EDITOR’S NOTE: This story involves discussion about veteran mental health issues that some readers may find upsetting. If you feel you are in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 24-hour Suicide Crisis Lifeline. Veterans and their loved ones can dial 988 then Press 1 or text 838255 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.

An edge comes to Michael’s voice when he speaks about his time serving in Afghanistan and his struggles living with post-traumatic stress disorder.

A hardened Marine veteran, Michael — who asked to use the pseudonym to speak candidly about sensitive health issues — describes in tones that are measured but laced with irritation what he saw in conflict: vehicles being blown up, children being exploited, cellphones that could trigger unexpected detonations.

Though he left the armed forces years ago, he still has flashbacks. To this day, he is “trying to figure out how to stop the nightmares,” he said.

It took him years to find a trusted VA therapist, who gave him a lifeline after he struggled with addiction and was hospitalized following multiple suicide attempts, he said.

But recently, Michael’s one-on-one sessions with the provider were suddenly terminated.

Some Veterans Affairs hospitals, including the one where Michael gets his care, have stepped up enforcement of a policy in recent years that limits the number of long-term therapy sessions available to individuals, according to half a dozen mental health providers and VA patients at locations across the country who spoke to CNN.

Under the policy, put in place under earlier administrations, patients initially get a certain number of one-on-one therapy sessions, which can vary between four and 24 sessions, depending