Some conversations about mental health begin with symptoms. Others begin with a bigger question: what gives us a sense of purpose, identity and belonging when life changes?

Farid Yaghini’s story touches all three. A Canadian Armed Forces veteran, author, wellness coach, and founder and CEO of Camp Aftermath, Farid has spent years exploring what happens when the structure, community and sense of mission that once defined someone’s life suddenly shifts.

Farid joined The MindSpa Podcast for a conversation rooted in lived experience, military transition, community and the ongoing work of building a meaningful life beyond service. Rather than try to summarize his entire story here, this article offers some background on Farid, the work he has built and the ideas that make his perspective particularly relevant to conversations about mental health.

From Iran to Canada

He was born in Iran and came to Canada as a child after his family fled religious persecution, eventually settling in Whitby, Ontario, according to a detailed profile published by Veterans Affairs Canada.

Farid has spoken publicly about the challenges of adapting to a new country, navigating identity and belonging, and eventually finding a strong sense of connection through military service. His journey from Iran to Canada later became part of the story behind his memoir, Life in Rotations: From Persecuted Iranian to Proud Canadian. You can learn more about his personal story through his official author website and author biography.

Finding Belonging in the Canadian Armed Forces

Farid joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2002. His military service included deployments to Afghanistan, where his language and cultural knowledge placed him in roles supporting operational teams. Veterans Affairs Canada has documented parts of his military experience, including significant exposure to combat and an incident in which a helicopter he was travelling in was shot down.

One important clarification for anyone writing about Farid’s military history: Veterans Affairs Canada later corrected an earlier description of his formal occupation. Farid served as a Land Communications Tech and provided linguistic support to intelligence and combat units. Veterans Affairs published the correction in its May 2023 Salute! newsletter.

But some of the most important parts of Farid’s story happened after military service.

What Happens When the Uniform Comes Off? Military Transition and Mental Health

Military transition can involve much more than changing careers. For many people, military service provides structure, routine, identity, community and a shared mission. Leaving can mean rebuilding several of those things at once.

Farid has spoken openly in previous interviews and writing about the sense of belonging he found in the military and the difficulty of recreating that same connection afterward. It is one reason the concept of purpose after service has become central to his work.

His experience raises questions that extend well beyond the veteran community: What happens when an identity that once organized your life disappears? Where does belonging come from afterward? And how do people build a new sense of purpose without erasing the parts of their past that still matter? These are deeply human questions, and they are part of what makes Farid’s perspective relevant to a broader mental health conversation.

The Beginning of Camp Aftermath

Farid began developing the idea that became Camp Aftermath around 2016. Today, Camp Aftermath operates through the Aftermath Association, a Canadian registered charity based in the Ottawa region. Camp Aftermath supports Veterans, serving military members, first responders and frontline professionals through a long-term reintegration program centred on identity, purpose, belonging and connection. A mental-health diagnosis is not required to apply

Its model is unusual because it places significant emphasis on purpose, volunteerism, peer connection, positive routines and long-term continuity. Rather than focusing only on receiving help, participants are also given opportunities to help others.

Early Camp Aftermath rotations included humanitarian volunteer work in Costa Rica. More recent programming has included volunteerism at Camp Garagona in Quebec. You can read more about how the program developed on the Camp Aftermath About page.

Volunteerism, Purpose and Mental Health

One idea runs throughout much of Camp Aftermath’s work: helping someone else can sometimes help reconnect us with our own sense of meaning. For people leaving highly structured service environments, volunteering can offer several things at once, a reason to show up, responsibility, human connection, shared experience, routine, contribution, and a renewed sense of usefulness and purpose.

Camp Aftermath has also participated in broader discussions about the role volunteerism can play in veteran transition. In 2025, representatives from the organization took part in a working group connected with a National Veteran Volunteerism Action Plan, hosted by the True Patriot Love Foundation. Camp Aftermath wrote about that work in its article on the National Veteran Volunteerism Strategy.

Peer Community and Clinical Mental Health Care Are Not the Same Thing

An important part of the Camp Aftermath model is understanding its boundaries. Camp Aftermath has been clear that it does not replace clinical mental health care and does not operate as a crisis service. Instead, its work focuses heavily on peer community, continuity, identity, belonging, purpose, volunteerism and maintaining connection after an intensive program. Mental health professionals are also involved in the program’s structure and oversight.

That distinction matters. Therapy, peer support, community, meaningful activity and social connection can serve very different purposes, and mental health support does not always need to come from a single place or approach. Sometimes the larger question is how those different pieces can complement one another.

For anyone interested in Camp Aftermath’s current thinking around military transition and belonging, Farid’s June 2026 article, The Same Thing Kept Coming Up, is particularly worth reading.

Nine Rotations and an Evolving Program

Camp Aftermath has continued evolving since its earliest programs. Across its first eight completed rotations since 2019, Camp Aftermath has worked with 47 participants, 46 of whom completed the program, representing a 98% completion rate. Its ninth rotation, a women-only cohort of nine female Veterans, is scheduled for October 2026. These are Camp Aftermath’s own reported program figures and should not be interpreted as independent clinical research outcomes.

The organization has also received support from parts of Canada’s veteran community. Veterans Affairs Canada has previously funded Camp Aftermath programming through the Veteran and Family Well-being Fund, you can read the federal government’s Aftermath Association final report summary. Federal records also document funding for Camp Aftermath Roto 8. The Royal Canadian Legion has also supported Camp Aftermath programming.

From Veteran to Wellness Coach

His interest in mental health and behaviour change eventually led him into formal wellness-coaching education. He completed Humber College’s Wellness Coaching Ontario Graduate Certificate, graduating with honours in 2022. Humber profiled Farid and his work with Camp Aftermath in Wellness Coaching: Come One, Come All.

He has also taught and written about wellness coaching. In 2022, First Line Education published his article Why I Became a Wellness Coach, and Farid developed and taught the organization’s Wellness Conversations course. His public Udemy instructor profile includes additional information about his work in wellness, personal development and Camp Aftermath.

Life in Rotations

His experiences eventually became the foundation for his memoir, Life in Rotations: From Persecuted Iranian to Proud Canadian. Published in 2025, the book explores the different “rotations” that have shaped his life — from leaving Iran and growing up in Canada to military service, Afghanistan, family, transition and the creation of Camp Aftermath. Farid’s official website says a portion of proceeds from the book supports Camp Aftermath.

Learn more: Official book page | Farid Yaghini’s website | Indigo — Life in Rotations

A Conversation About More Than Trauma

Farid’s story certainly includes difficult experiences, but reducing his story to trauma would miss much of what makes it interesting. His work increasingly points toward questions of identity, community, purpose, contribution and belonging — questions that matter for veterans, and also during retirement, career changes, immigration, parenthood, grief, relationship changes and almost any major life transition.

Sometimes the challenge is not simply recovering from what happened. It is figuring out who am I now, where do I belong, and what do I want to contribute next. That is the broader conversation Farid Yaghini brings to The MindSpa Podcast.

Listen to Farid Yaghini on The MindSpa Podcast

Farid joined The MindSpa Podcast to share his perspective and experiences.

Episode link: Coming up soon

To explore more conversations around mental health, trauma, relationships, sleep, emotional regulation and wellbeing, visit MindSpa Mental Health Centre.