a learned skill. Much like pistol shooting.

Speaker B00:41:49

Oh, exactly. 100% have to learn how to be a human being again.

Tom Spooner00:41:54

Exactly.

Speaker B00:41:55

Yeah.

Tom Spooner00:41:56

And that's tough, you know, and that's, you know, for a lot of us that it sounds really simple, but it's like, wow, you know, I don't have that identity of the job anymore, you know, for whatever reason, I don't have that ability. It's like I have to define my new purpose. And we are people of service, so I have to immediately get back in to serving.You know, obviously not in the same way, you know, because that, that time is over. You know, like my time, I had a great run, you know, I enjoyed every bit of it. I wish it would have went longer, but it didn't. It ended.And so like now I have the opportunity to define, you know, what it is that I want to, I'll always want to do that job.

Speaker B00:42:43

Right?

Tom Spooner00:42:43

I mean, that was the, that was the job of my life. You know, that'll never change.You know, I'll think of the glory days and I'll think of the tragedies and the great stuff and I'll talk to buddies about it. However, it's super important for me that I don't live there.It's okay to visit on occasion, you know, and, and remember and enjoy all that stuff and you know, shed some tears, whatever. But however it's all about like, man, I've really got to get into the business of life, you know, and, and what does that mean?And, and to know that it's okay, you know, because this is when it, when we talk about folks struggling and myself, it's like, you know, if we needed additional drivers training or if we needed additional pistol training or rifle training or tactics, you know, we wouldn't hesitate for a second to go to a subject matter expert and say like, hey, you know, we need to get from this level to the next level. Would you help Us, Absolutely. You know what I mean? And so the thing is, is we've always done that.Now I just need to apply that same mindset to my own personal growth, you know, I mean, and to realize just kind of desensitizing it. It's like, well, I don't want to go ask for help. It's like, well, did you ever have someone instruct you on how to shoot a pistol better?It's like, well, yes, I have. And it's like, okay, well, what's the difference? What's the difference?

Speaker B00:44:12

That's a great way.

Tom Spooner00:44:12

There is no difference.

Speaker B00:44:13

Yeah, there is no difference. That's a great way to look at that. It's just putting another tool in your belt.

Tom Spooner00:44:18

That's it.You know, and, and I get it, you know, there's, there's big stigmas out there, you know, on the military side, on the law enforcement, you know, liabilities and this and that.It's like, hey, there's also, you know, if I identify that I need to additional training in certain areas of my life, you know, hey, I can seek that, you know, off the books if necessary, you know.

Speaker B00:44:44

Well, and again, like we said earlier, we're all taught to push down and override. Push down and override. Push down and override. But you can only push down so much. You can only override so much.But before it, I kind of culminates into one big thing.And that will come out in anger, come out in, you know, mood swings, that'll come out in alcohol, it'll come out in drug use, it'll come out in other, you know, maybe detrimental to your health issues with regard to how to deal with those things when they boil to a point. And I think that the, the structure that you have created is a, is a nice way to kind of get people involved in taking control of their life back.

Tom Spooner00:45:28

Absolutely. And that, and the thing is, is out at Warrior's heart too. It's, you know, it's not a, like a get along and get by kind of course.Like, you have to, you have to earn it. You have to put in the work.You know, you have to earn that coin because we have a coin out there at the end, you know, and, but again, our population understands that, you know, where, like, hey, you have to, you have to accomplish these different tasks in order to receive results. You don't get results by just hanging out. So that's one thing we're really proud of.There is if you're just thinking that you're going to come out there and just kind of do what you want and hang out.You'll get written up three times, you know, and then you'll go to a behavioral board and then you'll get a behavior contract and then you'll be given several opportunities to, to, hey, correct, you know, whatever behavior it is. Then if you, if you choose to refuse to, you know, follow the rules, you know, and do what's required, then you'll have to leave, you know, because.And that means something to this population, you know, it does to the, like, I have to, I have to earn it. Because we know, we all appreciate the things that we have to work for.

Speaker B00:46:50

Oh, absolutely. I mean, even, even, even rank, right? I had to earn master patrolman, master patrol. I had to earn corporal. I had to earn sergeant.You have to earn lieutenant. You have to earn, you know, you have to work your way where, wherever you're going, you have to earn it.And you have to earn it by training and by consequences for actions. And if you fail to do, then you don't receive. So I like that structure. It's a very. Well, we're in, we're inbred with it.It is developed and evolved within us that, that's the way we look at life. Warrior's heart can. At what stage should somebody come to you guys? Is there you have a limit?Do you have something that if somebody's just starting out and they're going, look, I think I'm on the edge. At what stage can they reach out for help?

