Director’s Corner: Milestones Study

by Charles Benight, Ph.D. 

I’m excited to share that we’ve reached an important milestone for Milestones Resilience Care, and I want to take a moment to explain why this moment matters.

Milestones Resilience Care, located on the fourth floor of the Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences at UCCS, is a center unlike any other. It is revolutionary in both philosophy and practice. Milestones is currently the only whole‑person care model for trauma, stress, and burnout that places resilience, rather than pathology, at the center of healing. Our guiding belief is simple but powerful: healing from trauma happens through empowerment, not by viewing people as broken or defined by diagnosis.

At the heart of the Milestones model is a deeply integrative approach. Our interdisciplinary team brings together psychotherapy, acupuncture, massage, yoga, sound healing, equine therapy, art therapy, and engagement with nature. These services work synergistically to support the body, mind, and nervous system, helping individuals reconnect with their inner strengths and capacities for recovery.

This month, we are proud to announce that our first peer‑reviewed research study about the Milestones model of care has been published in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, one of the leading journals in the field. The findings from our initial study are exceptionally strong. Clients participating in Milestones report significant improvements in psychological strength, physical health and wellbeing, and relational connection. Importantly, while symptom reduction is not our sole focus, participants also showed meaningful decreases in posttraumatic distress, depression, and anxiety.

This initial research was conducted using data drawn almost exclusively from our Veteran clients, and we remain deeply committed to serving military members, Veterans, and first responders. These communities continue to be a central focus of our work.

At the same time, Milestones is expanding to reach additional populations who experience profound and often under‑recognized forms of trauma. We are actively engaging women who have experienced reproductive or physical health trauma, including infertility, miscarriage, traumatic birth, infant loss, and post‑partum challenges. We are also beginning to support individuals coping with medical trauma, such as life‑threatening diagnoses, major or invasive surgeries, traumatic injuries, or disfiguring procedures.

Our next step is to conduct randomized controlled trials to further evaluate the Milestones model, but these early findings are deeply encouraging. They affirm what we see every day: people already hold an inner compass for healing, and with the right support, they can rediscover resilience, meaning, and connection.

We are determined, and genuinely excited, to reach as many individuals as possible through Milestones Resilience Care, helping them heal not by fixing what’s “wrong,” but by strengthening what is already within them.