Healing Combat Trauma

Upcoming Seminar on Warrior Health: PTSD, Depression and TBI

The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., presents:

A Center for Deployment Psychology Training Program:

"Addressing the Psychological Health of Warriors and Their Families: PTSD, Depression and TBI."

When: Mon 22 Jun 2009 through Fri 26 Jun 2009.

Where: The Cheyenne Mountain Resort, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

What: This intensive course, which is comprised of 4 modules, will train civilian mental health providers to better address the behavioral health needs of military personnel and their family members throughout the deployment cycle.

Who: The intended audience is civilian mental health providers who provide behavioral health care to the military population or military family members, including veterans and their loved ones.  This training is NOT intended for active duty military providers, but rather for civilian or private practice/community providers.

Supported by: Fort Carson Soldier Readiness Center, National Organization on Disability, Operation TBI Freedom and Regis University.

For more information about this upcoming seminar or to register online, click here.

Upcoming Seminar: War and the Soul, with Edward Tick, Ph.D.

An upcoming seminar that may be of interest to readers is Edward Tick, Ph.D.'s week-long "War and the Soul: Healing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder," put on by the New England Educational Institute, and hosted at Eastham, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

(As a Cape native I can say, that's an extremely popular place in the summertime -- make your reservations for accommodations early, if you're considering going.)

From the brochure:

Edward Tick, Ph.D., is Founding Director and Senior Clinician of Soldier’s Heart: Veterans’ Safe Return Programs. Honored for his groundbreaking work in the holistic and community-based healing of veterans and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dr. Tick has been a psychotherapist for 33 years, specializing in working with veterans since the 1970s. He is the author of Sacred Mountain, The Practice Of Dream Healing, The Golden Tortoise, and the award-winning book, War and the Soul.

 Dr. Tick is an internationally recognized expert on veterans, PTSD, and the psychology of military-related issues and has conducted training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other Department of Defense facilities. He lectures throughout the world and leads semi-annual international educational, healing and reconciliation journeys to Vietnam and Greece. Dr. Tick specializes in using psycho-spiritual, cross-cultural, and international reconciliation practices to bring healing to veterans, communities and nations recovering from the traumas of war and violence.

Click this link for more information, or to register.

The schedule for the seminar, also from the brochure:

Symposium Schedule:

Monday:

• The universal dimensions of the war experience;
• Introductory stories from veterans of several wars;
• What we mean by the soul and its place in psychotherapy and healing;
• What war does to the soul;

Tuesday:

• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder from Vietnam to all wars;
• World history of PTSD;
• Mythology and PTSD;
• Warriorhood: Archetypal, cross-cultural and historical perspectives;
• The Hero's Journey, Initiation, and the Warrior's Path;

Wednesday:

• A holistic understanding of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder;
• Stress and anxiety disorder;
• Identity crisis;
• Interrupted initiation;
• Social disorder;
• Attachment disorder;
• Soul wound;

Thursday:

• Traditional and cross-cultural models and practices for healing from war;
• Purification and cleansing of the warrior;
• The healing power of storytelling;
• Restitution in the family and nation;
• Initiation as a warrior;

Friday:

• Healing beyond the therapy hour;
• Unique spiritual dimensions of healing from war;
• Healing through spirit principles and practices;
• Healing in the community;
• International healing;
• Spiritual vision regarding war and its healing.

Wyoming Plans Conference for Combat Veterans on PTSD, etc.

According to a recent press report, the Wyoming Department of Health and the state Military Department will hold the ''Wounded Warrior Wellness Conference'' in Casper next month to discuss the unique psychological needs of returning soldiers and their families. Unfortunately, no further information is forthcoming via either an in-depth Google search OR a search of the Wyoming Department of Health's main website.  The conference is not listed under May, 2009; nor does a search for "warrior" or PTSD reveal it. So if you're interested in finding out more, read the article about it here, or contact Regina Dodson, Housing and Veterans Service Coordinator, at the Wyoming Department of Health, (307) 777-8627. (And while you're at it, ask them to publish some material on their website ABOUT this conference, if they want people to actually...attend.)

