Healing Combat Trauma

The Carrot or the Stick: A Specialized "Cocktail" for PTSD?

Carrot of Hope is a nonprofit organization on the Web of individuals with PTSD, who are trying to pool their experiential knowledge base in order to create a better future for those with PTSD.  It's hard to figure out much from their website about what they're about, but perhaps that's just because they're a work in progress. 

However, much of the group's enthusiasm seems to center around a "PTSD cocktail," using various chemicals, that they feel -- from their members' accumulated experience with it -- has some beneficial effect on PTSD.  Apparently they are both trying to raise money to study the effects of this cocktail on PTSD, and also provide resources so that those with PTSD can take the information to their doctors and/or health care providers, and initiate a dialogue about whether this treatment might be beneficial.  Worth checking out -- especially worth sharing with your health care provider, to see if it might have promise in your particular case.

They say that they are "currently taking donations to fund a research project studying the role of the MAO-A enzyme in post-traumatic stress."  According to them, "the Monoamineoxidase-A (MAO-A) removes catecholamines (fight or flight chemicals) from the body," and that "studying MAO-A levels in PTSD patients could be a major key in curing" and possibly even "preventing PTSD in the future.

The article on their website about understanding catecholamines is linked here, and th material about the "PTSD cocktail," which contains three ingredients -- Geodon [Zeldox, Ziprasidone] (20 mg); Propranolol [Inderal] (10-20 mg); and Vistaril (25 mg) -- is linked here.  The main website is linked here.

Study Shows Mind-Body Medicine Works on PTSD

(Just what we've been talking about, and who we've just been talking about as well.  Heh.  Love that.  So confirming...)

Read down and see how therapeutic this would be for people in rural communities, with little or no access to the VA, who are in therapy or not, for DIY types and those who prefer to access healthcare through a practitioner of one kind or another.  Just wonderful... and we knew it all along :-)

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The Washington, DC based Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM) announced today the publication of a landmark study on the use of its comprehensive, non-drug model to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in war traumatized children. The study, “Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Post-War Kosovar Adolescents Using Mind-Body Skills Groups: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” which was published today online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry is the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) ever of any intervention with war traumatized children. It is also the first RCT of a successful, comprehensive mind-body approach with any traumatized population.

The study demonstrates that the Center’s groundbreaking model can be used to produce highly significant and lasting changes in levels of stress, flashbacks, nightmares, and symptoms of withdrawal and numbing in highly traumatized children – those who lived in an area of Kosovo where in 1999 90% of the homes were burned and bombed and 20% of the children lost one or both parents.

 The CMBM approach includes self-expression and mind-body techniques and was offered to these children over 12 sessions in an educational, supportive small group setting. Eighty-two high school students in Kosovo participated in the study. The program was conducted by teachers and included meditation, guided imagery, breathing techniques, and biofeedback as well as self-expression through words, drawings, and movement. All the students met the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which was measured using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Following the program, the number of students having symptoms indicating PTSD was significantly reduced from 100% to 18%. The reduction in symptoms was maintained at a 3 month follow-up. The improvement in PTSD symptoms was significantly greater compared to a similar group of students who did not participate in the mind-body skills program. This is the same model that CMBM’s founder and director, James S. Gordon, M.D., describes in detail in his new book, Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven Stage Journey Out of Depression.

“This RCT,” Dr. Gordon, the lead author, says, “is important because it provides scientific evidence for the efficacy of a model that has been taught to almost 3,000 health and mental health professionals and educators worldwide. We’ve used this small group model to give tens of thousands of children and adults practical tools that help them to feel better quickly, and we’ve taught them to use their intuition and imagination to solve problems that had seemed overwhelming. We help traumatized people around the world to draw on strengths they may have forgotten they have, and we offer them a ‘safe place’ in which they can share their pain with others who have suffered as they have.”

“This model is educational, non-stigmatizing, and powerfully effective. It can be easily taught and can be used by people of all ages on their own,” Dr. Gordon explains. “It’s highly acceptable to populations which do not want to be given medication, those with no access to a doctor or therapist, and those who are in psychotherapy.”

This model, which Dr. Gordon presents in a step-by-step self-help format in Unstuck, is currently being used by CMBM with war traumatized populations in Israel and Gaza as well as in post-Katrina southern Louisiana. It is widely used with anxious and depressed people and those with chronic illness in the US, and has already been incorporated as a stress reduction program for students in a dozen US medical schools.

The CMBM model is also of increasing interest to the US Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration. “The military,” Dr. Gordon says, “understands the breadth and depth of the psychological crisis (as many as 300,000 returning veterans are expected to have posttraumatic stress disorder or major depressive disorder, and another 320,000 will have been made vulnerable to these conditions by traumatic brain injury). The military’s leadership is committed to finding evidence-based approaches, like the one taught by The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, that can make a difference for the individual veteran and his/her family, an approach that can be taught to the large numbers of professionals and peer counselors who serve them.” More than 100 health and mental health professionals who work with the military are expected at the next CMBM training in mind-body medicine on October 25-29 in Minneapolis, and many more are expressing interest in learning and using the CMBM model.

For more information about the upcoming training, click here,  or to order Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression", please email The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM) at [email protected] or visit www.cmbm.org.

Refusing to Be a Victim - Rising Above - Giving Back - Changing the World

The Survivor's Pledge:

I will not be a victim.
I will rise above.
I will give back.
I will change the world.

From the new book entitled I Will Not Be Broken: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis, by Jerry White.

From the product description: "The loss of a loved one, a painful divorce, or a serious physical injury---we must all, at one point, face tragedy---unavoidable moments that divide our lives into “before” and “after.” How do we muscle our way through tough times and emerge stronger, wiser---even grateful for our struggle? In 1984, author Jerry White lost his leg---and almost his life---in a landmine accident. He has endured the pain of loss and the challenge of rebuilding.  As cofounder of Survivors Corps, White has interviewed thousands of victims of tragedy.  With this book, he shares what he has learned."

CJ, over at "A Soldier's Perspective" blog, has been raving about this book: He wants every general in the military to give a copy of this book "as a gift for EVERY Soldier injured in combat and to every family who has lost lost someone in Iraq or Afghanistan."  He writes: 

Having been to Walter Reed many times while I was stationed in the DC area, I can tell you that the way Soldiers deal with their life-changing events varies almost to the Soldier. It's safe to say that you can categorize those Soldiers into one of three groups: those who have accepted their fate and make the best of it, those that are trying to deal with it and may or may not seek help, and finally the victims.