Tom Spooner00:47:43

Well, it all depends on the individual because everyone's on a different path, right?And I'll give you the example I have is we have folks that are active police officers, active duty military members that, you know, they haven't gotten in trouble on the job, they've got some struggles going on, they kind of see it coming and they come to get help at warrior's heart. So that's one end of the spectrum.The other end of the spectrum that we have is like someone that's a homeless veteran or someone from the profession, you know, where they have nothing. They've lived on the streets for years and hey, they need help. One doesn't need any more help than the other. So we meet everyone where they're at.If someone, Back to your question. If someone is, is wondering where they are, you know, there's, there's all these different outlets.Like, so I go back to like, hey, self aid, buddy aid, call a medic, you know, so if I can correct whatever it is that's not working in My life, if I can do that on my own or with a self help book or a little seminar or something, hey, that's great.If I try that, hey, and it didn't work, is still, I'm still not getting the results that I want, then I'm going to need to go to a professional, you know, and then if that doesn't work, then I'm going to need a hard reset, you know, and that's why out at warriors hearts it's 42 days inpatient treatment facility because it's, it's the hard reset where I, everything in life is removed from it and the only thing that I'm there to work on is myself in the relationship with family members and friends and everything that I need working on.So, so to me that's kind of the different stages, but one of the, one of the best ways to do it too is, is really, you don't have to figure it out on your own. Like you can give. We have what we call admissions advocates.So if you call Warrior's Heart, you'll get an admissions advocate on the phone, you know, and, and they're just not going to.And they immediately start advocating for the individual, the family member, whoever it is that's calling and that's even with questions, you know, so you don't have to figure this out on your own.You can call up and talk to an advocate is like, hey, this is where I'm at, or my loved one's at, you know, what, what's the best thing to what should we do next? You know, what, what should I do?So that way, even from the get go, whether you end up coming to warriors hard or not, you have that ability of talking to someone that's a subject matter expert in the field. And their number one priority is to get what you or your loved one or friend, you know, needs.So that, that to me is just trying to make a very simple steps, you know, is, you know, is making that call.

Speaker B00:50:37

The Orange Heart foundation is a 501C3. And anybody that's out here that would love to help you guys, they have the same opportunity to be able to help as well, correct?

Tom Spooner00:50:48

They sure do.And that's@warriorsheartfoundation.org and you can go up there and you see the different programs that the foundation supports, whether that's subsidizing treatment, cost for treatment, whether it's canine community members education, there's a bunch of wonderful things that the Warrior's Heart foundation does.

Speaker B00:51:13

This has been a profound and eye opening journey getting to know you and to getting to know what you have done and what you've accomplished and how you created this unique environment for healing warriors with warriors. I think that I commend you for like well done. I told you it comes from my heart and my wife's heart and my family's heart.You've touched our lives a little bit and I want to make sure that I can kind of move you forward as best I can to help other warriors that are out there.So everything that we talked about I'll make sure is in the show notes so that people can find you find the organization and have a phone number to call when they need some help so that they can reach out. I really appreciate you. This is one more thing before you go and before we go, do you have any words of wisdom that you can share?

Tom Spooner00:52:08

The one more thing that sounds cliche, but I know that you'll know that it absolutely is not and that is the one thing that I would want everyone to know is that you're not alone in your struggles.It may feel that way, it may seem that way, but you'd really be surprised, you know, how many of us that are out there that have had, if not the same, very similar strugglers struggles. So that's what I would say is just to know that you're not alone.

Speaker B00:52:41

Profound words of wisdom. Thomas Putter, thank you very much for your service both on the job and in your new job. I really appreciate you very much.Thank you for what you do for the world and what you do for veterans, police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics and those families that are with them as well. Thank you for joining me. One more thing before you go.

Tom Spooner00:53:02

It is my honor and my privilege to be on here with you. Michael. Thank you for having me.

Speaker B00:53:08

If you are a warrior or someone you know is a warrior and is struggling and needs help, please contact Warrior's Heart at The following website, www.warriors.com that's www.warriors.com get help or call 866-38-00023. That's 866380-0023. You are not alone. Thanks for listening to this episode of One more thing BEFORE you go.Check out our website at before you gopodcast.com you can find us as well as subscribe to the program and rate us on your favorite podcast listening platform.