On the plus side, it does look like the Wyoming Department of Health has a good page of veterans' resources, linked here. It has links to: Issues for Veterans; Resources for Veterans; Resources for Providers; and Resources for Families of Veterans.

"The Frontiers of Trauma Treatment" - Seminar

Bessel A. Van Der Kolk, M.D., and Dana Moore will be presenting "Frontiers of Trauma Treatment" at Kripalu in Western Massachusetts, from January 9-11, 2009.

The program is designed, according to the informational material,

For licensed therapists, yoga instructors, and other individuals interested in studying the nature and processes of trauma.

Traumatic experiences alter people’s relationship to their bodies in ways that leave them feeling uptight, helpless, disconnected, hurt, on edge, frantic, and at odds with themselves and their environment. Research is demonstrating that physical sensations and action patterns are the very foundation of consciousness. The experience of physical mastery that yoga and other body-based practices provide is often necessary in order to initiate new ways of perceiving reality. By learning to pay close attention to internal experience and working with the felt sense, people can reclaim authority over their lives.

In this weekend, we will explore recent developments in the neurosciences, attachment research, and new psychotherapeutic treatments. This course is not meant to serve as personal trauma treatment but as an introduction to the neuroscience of trauma and attachment. It offers a chance to be exposed to an array of body-centered approaches for dealing with trauma, including EMDR, yoga, theater work, and tai chi. These approaches help in dealing with hyperarousal and processing traumatic memories, and promote mastery over the posttraumatic legacy of constriction and feeling lost in the world.

CE Credits

This program is eligible for :

• 8 credits for nurses (CS, NP, RN, LPN), $20 additional charge
• 8 credits for social workers, $20 additional charge
• 8 credits for certified counselors (NBCC), $20 additional charge
• 8 credits for physical therapists (PT), $20 additional charge
• 8 credits for athletic trainers (BOC), $20 additional charge
• 8 credits for psychotherapists (APA), $20 additional charge
• 8 credits for yoga instructors (YA), $20 additional charge

For further information about the weekend or to register, click here.

Writing Workshop Planned on "Trauma, Art & Writing" for June, 2009

Plan ahead for this writing workshop, June 15-26, 2009:

Sponsored by the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences and the Creative Writing Program of the University of Massachusetts Boston.

This workshop - open to writers of fiction and nonfiction, poetry, playwriting and translation - involves one or two weeks of working sessions and individual consultations with distinguished writers. The faculty includes Vietnam veterans and others whose lives have been altered by the experience of war, but applicants with diverse interests and backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Visiting writers will join the teaching staff in a series of readings, seminars, and panel discussions. Special events held at UMass Boston and at other Boston locations will be open to both workshop students and the general public. This year's faculty reading series schedule will be posted.

Editor's note: Additional information about the writing workshop, including faculty bios, course schedule, accommodations, and application (as well as other materials) are linked here.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Forum This Friday - Monroe, LA

University of Louisiana at Monroe associate professor Mitchell Young will host a post-traumatic stress disorder forum 6-9 p.m. Friday in the ULM Conference Center on the seventh floor of the library. The public is welcome to attend and refreshments will be served.

The event is cosponsored by the ULM Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling and aims to educate attendees about the effects of trauma, common reactions and what treatments are available.

Combat veterans who fought in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan will share their struggle to rejoin their families and communities when they come home from the battlefields.

He has presented at national conferences on PTSD and conducted training sessions to Veterans Affairs and readjustment counselors in several states. Young has published articles on the subject in research journals and helped hundreds of combat veterans, victims of Hurricane Katrina and criminal violence and other individuals diagnosed with PTSD.

For more information, contact Young at (318) 342-1255.