He says:

Today, we have soldiers coming home by the thousands with wounds that are both physical and psychological. Even after the physical wounds have healed, soldiers must learn to deal with the emotional wounds still needing to be patched up. For many soldiers, feelings of embarrassment, inadequacy, and remorse overpower their lives as they attempt to deal with these issues alone.

In other words, it's not such a bad idea to get them thinking quickly about surviving.

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Last year around this time, I was down in the "OC" visiting a longtime friend who I hadn't seen in years. At a bookstore, I bought a copy of a book with a potentially intriguing title, "Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, And Why."  One of the perils, I guess, of having dated someone who climbed Mt. Everest years ago is thinking I ought to find books with lots of material in them about mountaineering interesting (this one has that).  However, it's sat on my shelf ever since then. 

Quite honestly, Jerry Wright's book sounds much more interesting -- he positions his theme about not just surviving, but not being broken on the anvil of life as tragedy can do: in fact, getting up, succeeding, and giving back.  Wow. If a book like this can motivate veterans to believe their life isn't over because they're suffering intensely from "things they don't understand how to fix" (combat trauma, and resultant PTSD) -- I hope it does get into the hands of veterans, if it can do some good.  And it sounds like it really can, mostly from the motivational pespective.  Great...

How to Follow Legislative Progress on Bills That Concern Veterans, PTSD and Other Issues

"Founding Father" Thomas Jefferson was a firm believer in "open" or "transparent"  government -- and the principle of getting information into the hands of those democratically governed.  As a nod to his considerable contributions, the Library of Congress named their website for following legislation in progress after him -- the "Thomas" site.  It's a veritable "one-stop shopping" Web site for following progress on proposed legislation of concern to veterans and their families -- bills that are currently, or soon to be before the House of Representatives or the Senate.  The Thomas site, linked here, is a free service of the Library of Congress -- in other words, our tax dollars at work.  Go there and punch in any keywords of particular interest to you, such as "veterans" and "PTSD," and it will return a list of the bills that have been introduced to Congress and/or are being voted on, which include those specific terms.  Then you will be able to follow the progress of those bills more closely.

Fortunately, organizations such as the IAVA, VoteVets and others, also are in the habit of letting their members know when something they consider important is getting close to a vote, so that members can take the initiative to call their senators and representatives.  The recent successful passage of the new GI Bill was testament to those organizations' ability to get the word out from their constituents that passage was vitally important.  However, organizations will typically focus only on the bigger proposed bills, or ones with the greatest possible impact to their membership.  It behooves ordinary citizens -- you, me, us -- to become more aware in general of what proposed legislation is in the pipeline, so to speak, before it's voted on.  Then, in case we care to get more involved, or convey our point of view on it to our elected representatives.  Following a bill's progress, from proposal through passage or veto, at a site like the comprehensive Thomas site, is one way to do that.

Another way, that takes advantage of contemporary concepts like RSS feeds, is offered by OpenCongress.org, linked here.  A joint project of the Sunlight Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation, OpenCongress is a free, open-source, non-profit, and non-partisan web resource with a mission to help make Congress more transparent and to encourage civic engagement. As they say on their web site:

OpenCongress brings together official government information with news and blog coverage to give you the real story behind what's happening in Congress.

For most people, finding out what's really happening in Congress is a daunting and time-consuming task. The legislative process is frequently arcane and closed-off from the public, resulting in frustration with Congress and apathy about politics.

Small groups of political insiders and lobbyists know what's really going on in Congress, but this important information rarely makes its way into the light. The official website of the library of Congress, Thomas, publishes the full text of bills, but we can do much more to inform ourselves and make our government accessible. Now, with OpenCongress, everyone can be an insider.

What I liked, in particular, about their site is the alphabetical index to issues.  Under "V," you can find those issues with "veteran" in the name -- including veteran's benefits, disability compensation, education, employment, hospitals, loans, medical care, organizations, pensions and rehabilitation.  If you want to search for bills relating to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, that also has its own category, and is linked here.  You can even subscribe to that category via RSS feed, so you can track that issue, and always kept apprised of what's going on in that area, with a minimum of effort -- because it comes to you, instead of your having to go out and find it (great!).  (For the link to veterans, click here.  For subsets of veteran issues, such as the ones named above, you have to search within "V" because they're listed alphabetically, starting with "veteran" as a prefix.)

If you're as big a fan of Facebook as I am, you'll note that OpenCongress.org has both a group, linked here, and a special application for Facebook users, linked here, to track bills on their profiles. (Yay.)

Editor's note: Thanks to subject matter expert, GuvBoy, for turning me on to the Thomas site.  (And if he ever learns to embrace Facebook, let's hope I returned the favor by turning him on to OpenCongress.org.)

Mind Body Medicine: Healing the Troops

We've talked about James S. Gordon, M.D.'s Center for Mind-Body Medicine and their successes in "Healing the Wounds of War" recently on this blog, and the wait to see if they would revamp this program to address the needs of PTSD and the troops.  Finally, at long last...The Center for Mind-Body Medicine's program for Healing the Troops, informational material linked here.

From their website:

The Center has created a program of training in mind-body medicine and on-going support for physicians and mental health professionals working with veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as a first step to providing veterans with a powerful and healthy approach to dealing with the stress of war and to enhancing their resiliency.

This program will be a significant focus at our Fall 2008 Mind-Body Medicine training, for which we have received funding to bring 20 military healthcare professionals on scholarship. We are seeking additional funding for this important effort.

Also from their website:

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine has developed a trauma relief program utilizing mind-body skills including biofeedback, relaxation, guided imagery, meditation, drawing, and breathing exercises that has been used successfully around the world.

This program, which is presented in small educational groups, has the advantage of enhancing veterans’ capacity to help themselves while mobilizing social support crucial to full recovery. The Center has used this program to assist in population-wide healing efforts in war-torn and traumatized regions around the world, including Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Israel and Gaza , and in the United States with NYC firefighters post-9/11 and in post-Katrina Louisiana.

Further information about the 2008 conference is linked here. Dr. Gordon's bio is linked here.

