Helping is Healing A Way of Life
For 15 years, Sheep Dog Impact Assistance (SDIA) has been transforming the lives of military personnel, veterans, and first responders from its headquarters in Rogers, Arkansas. Through our Get Off The Couch™ programming, we create pathways to purpose through Outdoor Adventures, Warrior PATHH mental wellness training, and Disaster Response missions – engaging, assisting, and empowering our nation’s heroes to continue their legacy of service.
What does SDIA do?
Sheep Dog Impact Assistance (SDIA) engages military members, veterans, first responders, and their famillies in Outdoor Adventures, Warrior PATHH training, and Continued Service opportunities such as Disaster Response missions to promote post-traumatic growth, foster camaraderie, and inspire continued service to communities and country.
Why Does SDIA Do What They Do?
SDIA exists to combat the devastating effects of isolation, depression, and suicide among military members, veterans, first responders, and their families by reconnecting them with their sense of purpose and community. Since 2010, SDIA has helped 23,724 Sheep Dogs get off the couch through programs that foster post-traumatic growth. With 22 veterans lost to suicide daily and first responders experiencing PTSD at rates five times higher than civilians, SDIA’s mission to inspire continued service and connection is crucial in transforming struggle into strength and promoting lifelong well-being.
Top 3 causes of sheep dog suicide:
Military personnel, veterans, and first responders suffering with PTS-related symptoms and depression are often self-isolated or medicated to dull symptoms.
People suffering with TBI may not even understand that their symptoms — such as difficulty concentrating, anger, anxiety, fatigue, depression or light/sound sensitivity — are due to a physical injury, not inevitable reactions to their battlefield experiences.
More than 1 in 5 veterans with PTS suffer from the burden of co-occurring dependence on drugs or alcohol, and over 70% of veterans who die by suicide are either drunk or high at the time of their death.
How does SDIA do what they do?
SDIA empowers military members, veterans, first responders, and their families through three core programs: Outdoor Adventures that challenge and reconnect Sheep Dogs through adrenaline-filled activities; Warrior PATHH training that teaches the principles of post-traumatic growth to transform struggle into strength; and Continued Service opportunities like Disaster Response missions, allowing participants to serve others while reinforcing purpose and camaraderie.
Get Off The Couch™ Programing
Disaster Response is what SDIA was founded on, and it continues to be our primary continued service opportunity. As the volunteerism portion of our Get Off The Couch™ programming, these missions EMPOWER our Sheep Dogs to continue serving their communities and country in times of need. While larger, national disasters make up most of these missions, SDIA encourages our members to help with local community “disasters”, such as conducting minor home repairs for disabled veterans, making a park safe for children, cleaning national cemetery headstones & grounds, working in a soup kitchen, or coaching a youth sports team. All are disasters to those who are affected, and are opportunities to serve and give back. Working alongside fellow Sheep Dogs satisfies their innate desire to serve and provides a sense of belonging and purpose that many have been missing.
“It felt so good helping people and talking to those in need. At the end of each day, I felt beat up and tired...and very happy, looking forward to the next day. I have a need to serve as it makes me whole as a human. Through this organization, I get to be part of something bigger than me.”
As our primary Get Off The Couch™ program, SDIA offers Outdoor Adventures (OAs) to ENGAGE Sheep Dogs in physically challenging activities that foster camaraderie, peer support, and healing. OAs include hunting & fishing, obstacle course races, skydiving, RZR riding, hiking, snowmobiling, and many more activities. For our sponsored Sheep Dogs (those injured in combat or the line of duty), these no-cost adventures help them test their rehabilitation progress, restore independence and self-confidence, and support living an active lifestyle. These opportunities for healing and camaraderie are vital to inspiring a positive state of mind and perspective.
“Being around like-minded people is always therapeutic.”
