Military Sexual Trauma Support Services

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand how female military survivors of active-duty military sexual trauma who reside within the United States would describe the effects of their post-military provided mental health care services on their quality of life and well-being. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Deci and Ryan's SelfDetermination Theory were used to understand how the quality of life and well-being of the female veteran participants related to contributing to their basic human needs, selfdetermination, and life fulfillment. The research questions that guided this study were: How do female veterans of MST describe their experiences with mental health care services after discharge? How do female veteran survivors of military sexual trauma describe the effects of post-military mental health care services on their quality of life and well-being? The sample was female veterans who experienced military sexual trauma while on active duty and sought mental health services for their post-active service trauma care in the United States in 2004 or after. The Quality-of-Life survey (QOLS), semistructured individual interviews, and a reflection journal were data sources.