"Give an Hour" Helps Fill Veterans Counseling Gap

Give an Hour -- the foundation that matches member psychogists and counselors with veterans and their families in need of counseling at no charge -- to fill the currently unmet gap in mental health services, has been in the news recently.  (You can learn more about Give an Hour's founder, Barbara V. Romberg, Ph.D., in her bio, linked here). It's truly fantastic to see this public-spirited act of service on the part of Give an Hour; at the same time, it's a shame that private industry, so to speak, has to jump in to fill the unmet gap of mental health care -- the need for which care is an entirely predictable "soft cost" of going to war.  Nevertheless, good stuff, and very altruistic and forward-thinking on the part of Dr. Romberg and her organization.

From a press release:

The American Psychiatric Foundation, Lilly Foundation And Give An Hour Join Forces To Provide Mental Health Care To Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans

Heeding the call of a growing public health crisis -- the unmet mental health needs of returning soldiers and their families -- Give an Hour (GAH) and the American Psychiatric Foundation (APF) announced a major expansion of a nationwide effort to help U.S. veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

GAH and APF, the philanthropic and educational arm of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), will be using a $1 million grant from the Lilly Foundation to recruit and educate volunteer mental health professionals, who will become part of a network aiming to bridge the gap in mental health services for soldiers returning from service, as well as their families. Among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, approximately 40 percent of soldiers, a third of Marines, and half of the National Guard members report psychological problems, but mental health services are in short supply.

"This all-volunteer effort provides badly needed support to help our veterans, many of whom come home with mental health needs," said U.S. Representative Steve Buyer (R-Indiana), Ranking Member, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "I applaud the hard work of Give an Hour, the American Psychiatric Foundation, and the Lilly Foundation, which are stepping up to help those who have selflessly served."

Efforts will be made to create a large, national, volunteer network over the next three years to address postwar mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), drug abuse, anxiety and depression.

"This grant will allow us to get out the message that help is available. We want to normalize what our military personnel and their families are experiencing and support the sacrifices that they are making by providing critical mental health support at no cost," said Barbara V. Romberg, Ph.D., founder and president of GAH. "We will be educating the military community and broader public about these mental health needs in hope of helping veterans keep their lives and families intact."

GAH is recruiting mental health professionals to volunteer one hour each week for a minimum of one year to provide direct services in person, by phone or in consultation with schools and community organizations that serve the military community. Services are wide-ranging and include marital and family therapy, substance abuse counseling and treatment for PTSD. APF brings strong ties to the psychiatric community and is actively encouraging psychiatrists to join the network.

"This grant will help us reach our goal of recruiting 10 percent of the 400,000 mental health professionals in the United States by 2015 to assist in this effort," said Dr. Richard K. Harding, M.D., president of the APF. "It is an ambitious goal, but we are confident it can be achieved."

The Department of Defense (DoD) is making an unprecedented attempt to encourage personnel to seek mental health treatment, but a significant increase in demand, in some areas, has forced the rationing of services, created long waiting lists and limited individual counseling sessions. In addition, some members of military families such as parents, siblings and unmarried partners do not qualify for care through the Veterans Administration or DoD but are affected nonetheless by the mental health of the veteran.

"We're privileged to be able to give something back to our troops, but we know there's still much more to be done," said Steven Paul, M.D., executive vice president for science and technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. "Lilly is fully committed to assuring that the best possible medicinal treatments are available, but unfortunately, we also know that having access to the best care -- in this case mental health services -- is essential."

About Give an Hour
Give an Hour is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), founded in September 2005 by Dr. Barbara V. Romberg, a psychologist in the Washington, D.C., area. The organization's mission is to develop national networks of volunteers capable of responding to both acute and chronic conditions that arise within our society. Currently, GAH is dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of the troops and families affected by the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Give an Hour now has approximately 1,200 providers across the nation and continues to recruit volunteer mental health professionals to its network. For more information or to volunteer to become part of the effort, please visit http://www.giveanhour.org.

About The American Psychiatric Foundation
The American Psychiatric Foundation is the charitable and educational subsidiary of the American Psychiatric Association. The mission of the foundation is to advance understanding that mental illnesses are real and can be effectively treated. For more information, please visit the foundation's web site at http://www.psychfoundation.org.

About Lilly
Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers -- through medicines and information -- for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at http://www.lilly.com.

From Give an Hour's website:

Our Mission
Our mission is to develop national networks of volunteers capable of responding to both acute and chronic conditions that arise within our society. Our first target population is the U.S. troops and families who are being affected by the current military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Give an Hour is asking mental health professionals nationwide to literally give an hour of their time each week to provide free mental health services to military personnel and their families. Research will guide the development of additional services needed by the military community, and appropriate networks will be created to respond to those needs. Individuals who receive services will be given the opportunity to give an hour back in their own community.

Our Focus
Our organization is currently focusing on the psychological needs of military personnel and their families because of the significant human cost of the current conflicts. Over 1.6 million troops have been deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf since September 11, 2001. Nearly 550,000 of these troops have been deployed more than once. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, as of May 15, 2008, nearly 4,600 American troops have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Roughly 32,875 U.S. troops have been injured during these conflicts.

In addition to the physical injuries sustained, countless servicemen and servicewomen have experienced psychological symptoms directly related to their deployment. According to a RAND report released in April 2008, over 18 percent of troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan--nearly 300,000 troops--have symptoms of post-traumatic stress or major depression. At the same time, about 19 percent of service members reported that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury. And let us not forget: millions of Americans belong to the families of these servicemen and servicewomen. Spouses, children, parents, siblings, and unmarried partners of military personnel are all being adversely affected by the stress and strain of the current military campaign.

Our military leaders are well aware of the human cost of this campaign. Indeed, they are attempting to address the psychological needs of the troops through a variety of programs within the military culture. Unfortunately, the tremendous number of people affected makes it impossible for the military to respond adequately to the mental health needs in its greater community. For example, according to the RAND study, only 43 percent of troops reported ever being evaluated by a physician for their head injuries. Moreover, returning combat veterans suffering from depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are not routinely seeking the mental health treatment they need. RAND also reports that only 53 percent of service members with PTSD or depression sought help over the past year.

A major barrier preventing military personnel from seeking appropriate treatment is the perception of stigma associated with treatment. Many fear that seeking mental health services will jeopardize their career or standing. Others are reluctant to expose their vulnerabilities to providers who are often military personnel themselves, given the military culture’s emphasis on strength, confidence, and bravery. Servicemen and servicewomen might be more inclined to seek help if they know that the services provided are completely independent of the military. By providing services that are separate from the military establishment, we offer an essential option for men and women who might otherwise fail to seek or receive appropriate services.

