Healing Combat Trauma

Quotable Quotes -- Tori Amos on the Hidden Courage that Healing Takes

2011-12-23T10:31:48-06:00

"Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it." -- Tori Amos, American singer and songwriter. For more great, thought-provoking quotes about the healing process, read our "Tao of Healing"...

Quotable Quotes -- American Poet Walt Whitman on the True Nature of War

2011-12-13T11:00:00-06:00

Famous American poet Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), author of "Leaves of Grass," volunteered as a nurse in the Civil War. He is reported to have been profoundly affected by what he saw, and wrote about it in an essay...

Quotable Quotes -- Eleanor Roosevelt on the Human Cost of War

2011-12-08T10:24:45-06:00

As a nation, we've been blessed to have had some wonderfully enlightened presidents -- and in this case, first ladies as well. (See previous quotes by Eisenhower on war, etc.) But in this case, we've got the prayer that Eleanor...

Happy Veterans Day 2011 -- Joe Galloway on the Experience of War

2011-11-11T11:00:00-06:00

"War is about men who love their country but even more than that love each other. I left that battlefield knowing that they will continue to sacrifice for me. There are some events that are so overwhelming you can't simply...

What's Involved with the Art of REALLY Listening to One Another?

2011-11-07T12:49:03-06:00

We've written before on this site about the wonderful adage from Christian existentialist Paul Tillich that "the first duty of love is to listen." With the month of November being Military Family Month (per presidential proclamation last year at this...

Quotable Quotes -- Life is a Journey Sometimes Walked in Light, Sometimes in Shadow

2011-11-02T12:16:26-05:00

The book, "Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance," by Native American writer Joseph M. Marshall III, opens with an extended monologue by the spiritual Lakota Sioux grandfather to his grandson, attempting to help him deal with loss. Here's part of...

Comparing Risk of Suicide in Veterans to Non-Veterans

2011-09-21T12:01:09-05:00

Periodically I wish we were doing a section on this site called "What We Knew, When" because the unfortunate tendency in the world at large, for whatever reason, is to suggest that so little is known about PTSD and combat...

A Nutritional Clue Offers Hope for Military Suicides

2011-09-14T11:00:00-05:00

It's not often enough that we get to report some good news about suicide and the military -- for months now, the numbers have been climbing in the wrong direction, with few notable exceptions to the trend. However, just recently,...

Quotable Quotes -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Suffering and Sorrow

2011-09-09T14:25:49-05:00

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Christian theologian, author and martyr, who was executed in a German concentration camp during the Second World War. Among his powerful writings are these two short sentences about suffering and empathy/compassion in action: "Some of us...

Karl Menninger, M.D. on PTSD (Combat Stress) in WWII Veterans

2011-09-07T13:50:39-05:00

We've briefly quoted Karl Menninger, M.D., before, here. But in scouring a book he wrote almost 50 years ago, we came across this extensive retelling of what he observed with World War II veterans and combat stress -- what we...

A Remarkable Quote from General Dwight D. Eisenhower about Who PTSD Affects

2011-09-03T14:59:57-05:00

"You mustn't think of these people as just some sort of unfortunates . . . They are not — they are one of you. I saw a major general, one of the finest athletes of his time, definitely break —...

Quotable Quotes -- Karl Menninger on Hope and Suicide

2011-07-25T13:53:02-05:00

"Hope is the major weapon against the suicide impulse." -- Karl Menninger, M.D., psychiatrist. For what it's worth, even though we've been posting a number of quotes lately, intending to provoke deeper thought and reflection, there's also an enormous archive...

Quotable Quotes -- Eckhart Tolle on the Benefits of Suffering

2011-07-20T11:24:57-05:00

"Is suffering really necessary? Yes and no. If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you, no humility, no compassion." -- Eckhart Tolle, author of "The Power of Now."

Quotable Quotes -- Elisabeth Kübler-Ross on Struggle Perfecting People

2011-07-19T12:49:06-05:00

Swiss-born physician Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, famous for her seminal work on the emotional progression associated with dying, also had something wonderful to say about the benefit of hardship for improving who we are. She wrote: "The most beautiful people we have...

