Founder
The founder of AboutFace‐USA® is Joe LaBranche, a Marine Veteran who served our country for two years, at age 20 in 1966, and received two Purple Heart medals due to being wounded in the Vietnam jungles. His injuries healed and he returned to combat.
When Joe’s service came to an end, he returned to the states and within 72 hours was back to civilian life in Detroit, Michigan. Joe’s Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) symptoms were clearly showing but mental health services were limited and the stigma of needing help was extreme. His symptoms showed up as bad behaviors and addictions throughout his adult life and affected his relationships with his spouse and children, his community and spiritual leaders and with his employers and co‐workers. It took Joe over 40 years to get the courage to seek help for his PTS symptoms. Now, Joe knows that mental health treatments, therapies and medications can work.