We are also offering services to parents, siblings, and unmarried partners who are not entitled to receive mental health benefits through the military. Although these individuals may have access to mental health services through other means, they are less likely to seek the help they need and deserve if that help is difficult to find or costly. Our goal is to provide easy access to skilled professionals for all of the people affected by the current war. The participating mental health professionals offer a wide range of services including individual, marital, and family therapy; substance abuse counseling; treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder; and counseling for individuals with traumatic brain injuries. Whether it is a young military wife who is anxious because her four-year-old has had nightmares since her husband’s deployment or a father who is struggling to cope with his son's loss of a leg as a result of an explosion in Iraq, both will receive the assistance they need to move through their experience. The healthier the support system for the returning troops, the lower the risk of severe or prolonged dysfunction within these military families.

Our Plan
Give an Hour is reaching out to the military community in several ways. As a member of America Supports You, a Department of Defense program that provides opportunities for citizens to show their support for the U.S. Armed Forces, we are identifying individuals involved in post-deployment processing of returning troops. We are developing collaborative relationships with the commanding officers of returning troops so that these officers are aware of and comfortable with the services we provide. We are also working closely with a number of veterans service organizations to promote our services directly to the family members of troops. Furthermore, we are working with individuals affiliated with Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. We are also collaborating with the Veterans Administration to distribute information about our services through Vet Centers across the country.

Finally, we are promoting our services to the military community and the public through a media campaign that includes print, television, and radio coverage. In fact, our founder and president, Dr. Barbara Romberg, has been interviewed in national media outlets from the Washington Post to NPR's Diane Rehm Show, Ladies' Home Journal, and HD Net's World Report.

Give an Hour recruits mental health professionals in several ways. We have been endorsed by the American Psychiatric Association and the National Association of Social Workers and are seeking endorsements from other major mental health organizations. Only licensed mental health professionals are included in the network. Licenses are verified. Non-licensed pastoral providers may be included in the network as long as they meet other criteria, including membership in professional organizations. In addition to coordinating with national organizations, we also recruit mental health professionals through professional publications and Web sites.

As of May 2008 we have a redesigned Web site, expanded to include materials to guide visitors seeking services as well as reference materials to inform mental health professionals. Only mental health professionals trained and experienced to work with trauma victims will identify themselves as available to work with soldiers who have experienced combat. We are working with experts in the trauma field to prepare materials for our Web site and to find appropriate mental health professionals for recruitment.

The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation recently awarded Give an Hour, in partnership with the American Psychiatric Foundation, a major grant that will allow us to spread our message to the leaders of the mental health community in every state. 

We are recruiting volunteers from a number of organizations and institutions as well as through our Web site to assist us in the implementation of our program. Volunteers from retired military personnel to members of military families to concerned civilians throughout thte country are helping Give an Hour. Volunteers are checking licenses, distributing brochures, and coordinating community partnership opportunities for those troops and family members interested in giving back an hour to their own community.

Our Vision
Our primary focus will always be to attend to those in need by linking them to individuals in our society best equipped to respond effectively. In addition, we will develop research and educational programs to further promote the value and importance of a new kind of volunteerism. We hope to encourage an increase in shared responsibility for those citizens who are suffering. We need only look at the outpouring of aid and support following both the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 to see the potential we have to become a truly compassionate and united nation. And we need only look at the significant costs of the war in Iraq and the relief efforts for Katrina’s victims to see that federal and state governments are already strained beyond their means. We have not only the potential but the duty to help one another in times of need.

For more information, contact Barbara V. Romberg, Ph.D., Founder and President, Give an Hour.  Her email address is linked here.

NYC's Urban Justice Center Offers Returning Veterans Legal Aid and Advocacy

The Veterans and Servicemembers Project of New York City's Urban Justice Center, linked here, offers, in their own words, "legal services and advocacy to a population often abandoned by the very system of government they defend in battle. Drawn increasingly from the poorest and most vulnerable communities in the country, past and present military personnel contend with poorly regulated recruiting tactics, unsafe working conditions, and an antiquated and overloaded disability benefits process. Often unaware of their rights and wary of challenging authority, they face especially daunting barriers to necessary assistance."

Furthermore, "At an individual level, the Veterans and Servicemembers Project provides legal training and representation on matters ranging from veterans disability claims to service discharge applications. The project also pursues systemic reform through litigation and advocacy in such areas as recruiting irregularities, workplace harassment, and inefficiency and abuse in the benefits application process. With the active collaboration of existing service organizations, it aims to provide comprehensive education and support for a population that, in a time of mounting war, promises only increase in size and collective need." 

Editor's Note: To learn more about this program, read the excellent article by Thomas Adcock, called, "Returning from War," originally published in the New York Law Journal, on February 22, and linked here.  If you're a lawyer who'd like to participate pro bono in helping veterans, click this link. 

James S. Gordon, M.D., Founder and Director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine

James S. Gordon, MD, a Harvard-educated psychiatrist,is a world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression,anxiety,and psychological trauma. He is the Founder and Director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, a Clinical Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at Georgetown Medical School, and recently served as Chairman of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. He also served as the first Chair of the Program Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Alternative Medicine and is a former member of the Cancer Advisory Panel on Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the NIH.

 

Dr. Gordon has devoted over 35 years to the exploration and practice of mind-body medicine. After gradating Harvard Medical School, he was for 10 years a research psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health. There he developed the first national program for runaway and homeless youth, edited the first comprehensive studies of alternative and holistic medicine, directed the Special Study on Alternative Services for President Carter’s Commission on Mental Health, and created a nationwide preceptorship program for medical students.

 

Dr. Gordon has created ground-breaking programs of comprehensive mind-body healing for physicians, medical students, and other health professionals; for people with cancer, depression and other chronic illnesses; and for traumatized children and families in Bosnia, Kosovo, Israel and Gaza as well as in post-9/11 New York and post-Katrina southern Louisiana. Nearly 3,000 health and mental health professionals throughout these regions have been trained by Dr. Gordon to more effectively address the psychological trauma within their communities, including supervision and training of a local leadership group within each region which enables the CMBM model to be fully integrated into and sustainable within the local healthcare community.