The House of Four Rooms: How Are Yours Doing?

2011-06-30T10:10:09-05:00

I first learned about this concept from a fairly philosophical Marine officer who was serving in Ramadi in '05, while he was there. He shared the concept with me, and it's a great one -- one I need to return...

Freeing Yourself from the Pain in Your Soul: Writing and Trauma

2011-06-10T12:48:26-05:00

Everyone who writes, it's safe to say, has different reasons for writing. "Every writer primarily writes for the back of his own head," says British author Jonathan Raban. But when it comes to trauma, one of the key reasons people...

Quotable Quotes -- Joseph Campbell on Joy Overcoming Pain

2011-04-25T10:00:00-05:00

"Find a place (inside) where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." -- Joseph Campbell

Quotable Quotes -- Victor Frankl on Pushing Through the Pain

2011-03-21T14:20:07-05:00

"What is to give light must endure burning." -- Victor Frankl, concentration camp survivor, psychotherapist, and author of "Man's Search for Meaning."

Quotable Quotes: Steven Pressfield and Lao Tzu on Love and Courage

2011-03-16T11:09:38-05:00

Two interesting quotes, that share a certain amount of symmetry across the centuries: ‎"Courage is inseparable from love and leads to what may arguably be the noblest of all warrior virtues: selflessness." -- Steven Pressfield from "The Warrior Ethos" -and-...

Quotable Quotes -- Bruno Bettelheim on Wounds Need to be Talked about

2011-02-26T11:00:00-06:00

"What cannot be talked about cannot be put to rest. And if it is not, the wounds will fester from generation to generation." -- Bruno Bettelheim, from "Surviving and Other Essays." (Bettelheim was a renowned child psychiatrist and concentrate camp...

Quotable Quotes -- Carl Rogers on How the Patient Knows Where the Pain Is

2011-02-25T11:00:00-06:00

"The client knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial and what experiences have been buried." -- Carl Rogers, American psychologist, founder of client-centered therapy.

Celebrate with Us: Healing Combat Trauma Turns Five Years Old

2011-02-24T11:00:00-06:00

"H Happy birthday to us: We're an amazing five (5) years old today! Almost 1,000 entries about veterans, PTSD and the possibility of recovery. Over 200 recommended books and experts. And a lovely three-minute film, documenting one veteran's healing journey....

The Heart-Ship of Loving Veterans with PTSD

2011-02-15T11:00:00-06:00

Valentine's Day -- and coming up next week, five years of writing this site -- are making me think about holding the space of loving veterans with PTSD in my heart, and the "heart-ship" sometimes of doing so. I was...

Quotable Quotes -- Pearl Bailey on Facing the Truth

2011-02-09T11:00:00-06:00

Self-awareness in healing turns out to be key; it's a little difficult to hit a moving target otherwise. While practitioners, particularly those with an Eastern orientation, might espouse the saying that "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear"...

Steven Pressfield on the Passive-Aggressive Nature of Being a Victim

2011-02-04T11:00:00-06:00

Periodically we raise the specter here that there's little to be gained, in the long run, by overly identifying with the victim role -- and in hinting so, it never fails to offend someone. Well, it's been six months since...

Quotable Quotes -- A 5th Century Mercenary on the Warrior's Life

2011-01-31T11:00:00-06:00

"It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior's life." -- Telamon of Arcadia, mercenary of the fifth century B.C. If you want to have a clearer picture of what it takes to live the warrior...

"Healing Happens" -- Support Our Work at Healing Combat Trauma

2011-01-28T12:41:48-06:00

Are you a combat veteran with PTSD, a family member, caregiver, or healthcare provider who believes -- as we do -- that "healing happens"?! Then purchase some beautiful gear at CafePress that shows the world you believe in healing. We've...

