About Today’s Guest
Maria, along with her husband Air Force veteran Gabe Gonzalez, is the co-founder of Operation Solace, a San Antonio-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting veterans through alternative healing pathways, including psychedelic-assisted therapies and integrative wellness practices. Drawing from their lived experience as a military family navigating the challenges of post-service mental health, their work is rooted in advocacy, access, and community-based healing.
Maria, a public health professional and veteran spouse, brings both professional insight and personal perspective to their mission, while Gabe, an Air Force veteran, leads with lived experience shaped by his own recovery journey. Together, they have built Operation Solace to reduce barriers to care, raising funds to help veterans access transformative healing experiences, and to create spaces for remembrance, connection, and restoration.
Their work extends beyond direct support to public engagement and awareness, including their nationally recognized veterans suicide prevention altar at San Antonio’s Muertos Fest, an effort that honors those lost while creating meaningful pathways for dialogue, healing, and community connection.
PsychArmor Resource of the Week
This week’s PsychArmor Resource of the Week is Episode 255 of the Behind the Mission podcast. On this episode, we have a conversation with Jesse Gould, founder of the Heroic Hearts Project and a former Army Ranger, about what it means for veterans to heal when traditional systems don’t have all the answers. Heroic Hearts works with leading medical researchers to improve veterans access to psychedelic programs for the treatment of PTSD.
You can find the resource here: https://psycharmor.org/podcast/btm255-jesse-gould-heroic-hearts-project-and-psychedelic-assisted-therapy
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Links Mentioned In This Episode
Theme Music
Our theme music Don’t Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.
This Episode Sponsored By:
This episode is sponsored by PsychArmor, the premier education and learning ecosystem specializing in military culture content. PsychArmor offers an online e-learning laboratory with custom training options for organizations.
Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families. You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com