 

Dr. Gordon’s most recent book is Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven Stage Journey Out of Depression (Penguin Press). His also the author of Comprehensive Cancer Care: Integrating Alternative, Complementary and Conventional Therapies and Manifesto for a New Medicine: Your Guide to Healing Partnerships and the Wise Use of Alternative Therapies (both Perseus Books). In addition, Dr. Gordon has written or edited 9 other books, including the award-winning Health for the Whole Person, and more than 120 articles in professional journals and general magazines and newspapers, among them the American Journal of Psychiatry, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Journal of Traumatic Stress, Psychiatry, The American Family Physician, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. He also helped develop and write the educational materials to supplement the public television series “Healing and the Mind with Bill Moyers”.

 

Dr. Gordon’s work has been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, CBS Sunday Morning, FOX News and National Public Radio, as well as in The Washington Post, USA Today, Newsweek, People, American Medical News, Clinical Psychiatry News, Town and Country, Hippocrates,  Psychology Today, Vegetarian Times, Natural Health, Health, and Prevention.

Legal Services for Veterans and Their Families

In the legal world, the term "legal services" has come to mean attorneys offering services to those who can't afford to pay the ordinary full rate, because of a specific financial hardship.  Lawyers might service "pro bono" (from the Latin, meaning "for the public good") or at a lower fee than they usually charge, in order that more deserving clients whose financial conditions would otherwise preclude them from getting legal representation might get some timely help.  Harvard Law School, among others, under the visionary leadership of Dean Elena Kagan, has put a strong emphasis on the need for law students to spend some time during their training doing public interest law, or otherwise contributing their time to those less fortunate, and has made this a requirement for graduates since 2002 (click here to learn more about that program, or here to learn about Harvard Law School's commitment to public service). 

In the lawyers and veterans world, there's a specific organization devoted to providing legal services to needy veterans.  It's called the National Veterans Legal Services Program, or NVLSP, and it's been around for more than 25 years. (To learn more about the National Veterans Legal Services Program, click here.)

According to its website, the NVLSP is an independent, non-profit, nonpartisan organization that has helped veterans and their families with legal advice and representation for the last 25 years.  It's dedicated to ensuring that the U.S. government honors its commitment to our veterans by providing them the federal benefits they have earned through their service to our country. NVLSP accomplishes its mission by:

Providing veterans organizations, service officers and attorneys with training and educational publications to enable them to help veterans and their dependents obtain all of the benefits
that they deserve; and
 

Representing veterans and their dependents who are seeking benefits before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and in court.

It trains veterans advocates, both lawyers and non-lawyers - in classroom trainings and through correspondence courses.  For more information about its advocacy training, click here.  It also encourages practicing attorneys to represent veterans on a pro bono basis (i.e., for the public good.)  For more information about the pro bono need for lawyers, click here.

The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) has published a manual, called "Veteran Benefits Manual, 2007," linked here. The authors are Barton F. Stichman, Co-Director of and lead litigator for NVLSP, who has earned over $100 million in VA benefits for his clients over the last 27 years, and Ronald B. Abrams, Co-Director of NVLSP and a 17-year VA insider. Over the past 16 years he has trained thousands of veterans’ advocates.

Editor's Note: If you're a Harvard Law School alumnus or alumna, consider contacting Dean Elena Kagan and encouraging her to institute a program offering pro bono services geared towards veterans and their families.  HLS has a number of fantastic legal services offerings and programs, but as of this writing, none directed specifically towards veterans, who clearly need and could use the help -- and alumni comments make a difference.  The Dean's Office address is Harvard Law School, Griswold 200, 1525 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138.  Tel.: (617) 495-4601.

Also, if you're an attorney who has developed a specialty representing veterans, or better yet, does the same pro bono, and would like to have your services listed, please contact us to be listed in a forthcoming directory.  Thank you.

Homeless Veterans: Still Hidden in Plain Sight

The plight of homeless veterans may not be making the news right now as it did around Thanksgiving -- but one thing's for certain: they haven't stopped being homeless in the meantime.

Recently, Homeless Veteran Provider Technical Assistance Center listed our blog as an excellent resource -- thank you.  Note the wonderful illustration at left, done by veteran activist and artist John Paul Hornbeck, creator of the "Shattered Soldier" lifesize sculpture about PTSD, blogged about earlier, here.  John's revisions to the famous POW/MIA flag says quite kindly about the homeless veterans among us, "You Are Not Forgotten Either."  If only that were really the case -- perhaps over time we as a society can make it so.  (He's also cleverly changed "MIA" to mean, "Missing in America," pretty much the same as, "missing in plain sight" -- since clearly the homeless, and homeless veterans in particular, are everywhere, whether we choose to tune in and notice, or not.  (To see more about John Paul Hornbeck's "Shattered Soldier" sculpture, click here, here or here.) 

If you want to learn more about the plight of homeless veterans in America, start here, with the Homeless Veterans Fact Sheet, produced by the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.  The fact sheet discusses statistics for both homeless veterans and incarcerated veterans.  And the statistics paint a grim and sorrowful picture.  According to statistics supplied by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the nation's homeless veterans have been historically mostly males (though those figures are likely to change, with the advent of more women serving in the military). 

The vast majority are single, most come from poor, disadvantaged communities, 45% suffer from mental illness, and half have substance abuse problems. America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, or the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. Forty-seven percent of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam Era. More than 67% served our country for at least three years and 33% were stationed in a war zone. (Editor's Note: observe the connection between substance abuse and/or mental illness and homelessness. More work needs to be done to study other predisposing factors to homelessness, including PTSD and Military Sexual Trauma.)

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans also has a good, web-based list of service providers -- programs that are geared towards homeless veterans.  Click here for that link.  They say they periodically update their website by adding more programs as information becomes available, but right now you'll only find organizations listed in the following handful of states: California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota and New York.  (Click on any of those states' names to go right to the information available on their site.)

Mental Health of Veterans' Family Members Deserves Attention, Too

Just a quick note to mention that Todd Bowers, Director of Government Affairs at the highly pro-active Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America ("IAVA") recently testified before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee of Health about an additionally important topic: the mental health of veterans' family members.  The topic?  "Mental Health Treatment for Families: Supporting Those Who Support Our Veterans" -- that would make a great slogan.  (A few days later, the Christian Science Monitor also covered this topic, in an article entitled, "A New Push to Help Families of Veterans."  That article is linked here.)

