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The Homecoming Protocol

The work, in the order your nervous system actually needs it.

Twelve weeks. Physiology first. Framed as training and skill, because coming home is a skill nobody taught us. Here is exactly how it is built and exactly what it costs. No mystery, no pressure.

Three phases

Phase 01

Stabilize the floor

Sleep and nervous system first.

You cannot do exposure work with a man sleeping four broken hours a night. His nervous system has no floor to stand on. So we pour the floor first: sleep, and getting your body out of the fight it never stood down from. Nothing else lands until this does.

Phase 02

Process what happened

Trauma work, once there is something to stand on.

Only after the floor exists do we touch the hard part. Evidence based, structured, at a pace your system can actually hold. This is the work most guys were handed first, out of order, on a slab that was never poured. Second, on purpose.

Phase 03

Come home for real

Identity and reintegration.

Purpose. The marriage. Being a father your kid is not scared of. The work you never named as treatment because nobody named it for you. Coming home is a skill nobody taught us. This is where you learn it.

Accountability and belonging are the treatment.

Every phase runs alongside five other men in a six man cohort. Cohorts run in batches of six and start together, so you come in as a unit, not a number on a list.

Veterans heal in formation, not in isolation. The cohort meets virtually so geography never breaks a unit, with one optional in person weekend in San Antonio partway through. And it does not disband at week 12.

What it is and what it costs

$5,400flat, for the full 12 weeks

What is included

  • Weekly individual sessions, in person in San Antonio or by telehealth anywhere in Texas
  • Sleep and nervous system rebuild sequenced first
  • A six man cohort of veterans running the protocol alongside you
  • Direct text access to Dr. Tavel between sessions

Paying for it

  • Pay in full, in 3, or in 6. Nobody gets turned into a financing project.
  • Cash pay and out of network on purpose, so the work answers to you, not to a billing code.
  • A superbill is provided and the admin side helps you file for out of network reimbursement.
  • Two reduced fee slots in every cohort. If money is the only thing in the way, say so on the call.

After week 12

  • Alumni stay in the cohort network for free. The unit does not disband at week 12.
  • Quarterly tune up session available at $180 when you want a check in.
  • Text once and get a callback within a day. You do not start over as a stranger.

Where and how

  • Licensed statewide in Texas.
  • Individual sessions in person in San Antonio, or by telehealth anywhere in Texas. A veteran in El Paso or Killeen qualifies the same as one down the street.
  • The six man cohort meets virtually, so geography never breaks a unit, with one optional in person weekend in San Antonio partway through.
  • Out of state: not yet. This is for Texas veterans.
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78% of completers reported clinically meaningful improvement on the PCL-5 by week 12 (self-report). Not a guarantee.

Straight answers

The things you are already wondering.

$5,400 is steep when the VA is free.
Fair. The VA is a real resource and for a lot of guys it is the right call, and if it is the right call for you we will tell you so on the call. This is cash pay and out of network on purpose, so the work answers to you and your timeline instead of a billing code and a waitlist. If cost is the only thing standing between you and starting, there are two reduced fee slots in every cohort. Say so on the call.
Twelve weeks is a big commitment.
It is. It is also finite, with a defined start and a defined finish, which is more than open ended talk therapy ever gave you. Weekly individual sessions plus the cohort. Most of it fits around a work schedule, in person in San Antonio or by telehealth anywhere in Texas.
How is this different from every other therapy I have tried?
The order. Most guys get sent straight at the trauma while they are running on no sleep and full alert, and it does not take. Here the sleep and nervous system work comes first, so there is a floor to stand on before we touch the hard part. Same evidence based tools. Poured in the sequence your system can actually hold.
Does a civilian program really understand veterans?
This is not a civilian program. Dr. Tavel served eight years in the Army and sat on both sides of the desk. You will not spend the first month explaining the culture. That is the point of the whole thing.
What if it does not work for me?
Nobody can promise you an outcome, and anyone who does is selling something. What we can tell you plainly: 78% of program completers reported clinically meaningful improvement on the PCL-5 by week 12, self-report. If it turns out this is not the right fit, on the first call or later, we point you toward something that is.

Ready to see if the order of operations changes things?

Start with a free 20 minute call. We work out whether this is a fit. If it is not, you leave with a name that might be.

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Free 20 minute fit conversation