Introduction

In Chapter 3, Dr. Brad Johnson and his sister, Dr. Shannon Johnson, discuss the complex multiple relationships that are mandated in military settings where psychologists experience mixed agency, as their loyalties are first to the Department of Defense, then to the local commanding officer, and lastly to the individual service member whom they face in the consulting room. The chapter discusses the fact that, increasingly, military psychologists are embedded within a military unit, which means that they are deployed with the unit to combat theaters and are simultaneously a uniform-wearing member of the unit (like their clients) and a mental health provider. They end the chapter with a set of recommendations for military mental health providers on how to handle such complex, mandated, and unavoidable multiple relationships.