It's no secret though perhaps it should get much more attention that combat trauma affects not only veterans but also those in their immediate families.  A veteran's suffering affects his or her family members significantly, as the burden of caregiving falls most strongly on the veteran's immediate family.  There are physical, emotional, social and financial costs to caregiving, not the least of which is strained mental health.  At least with Vietnam veterans, studies have shown that children of veterans with PTSD are at increased risk for suicide themselves. (Although it's the subject of some controversy, an Australian government study of their own Vietnam veterans concluded that children of veterans were three times as likely as the general population to commit suicide.)  It's great to see that the IAVA is making the case that more resources need to be allocated for families' mental health resources as well.  For more information on this important topic, see the IAVA blog entry linked here, or the House subcomittee's site, linked here.  For a link to the audio coverage of the hearings, click here.  For earlier blog posts on caring for the caregivers, click here; or about the family, click here.

Editor's Note: It's interesting to note that just today, the Australian government published its conclusion, that counseling services would be made available to their veterans and families.  To read more about it, download this PDF.  To learn more about the Australian Vietnam veterans health studies, click this link to a subsequent blog post.

"Stop Googling Yourself, You'll Go Blind"

You learn the most interesting thing by reading your blog stats / log of who's visiting.  Today's most pressing question: What was QTC Management, Inc., of Diamond Bar, California, doing a search for "QTC Medical Services is fraudulent" today, about THEMSELVES?!  Trying to contain bad press coverage before they even get any?  Planning something fraudulent (just kidding...) or just wondering who already thinks they are?  God only knows.  But one thing is for certain:  People spend a whole lot more time trying to control their public relations, than focusing on improving quality of services delivered.  THAT would be time better spent.

There isn't much to find, in terms of volume, of articles out there suspecting QTC of actual fraud.  But there is one main article from the LA TImes in 2006, reprinted on several veterans' watchdog-type websites, which talks about its highly cozy relationship with the VA.  The most recent former head of the VA, Anthony Principi, ran QTC, and immediately after his tenure at the VA, returned to lead it; not to mention, the current head of the VA, James Peake, M.D., also comes directly from there.  IAVA president Paul Rieckhoff was quoted as saying, it raises questions that QTC seems like the farm team for the VA.

Apparently QTC had a bad habit of bloating the bill for its services -- making it, what, the Halliburton of veterans medical care?!  And it isn't the greatest that there's such a close relationship between QTC and the VA.  But as for fraud?  Wonder what they're looking for, and why they're pre-emptively looking for it.  Maybe it's like American Express registering the domain name, IHateAmericanExpress.com (which they did).  They know someone's going to, so why not beat them to the punch.  Hmmmn...

Here's some good backstory on the topic, from VA Watchdog.org.  Click link here to read.  And in the meantime, we'll leave you with the graphic to ponder yourselves:

Editor's Note: Humorous "Googling Yourself" comic is courtesy of the JoyofTech.com, linked here.  Used with permission.

A Homeless Shelter Created by and for Veterans

Being back in the New England for a few weeks, where it's bitter cold especially at night, with temperatures dropping down into the teens and below, is reminding me about a place in downtown Boston that's a homeless shelter for veterans, originally started by veterans.  Oddly enough, it's such a landmark that for years many Boston residents pass by it with only the slightest understanding of what goes on inside it.  The New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, at 17 Court Street in downtown Boston, is, according to its website, "the nation's first and largest veteran-specific homeless shelter."  It has some interesting beginnings, which are worth quoting here:

In 1986, a group of Vietnam Veterans (Peace Foxx, Mark Helberg and Ken Smith) gathered weekly at a Veterans Outreach Center in the Greater Boston area to discuss and resolve their combat experiences. Two years later, the group visited the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC and was shocked to find veterans who were homeless living in an adjacent park. Upon their return to Boston, they discovered that one-third of the nation's homeless male population are veterans.

Inspired by their experiences in Washington, DC and upon further edification of the homeless veterans' issue, the group founded the Vietnam Veterans Workshop in 1988, a not-for-profit, social service organization in Boston. They recruited Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and local Boston resident, David Mamet, to write, produce and direct "Sketches of War," a one night theatre benefit. Proceeds from the play, which starred Donald Sutherland, Al Pacino and Michael J. Fox, were donated to Boston area shelters to benefit homeless veterans.

In 1989, according to the website, the workshop acquired a 10-year lease on the former Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic at 17 Court Street in downtown Boston through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. The 140,000 square foot, ten-story building provided the beginnings of a drop-in shelter for homeless veterans offering hot showers, meals, and drug and alcohol counseling. Mr. Howard Levine, a Boston attorney whose practice includes representation of commercial and not-for-profit real estate developers, retailers, and educational institutions greatly assisted in the acquisition of the building.   The following year, the Shelter was officially opened, offering "a wide range of services through five distinct programs and support services: Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, Single Room Occupancy Apartments, Training and Employment, and Health Care and Case Management. Each of these services assists veterans in solving the problems that led him/her to homelessness. Many of the staff and board are fellow veterans who understand and help their comrades back to recovery."  According to the website, assistance has been given to more than 12,000 veterans over the years.

There's an outreach program for the chronically homeless, an emergency shelter, a clinical psychologist on staff, etc., etc.  And it looks like over the last few years, improvements to the facility have been made as well.  (There's a very good FAQ section that details more about what the shelter does and doesn't offer.)

View Larger Map

Two thoughts.  One, it's great to see how this shelter came about, and it would be even greater to see that reproduced nationally, as a model.  Secondly, though, there seem to be some problems with the model.  Charity Navigator, "your guide to intelligent giving," gives the Shelter only one star out of a possible four, based on its efficiency as a charity, and a similar one star in four as to its capacity (not to house veterans, but organizationally.)  It also lists other charities which it claims do "similar" work (perhaps only somewhat similar, we haven't reviewed the information in any depth), all of which it gives higher ratings to.  Those charities include:

Charity Name	Overall Score	Overall Rating
New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans - MA	27.26
The Midnight Mission - CA	68.04
Adopt-A-Family - FL	60.79
The Shade Tree - NV	69.04
The Road Home - UT	61.74
Tri-City Homeless Coalition - CA	68.36

Here's a link to the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans.  Here's a link to the Charity Navigator's evaluation of the Shelter.  And here's a link to information about who and what Charity Navigator is -- they've been praised by Reader's Digest, Time, Forbes, Money, the Kiplinger Letter and others.  For another great post about homelessness among veterans, and what we could and should do about it, click here, to Oldtimer's blog entry of today.  He calls ending homelessness among veterans "our vital mission," and adds, quite observantly, "our heroes are out there tonight, and it is so very cold."