Drug-Free Breathing and Relaxation Study for Veterans with PTSD

2011-01-25T10:28:50-06:00

Here's a study that may be of interest to veterans with PTSD who are in the Bay Area (San Francisco). Biofeedback is a useful technique in the stress-management toolkit. It's hard to say whether it will really help with PTSD...

Eddie's Place on Facebook Chronicles the Story of an American Hero with PTSD

2011-01-24T11:01:12-06:00

If you've been following our "An American Veteran" series the past year on this site about Eddie Livingston -- the World War II veteran and POW who wrote powerfully and simply about the trials of being a veteran with untreated...

Quotable Quotes -- Chief Dan George on the Necessity of Love

2011-01-18T11:00:00-06:00

It's not always easy to love a combat veteran with PTSD. Heck, it's not even easy to BE a combat veteran with PTSD and manage to love yourself, or those around you the way that you want to. But part...

Martin Luther King Jr Had a Dream for Combat Veterans, Too

2011-01-17T11:47:00-06:00

Martin Luther King Jr., from a speech delivered exactly one year before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.: "This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of...

Quotable Quotes -- Vulnerability, Trust and the Breakthrough

2011-01-15T11:00:00-06:00

“We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy." -- Walter Anderson

Quotable Quotes -- Helen Keller on Suffering Refining Character

2011-01-14T15:03:51-06:00

It's not easy to find any true benefit to suffering, but occasionally, a wise person offers some. Here's what Helen Keller -- someone who surely endured much of what the rest of us would consider suffering -- had to say:...

Marine Recon Rudy Reyes in "The Way of the Warrior" Documentary from "In Their Boots"

2011-01-13T13:38:41-06:00

The documentary series "In Their Boots" does a great job at showcasing important aspects of the servicemember, veteran, and family member experience in short films on subjects as varied as the participants themselves. Every single one of the episodes is...

Quotable Quotes -- Smedley Butler, Maverick Marine, on the True Costs of War to Veterans and Their Families

2011-01-12T11:00:00-06:00

USMC Major General Smedley Butler wrote a remarkable and well-known piece of work called "War is a Racket," originally delivered as a stinging speech. In it, he takes the war profiteers of World War I and beyond to task for...

Quotable Quotes -- Epictetus on Living in the Present Moment

2011-01-11T11:00:00-06:00

"Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now."...

Quotable Quotes -- Ralph Waldo Emerson on a Positive Daily Mindset

2011-01-08T11:00:00-06:00

Good advice for today and following: "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson on Life, Death, Loss -- and the Compensations of Calamity

2011-01-04T11:00:00-06:00

For everyone who's lost anyone -- and for veterans, that means their brothers and sisters in combat; for family members, their veteran -- there's obviously nothing good to be said about the tragic loss. But reading American luminary Ralph Waldo...

Quotable Quotes -- Ralph Waldo Emerson on the Patience of Nature

2011-01-02T14:09:21-06:00

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

'Tis the Season to Donate to the Cause

2010-12-29T13:48:49-06:00

Please consider making a year-end donation to Healing Combat Trauma to help us continue to provide therapeutic resources to combat veterans with PTSD. You can donate using this link, here, or you can send us a check. We are a...

Helping the Brave Fight Their Final Battle: A New Book on Death and Dying

2010-12-29T02:42:46-06:00

"Rage, rage, against the dying of the light," wrote Irish poet Dylan Thomas about not going peacefully into that good night, death. Yesterday's LA Times had a story about veterans making that final passage. The article, entitled "Helping the Brave...

Finding -- and Keeping -- Your All-Important Balance

2010-12-26T11:00:00-06:00

With the holiday season fully underway, here is a message that's foundationally true not just now but also every single day of the year. It's vitally important to find -- and then maintain -- your personal balance, whatever that may...

Quotable Quotes -- Edwin Shneidman on Walking Someone Out of Hell

2010-12-23T12:37:18-06:00

Edwin Shneidman, who we've written about frequently on this site, was a mentor to Mark Goulston, M.D., the author of "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for Dummies," linked here. Goulston credits Shneidman with teaching him how to really listen to others, particularly...