Warrior PATHH (Progressive and Alternative Training for Helping Heroes) is the nation’s first non-clinical, peer-to-peer program designed to ASSIST struggling Combat Veterans and First Responders in learning how to use their past trauma and experiences to achieve Posttraumatic Growth (PTG). PTG offers hope that they can THRIVE – not in spite of but because of – their experiences. Warrior PATHH is the mental wellness portion of our Get Off The Couch™ programming. This transformative 90-day program begins with seven days of intensive and immersive PTG training at our Heroes Ranch at Rush Springs training campus. Sheep Dogs learn proven practices and techniques to make peace with the past, live in the present, and plan for a great future, allowing them to transform times of deep struggle into profound strength and posttraumatic growth. The Warrior PATHH training program is part of the Avalon Action Alliance and has been brought to Northwest Arkansas through a partnership between SDIA and the Boulder Crest Foundation.
“I was able to share experiences and talk about things you can’t talk about anywhere else.”
Who we are:
Founded in 2010, Sheep Dog Impact Assistance (SDIA) is the national non-profit providing charitable services benefiting the overall well-being of our nation’s “Sheep Dogs” (military personnel, veterans, law enforcement, fire & rescue, and EMS) through Outdoor Adventures (physical activity), Warrior PATHH training (mental wellness) and Continued Service/Disaster Response (volunteerism) programs – called our Get Off The Couch® programming.
SDIA exists to engage, assist, and empower Sheep Dogs through Get Off The Couch® programming to improve their overall physical and mental well-being. Through our programs, Sheep Dogs who have suffered similar traumas & experiences gather together for camaraderie and opportunities to continue serving, which helps prevent suicides in our Military Personnel, Veteran, and First Responder communities.
Embarking on SDIA’s transformative programs is a journey where posttraumatic growth (PTG) thrives. Outdoor Adventures kickstart the process, giving Sheep Dogs opportunities to #GetOffTheCouch and introducing them to the potential of PTG. Warrior PATHH (Progressive Alternative Training for Helping Heroes) takes these Sheep Dogs deep into the exploration of PTG, turning struggle into strength through peer-to-peer training. With Disaster Response, Sheep Dogs not only utilize their PTG, but also channel it to help others and fulfill their innate desire to serve. It’s a dynamic trio where, as Sheep Dogs #GetOffTheCouch together, they not only change their own lives but become catalysts for positive change in the lives of others.
Post TRaumatic Growth:
Posttraumatic Growth is a positive psychological transformation that can happen after trauma.
The science of PTG demonstrates that when we’re forced to reflect on our lives and make sense of the destruction caused by trauma, our struggles can become a catalyst for change.
PTG is a process whereby we transform our struggle into a new path, and an outcome where we experience positive changes because of the struggle in the aftermath of trauma.
SDIA teaches practices to foster PTG in all 3 of our program pillars – Outdoor Adventures, Warrior PATHH, and Continued Service.
get off the couch:
One of the most notable symptoms for a majority of those affected by PTS is self-isolation. Social isolation is a major risk factor for suicide. The feeling of not belonging or not feeling connected to other people can be detrimentally powerful. SDIA programs aim to combat these issues.
The transformative journey offered by SDIA’s Get Off The Couch® programming can commence at any point but ideally starts with our Outdoor Adventures program, emphasizing physical activities to promote an active lifestyle. Here, participants are introduced to the concept of PTG while benefiting from vital peer support, healing, and camaraderie.
Subsequently, participants are encouraged to enroll in SDIA’s Warrior PATHH, a non-clinical, peer-to-peer mental wellness training program. This program imparts practices to transform struggles into strength and fosters posttraumatic growth by guiding individuals to make peace with their past, live in the present, and plan for a great future.
As part of the cycle, participants are then invited to contribute through SDIA’s Continued Service/Disaster Response program, emphasizing volunteerism. Engaging in these missions empowers our Sheep Dogs to continue serving their communities and country during times of need.
In essence, our philosophy revolves around the belief that “Helping is Healing,” and we encourage individuals to adopt “Helping Others is a Way of Life” as they navigate this transformative journey.
