Healing Combat Trauma

Instructions for Making Your Own Fatigues Clothesline Shirt

2010-07-24T22:18:04-07:00

If you're intrigued -- as many veterans who've suffered Military Sexual Trauma (MST) are -- with Regina Vasquez' great project, "Fatigues Clothesline," which we wrote about, here -- and you're considering making your own shirt to send to the collection,...

The Fatigues Clothesline Project: One Former Marine Making a Difference on Military Sexual Trauma

2010-07-24T21:02:22-07:00

In true Margaret Mead spirit -- "“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has" -- meet Regina Vasquez. Vasquez is a remarkable wife, mother of five(!),...

From the Canadian Side of the Street: A Military Author's Take on Veterans Suffering from War and PTSD

2010-07-23T22:43:59-07:00

One of the many blessings of the new media -- social media like Facebook -- are the interesting, talented people one meets within that. One such person is Bonnie Toews, a Canadian former journalist and novelist with a longtime background...

Busting Out of the Bunker at Last...Made to Be Social Beings, We Die in Isolation

2010-07-22T22:52:15-07:00

Following up on the "Bunker" post of the other day, about the protective isolation of the bunker for the combat vet with PTSD, it seemed high time to write "the rest of the story," about what the subject of "Eyewitness...

Provider Burnout among Combat Stress Healthcare Practitioners

2010-07-18T23:22:51-07:00

It's been interesting to follow the Tweets from the conference at Mass. General Hospital this Friday and Saturday, on the "Complexities and Challenges of PTSD and TBI." It sounds like it was a great conference. One of the items that...

Victimology -- The Temptation to Stay Stuck

2010-07-18T22:45:01-07:00

Every behavior has a potential payoff, or we wouldn't engage in them. This is particularly applicable to people who have suffered for years, not months, with their situation, and where the groove has most definitely become a rut.The subject of...

Quotable Quotes -- The Dalai Lama on Life Purpose and Satisfaction

2010-07-17T13:32:53-07:00

That Dalai Lama -- he's amazing! If "personal outlook" were a software package, I'd ask for the Dalai Lama upgrade: because I like how he thinks. So compassionate and kind and reasonable, but not afraid of science. A fascinating, compelling...

Prevention Talk and Prescriptions Apparently Not Doing It: Army and Marine Suicides Both Up

2010-07-16T23:00:33-07:00

"The grand essentials of happiness," Allan Chalmers wrote, "are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." Those words echoed in my mind yesterday when I met a remarkable woman vet in Seattle, who ten years ago...

Quotable Quotes -- Rob Brezsny on What Qualifies as "Information" on a Subject, Even PTSD

2010-07-11T22:33:08-07:00

Here's a great quote from American free thinker Rob Brezsny. I like it because it goes to the heart of what we're trying to do on this site. It's not the "same 'ol, same 'ol" -- it's an attempt to...

Going to the Bunker: A Combat Veteran with PTSD on the Purpose of Protective Isolation

2010-07-10T01:41:18-07:00

Every combat veteran with PTSD knows what is meant by their "bunker," or what "going to their bunker" means. It's a walled-off, isolated situation that allows them to get some space to themselves, away from other people (including family and...

Quotable Quotes -- Rumi on "There Is Another View..."

2010-07-09T22:03:20-07:00

We haven't shared any more quotes about the Tao of Healing lately, although there is a whole series of them on this site, linked here. However, this one, by 13th century Persian mystic philosopher Rumi, while not strictly "about" healing...

Veterans, PTSD and Suicide: The Overlooked Element of Contagion

2010-07-09T01:05:35-07:00

This is an article I'd first started writing two years ago now. I did the research, and located the main, most often-cited study's principal investigator, long since retired, and asked him to confirm whether the trend is still true, though...

Too Long a Sacrifice Can Make a Stone of the Heart: The Tao of Self-Care

2010-07-07T23:45:29-07:00

"Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart," wrote Irish poet William Butler Yeats. He wasn't necessarily a caregiver to anyone, like a veteran, with PTSD -- but he sure seems to understand the predicament. The "365...

Anatomy of a PTSD Suicide: Orrin McClellan Was "Only Halfway Home" from War

2010-07-07T00:10:30-07:00

"Happy families are all alike," wrote Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian novelist (and combat veteran), in the opening lines of "Anna Karenina," adding, "every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." And certainly few families are unhappier than those...

Anatomy of a Suicide: OEF Veteran Orrin McClellan, RIP from PTSD

2010-07-06T01:07:37-07:00

The Seattle Times has an article in yesterday's paper about a young Whidbey Island OEF veteran who unfortunately killed himself in May of this year. Orrin Gorman McClellan served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan in 2005-2006....

Literary Fireworks! Combat Vets Celebrate the Fourth with 5...7...5...Haiku

2010-07-04T20:10:25-07:00

War poetry has a long and storied history; combat veterans and haiku, not so much. But that may all be changing, thanks to Susanna Speier's innovative "Politiku" -- the application of the traditional Japanese short-form poem familiar to schoolchildren everywhere,...

Kind Words from a Mentor and Friend about "Healing Combat Trauma"

2010-07-04T20:09:24-07:00

Unsolicited feedback can be encouraging, especially when it's positive. Had a very nice surprise of that kind this past this past week when I received a lovely and unexpected email from Arthur Egendorf, Ph.D., a dear mentor and friend, whose...

More Praise for "Healing Combat Trauma"

2010-07-04T20:08:55-07:00

Belleruth Naparstek, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist, author, and guided imagery pioneer who is also the author of Invisible Heroes : Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal, and Health Journeys: A Guided Meditation for Healing Trauma (PTSD), two items that...

June 27, 2010 is "National PTSD Awareness Day"

2010-06-26T18:41:37-07:00

Amazingly enough -- and suddenly, because the U.S. Senate just passed it -- tomorrow is "National PTSD Awareness Day." Even MORE amazingly, the text of the resolution is very veteran-focused (yippee!). Here's the full text of the bill. Enjoy! My...

Paying Tribute at "The Tribute Wall..."

2010-06-25T23:16:42-07:00

One of the most remarkable experiences, at last week's third annual "The Brain at War" conference in San Francisco, was visiting the Marines' Memorial Club & Hotel in Union Square, where the conference was held. Unbeknownst to me and many...

"The Brain at War" Conference in San Francisco

2010-06-25T21:41:38-07:00

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to attend the third annual "The Brain at War" conference, put on by the NCIRE, The Veterans Health Research Institute, in San Francisco, CA. More on that later, because things are really busy around...

Praise for "Healing Combat Trauma"

2010-06-10T13:32:51-07:00

Had a nice surprise at the week-long clinical training in PTSD at the National Center for PTSD. Picked up a copy of Ray Scurfield, Ph.D.'s comprehensive "War Trauma Resources," and in it read something very nice he said about this...

Quotable Quotes -- José Narosky on All Soldiers Are Wounded

2010-06-10T13:31:43-07:00

"In war, there are no unwounded soldiers." -- José Narosky