Military Spouses, Serving Others, and The Emotional Rucksack

In this new Pivotal Moments Media Charlie Mike Channel episode of Life After the Military, Lee and Howie speak with Richelle Futch.

Richelle is a Marine Corps Veteran, current special operations military spouse and advocate for military employment, preventative mental health care and reform. She has worked with members of congress on policy reform and has been invited to the White House on behalf of her work and advocacy efforts.

 An accomplished 4x published author, Richelle printed more than 10,000 copies and sold thousands of digital editions of her workbook Unpacking Your Emotional Ruck.

 In this episode, Richelle shares her experience as she transitioned from her active-duty tour by pursuing her undergraduate degree and working as a court appointed special advocate who provided the voice for children in the foster care system. Richelle emphasizes the importance of focusing on and serving others.

 Richelle discusses the work she does with youth by using didactic training techniques to help them understand and overcome their challenges. Richelle also describes the work she does with military and first responder families. She talks about the family system and how each family member can be successful in our stress filled society today.

Richelle masterfully describes the work she does with families to build resilience and their ability to overcome adversity. Richelle talks about the work she did that led to the development of her workbook, Unpack Your Emotional Ruck.

Richelle shares about the challenges she faces as a spouse as she and her husband prepare for his transition out of the military.

Show Notes
2:14 - Richelle takes us through her transition out of the military and her advice for those going through it today
5:41 - Richelle talks about redefining purpose
8:54 - Lee and Richelle dive into serving others
17:25 - Richelle explains what it means to meet people where they are at
33:20 - Howie & Richelle discuss the importance of allowing children and teens to experience hardship in order to better prepare them throughout life
41:58 - Richelle explains what unpacking your emotional ruck means 
50:08 - Richelle discusses her husband’s upcoming transition out of the military and how they are preparing for it
57:08 - Richelle discusses how she practices mental fitness