Vet Centers: Free, Confidential Counseling

What a Vet Center is

VA describes Vet Centers as offering confidential support at no cost, in a relaxed, non-medical setting. Services include individual, group, marriage and family counseling for needs such as depression, PTSD, and the psychological effects of military sexual trauma (MST), plus referrals to other VA and community services. Many counselors are veterans themselves. VA also runs 83 Mobile Vet Centers for areas far from an office.

Vet Center Call Center: 877-927-8387 — free, around the clock, and confidential, staffed by combat veterans and family members of veterans. They can also connect you with your nearest Vet Center.

Who's eligible

Per VA's Vet Center eligibility page, veterans and current service members, including National Guard and Reserve, are eligible if any of these apply:

• Served on active duty in a combat theater or area of hostility
• Experienced military sexual trauma (any era)
• Provided mortuary services or direct emergency medical care to casualties of war on active duty
• Served on an unmanned aerial vehicle crew directly supporting combat operations
• Vietnam-era veterans who used a Vet Center before Jan. 2, 2013
• Served on active duty for a presidentially declared national emergency or major disaster, or under a governor's orders for a state disaster or civil disorder
• Coast Guard members (current or former) in drug interdiction operations
• Current drilling Reserve members with a service-related behavioral health condition or psychological trauma affecting their quality of life
• Veterans or service members using covered education benefits who have a service-related readjustment need

Families: family members can take part when it supports the veteran's or service member's goals. Bereavement counseling is offered to families of service members who died on duty (including Guard and Reserve on duty), of veterans and service members who died by suicide, and of veterans receiving Vet Center services at the time of an unexpected death or while in hospice.

VA says Vet Centers "look for reasons and means to qualify individuals rather than turn them away." If you're unsure, call and ask.

Your Vet Center records are kept separate

The Federal Register notice states that under 38 CFR 17.2000(e), Vet Center records must be independent from VA and Department of War medical records and not disclosed without your voluntarily signed authorization, except for limited "routine use" disclosures listed in the notice.

What the October 2026 update changes, in short: Vet Center records now explicitly include outreach, secure-messaging, and Call Center records (Call Center calls may be recorded for quality assurance); records may be stored in government cloud systems; and VA added two routine uses about health care staff licensing and hiring. Comments are open until November 23, 2026 at regulations.gov.

Using your own Vet Center records as evidence

Because Vet Center notes are separate, they won't automatically show up in your VA medical record. If you want them considered — for example, counseling notes that describe your symptoms in a PTSD claim — you can request a copy yourself.

Per the notice, you can write, call, or visit the last Vet Center where you received counseling (or write the system manager). A written request should include your full name, address, phone number, your signature, and enough detail to locate the records.

Whether to submit them is your choice. A free VSO or accredited rep can help you decide what's useful. See also our PTSD & mental health guide, getting private records into your claim, and free peer conversations.

Get free guides like this

Plain-English VA claim guides, tools and templates, free. Sign up for the free newsletter