Bottom line: Anything's better than being homeless in New England, especially in the severe wintertime, and the Shelter seems like a commendable effort, with a rich history.  That said, apparently it could take it up a notch as well, and as a model, it's perhaps only a rough draft, not a final form of what we should be looking for as a society.

John (Super) Powers, Friend of Vets

John Powers is the singular driving force behind something truly amazing, called "the Resource Guide for Veterans," now available for download in PDF form on his exceptionally thorough website, Operation Vets, linked here.  (Be sure you have a copy of the free Adobe PDF Reader before attempting to download.  You can get that here.) 

The focus of the Veterans' Guide is on Rhode Island, the smallest state in the country, although the structure of it could be expanded to cover every state in the entire country -- let's just say, we can imagine all of them need one!  John, a recent college graduate, worked on the Guide for over a year, and the work he did is both comprehensive and totally original --to the best of our knowledge, there is no other guide in the U.S. like this.  The quality of the work that John did -- before he even began the graduate degree program in social work that he's now enrolled in -- was a true "labor of love," inspired by a veteran friend of John's from high school days, who'd gone on deployment and come back troubled.  John Powers was recently profiled by Vietnam veteran and journalist Bob Kerr in the Providence Journal Bulletin.  Read the original article here.  Wherever John goes in life, from this point forward, he's already done some of what anyone else would consider their best work, in a lifetime of effort.  In honor of the upcoming Veteran's Day, be sure to check out both John's site, and his superlative guide.  John is a true, though young, hero and authentic "FOV" -- "Friend of Veterans."

(If by chance you happen to be on Facebook, check out the group called "From Combat to Campus: Vets in School," that we recently started together, to give veterans who are in school for the first time, or back in school after deployment, some resources and ability to connect with one another.  That's the non-profit commercial interruption.  Now back to the regularly-scheduled program.)

Here's what John has to say about his site:

Operation Vets was created in July 2007. The ideas and the resource guide I created began in October 2006. After graduating from high school in June 2002, one of my childhood friends went off to the Marines as I enrolled at the University of Rhode Island. When he came home for Operation Enduring Freedom in 2005, I saw how war can drastically affect a persons life. The transition from soldier to civilian was not easy for him, nor was it easy for all of our returning soldiers.

I wanted to learn more about combat, the effects of being in war, the effects it has on the families back home and more importantly I wanted to find out how I could help and truly “Support our troops”. I began reading, writing, and researching all the resources available to soldiers and families. I realized the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system was being overloaded with new veterans filing claims, for physical ailments, combat stress injuries, anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, the list goes on. The process of filing claims through the VA system can be stressful and time consuming.

As I found out through talking with soldiers coming back from War, they don’t need anymore stress than they already have to deal with. I fully understood that not only are the soldiers affected, but the families are directly affected as well. They need support and help just as much as the returning soldiers do. If soldiers and families don’t get the help they need it could have devastating affects on the soldier, the family, the children, and society in general. Our country is undoubtedly in a time of War and politics rule the news stations. I am trying to take the politics out of the equation and focus on our soldiers, our veterans, and their families.

Soldiers stories need to be heard, wounds need to be healed, regular civilians need to get involved and our country needs to unite just like it did after the attacks on 9/11. I refuse to allow our returning soldiers to “slip” through the cracks as many have, since returning from Iraq or Afghanistan and even Vietnam. These soldiers served our country and it’s time we serve our soldiers.

Read other blog entries we've done about John and his commitment to veterans here and here.

Veterans Helping Other Veterans

Watch the public service announcement, PTSD is implied, from the National Veterans Foundation, featuring Dan Lauria.  Short and sweet, in the sense of being brief and to the point, constructive and helpful.  The NVF is staffed by veterans, for veterans, and has a toll-free number, available 24/7. That toll-free number is 1-888-777-4443.  The NVF calls itself "The Lifeline for America's Veterans".

                                                                     

Upcoming Conference on Complex PTSD

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, mentioned in a previous blog entry, will be holding its 24th annual conference in Philadelphia this year, from November 11th through 13th.  The topic this year is, "Psychotherapy Outcome in Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders, from Single Case Studies to Randomized Clinical Trials."  Click here for a link to the Society and its annual conference information.

(NB: A mention here does not imply an endorsement; it merely conveys muted enthusiasm for more and more attention being focused positively on this topic, which is so important.  More attention being paid is the proverbial sound of one hand clapping.  An upgrade to two hands clapping would be, adequate fund, adequate resources, and a more holistic, gestalt mindset about what can heal PTSD and combat trauma, than strictly talk therapy and pharmaceuticals.  We''ll see if we get there...here's hoping that we do.)

VA Budget is Overdue - But Veterans Healthcare Can't Wait

Watch the ad, sign the petition...to make sure veterans get the healthcare and services they need, including treatment for combat trauma and PTSD.  More background can be found at IAVA.org and IAVAAction.org.

Going to the Wall -- the Vietnam Wall

"Honor and Respect" -- the occasion is the 25th Anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, celebrated with an anniversary parade in Washington, DC on November 10, 2007.  Mark your calendar.

To learn more about this event, sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America, click this link.  To learn more about the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, click here for the extended description on Wikipedia, or here to go the official site, part of the U.S. National Parks Service.

It's important to note that the Wall, or the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, as it alternately called, is not "just" something for Vietnam veterans -- it's for the public, for veterans of other wars, and for current veterans as well.  It's apparently (as it should be) a profoundly moving experience for visitors, almost 4 million of whom visit annually.  Many, especially veterans, go at night -- potentially a dangerous move in Washington, DC ;-) -- but apparently an experience that only adds to the profundity, without experiencing the claustrophobia of a daytime visit, and the throngs of people that implies.  It's probably quite heavy, hard, and healing to experience -- a touchstone for many who survived that conflict, and others who can go to appreciate their sacrifice and give it more than lip service.

Since women seem to rarely get the credit they deserve for societal contributions, it's cheering to this woman that the architect of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was in fact a woman, Maya Lin.  As the National Parks Service material describes,

"Deliberately setting aside the controversies of the war, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial honors the men and women who served when their Nation called upon them. The designer, Maya Lin, felt that “the politics had eclipsed the veterans, their service and their lives.” She kept the design elegantly simple to “allow everyone to respond and remember."

Veterans Group Has a Great Website AND a Blog!

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America ("IAVA"), the "first and largest" group of current war veterans, not only has a great website that we've been reading for quite a while, they also have a great blog.  Pull current information from it with an RSS reader, or use Google's new Blogreader gadget, that you can add to your home page in Google.  (You do have your home page set to Google, don't you?!)  For that matter, use the Google blog reader to with postings on this blog as well.

"The Road Home" - Upcoming Conference

The Therapeutic Communities of America in conjunction with the US Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) is holding a conference called, "The Road Home: The National Behavioral Health Conference for Returning Veterans and Their Families" at the Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C., March 16-18.  Further information is found here.

The purpose of the conference, according to organizers, is to give Federal, State, and local public and private service providers "evidence-based information and information and approaches that can help veterans and their families build resiliency to prevent and to treat mental health disorders (including PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders), substance abuse disorders, suicide, and/or co-occuring disorders."

British Combat Stress Relief

An article published in a British newspaper today, entitled, "I'm Still Haunted by Pub Bombing," details the struggle of a British Army medic who witnessed, and then pitched in to help out with the victims from, a pub bombing by the IRA many years ago.  He tells the story that he lived for years without being aware of the effects of PTSD, which today he knows he suffers from.  The article is a human interest story which makes the point about how weak the PTSD available care is for veterans in England, such as this man; but it also points out the charitable work by an organization known as Combat Stress, whose website is linked here.

One of the more interesting comments in the article was this, by Robert Marsh, the director of fundraising at Combat Stress (UK): “A new report from the States has shown that 35 per cent of people coming back from Iraq are needing some form of psychological care, so it is a big problem. In the military there is a culture of self-help rather than talking about issues in the open, but I think this is changing. The military has a duty of care, both physically and mentally, for its veterans. However, there is not enough awareness about the mental problems that are caused.”

Salient points to consider are these:  Combat trauma is a worldwide problem.  The UK has experienced its own with the IRA bombings over the years, as well as participation in foreign wars, such as Iraq, presently.  People can experience PTSD symptoms many years after the fact.  Treatment is not always what it could be.  And there's the need for the military, both in the UK and here in the US, to adapt from "self-help" to greater openness about these issues.  It's also great to conceive of the military understanding it does have a duty of care that extends past deployment for its servicemembers and their families.

National Center for PTSD Resources

The National Center for PTSD, part of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, has a very good list of resources available to interested parties on the Web.  Check out the list of resources here.

Update on Wounded Warrior Project Conference

According to an article published today on the Marine Corps' website, it does look like the Wounded Warrior Project's conference on handling combat stress did go forward in NYC last week, despite the bad weather.  Read more about the conference as the Marine Corps reported it, here.  The conference was free (but still, in NYC, so expensive for anyone not local to attend), and intended for current veterans and their family members in scope, but only 17 people showed up.  Whether the conference promoters found this discouraging or not, or perhaps just par for the course with starting up something new, is hard to tell.  There were two quotes from the article that stood out:

First quote, and the Marine Corps' commentary on it (the Marine Corps, btw, was not affiliated with the conference directly): “I thought the conference was successful. The hardest part of it all was to get service members to attend the conference. Often times the macho-ness of a service member may get in the way of them asking for help,” said Schwat [the conference organizer].  Reluctance to attend the conference may have stemmed from the fear of service members being labeled as having a post traumatic stress disorder, said Schwat. He emphasized that the conference was strictly for combat stress and nothing more laying to rest the concerns of many service members.

Second quote: “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help. As long as there has been war, there has been combat stress, and the service member in combat has been placed in an abnormal situation. So, certainly that will impact them later on down the line, and the important thing is to get help in any way, shape, or form,” said Schwat.

It seems like this is a message that will  need to continue getting out over time, to break down the initial resistance of some who such programs are likely to help.  Let's hope for the best.

Contact information for the Wounded Warrior Project is available on their website, www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

Combat Stress Seminar

The seemingly fabulous Wounded Warrior Project, recently featured on "60 Minutes," held a combat stress seminar for returning veterans and their caregivers in New York City.  (The timing was the same as the blizzard that just went through there, so it would be interesting to see if it actually took place).  Here is the information about the seminar, from the Wounded Warrior Project website:

WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT COPING WITH COMBAT STRESS SEMINAR

Are you, or is someone you love, a recently returned service member who served in combat during Operations Enduring or Iraqi Freedom? If so, you or your loved one may, understandably, be experiencing stress while readapting to everyday civilian life.

On February 15^th and 16^th, 2006, the Wounded Warrior Project will be holding a two-day seminar in New York City entitled “Coping with Combat Stress”. The program, which is open to recently returned service members from Operations Enduring or Iraqi Freedom and their families, will educate the participants on how to identify and deal with the symptoms of combat stress and will demonstrate various relaxation and coping techniques. Professionals from the Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers/World Trade Center Healing Services will be leading the workshop.

The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is a nonprofit organization aimed at assisting those men and women of the United States Armed Forces who have been severely injured during the wars on terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot spots around the world. Beginning at the bedside of the severely wounded, WWP provides programs and services designed to ease the burdens of these heroes and their families, aid in the recovery process and smooth the transition back to civilian life.

The Coping with Combat Stress seminar will be held at the Lighthouse International Headquarters, The Sol and Lillian Goldman Building, which is located at 111 East 59th Street, New York, NY  10022-1202. The two-day seminar is free of charge. Participants are expected to attend both days’ sessions and, accordingly, accommodations in Manhattan may be available. Space is limited so please register as soon as possible.

For more information about the combat stress seminar, please contact Jeremy Chwat at 646-452-5422 or via e-mail at: [email protected].

The Sidran Institute

The Sidran Institute, located in Towson, Maryland, is a center of a number of resources on healing trauma of all types.  They have a bookstore and a very comprehensive list of resources available for practitioners and interested parties alike, including an article list, a list of books available, and formal training courses.