Belleruth Naparstek Seminars on Reversing PTSD

Belleruth Naparstek and The Conference Works presents:

Reversing Panic Attacks, Acute Stress and PTSD Powerful New Solutions to Formerly Intractable Problems

October 4-5 New Orleans, LA - Hampton Inn & Suites New Orleans October 11-12 Denver, CO - Ramada Plaza Denver North November 22-23 Salt Lake City, UT According to the seminar materials: If you, someone you love or someone in your care has suffers from panic attacks, acute stress or the symptoms of PTSD, you know the devastating impact it can have on body, mind, life and spirit. We now know that multi-sensory guided imagery and other simple mind-body tools hold the critical key to healing. Guided imagery is a kind of directed daydreaming, a guided meditation, usually set to soothing music. Although it has been called "visualization" and "mental imagery," these terms are misleading. Guided imagery involves all of the senses. Because imagery engages the whole person—mind, body and spirit—it brings to bear much more of a person's deepest strength and motivation to accomplish a desired end. Subtle and gentle as this technique is, it is very powerful, and becomes more so over time. Belleruth Naparstek (pronounced: bell-rooth´ nap´-pur-stack) is a psychotherapist known worldwide for her powerful guided imagery and her outstanding ability to help people rediscover their bodies’ innate ability to heal. Click here for more information about the seminar.

A Mind-Body Medicine Approach to PTSD - Conference Oct. 11th and 12th - West Coast

The Institute for Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, CA will hold a seminar on 

Mind-Body Approach to PTSD," October 11th and 12, 2008, featuring a Center for Mind-Body Medicine faculty member, Gjorgji Nikoloski, M.D..  According to the ITP's website, linked here, the program will be a 

"one and a half day workshop that teaches: the scientific basis for mind-body medicine; the depth and power of our unique small group approach; and the use of a range of the most effective tools for self-care and stress management.

Comprehensive materials and hands-on experience will prepare you to integrate our mind-body model into your work in a wide variety of settings, including private practice with individuals and groups, hospital work, educational programs and work with populations affected by war, abuse, terrorism and other forms of trauma.

Our approaches are fundamental to relieving the stress that contributes so significantly to all chronic illnesses, and to comprehensive and integrative approaches to the treatment of PTSD.

The featured presenter, Dr. Nikoloski is a Psychiatrist and Mental health clinician who has worked with child adolescent services and the Community Mental Health Clinic in Guelph, Ontario Canada. He began as Faculty of Mind-Body Medicine in Kosovo in 1999 and Founded the Center for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Skopje, Macedonia in1999. He is on the Board of Directors of the Coalition for Work with Psycho-trauma and Peace (CWWPP) in Vukovar, Croatia.  (A more extensive bio for Dr. Nikoloski is linked here.)

To purchase tickets to this event, click here."

Marine Corps Combat Operational Stress Control Conference Starts Tomorrow

Headquarters Marine Corps Combat Operational Stress Control (COSC) Program is pleased to announce the 2008 Marine Corps COSC Conference to be held on August 12-14, 2008 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego, CA.

Purpose of the Conference: The purpose of this conference is to bring together subject matter experts and stakeholders in the Marine Corps COSC process, and to present, examine,
and become informed on COSC policies, programs, and practices specifically
tailored to Marines and their families. Topics will be of interest to Marines, leaders, researchers, treatment providers, Family Readiness staff, chaplains and family members. This is a warfighting issue. Representation
from command leadership is essential to improve Corps-wide efforts to
maximize force preservation and readiness. This year our goal is to introduce the new Marine Corps COSC Continuum Model, which emphasizes the importance of leadership roles in promoting wellness, prevention and early identification of combat stress.

Who should attend: The conference is designed to benefit Marines, leaders of Marines, mental health professionals, Family Readiness staff, chaplains, medical providers, policy makers, family members, veterans, and their advocates.

Information about the conference is linked here.

Meeting Needs of Returning War Veterans, Families and Communities - Conference

The Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology has an upcoming conference scheduled on Friday, June 13th, from 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm, entitled "Returning War Veterans: Meeting Health Needs of Veterans, Families and Communities."  The program, which is the 31st Erich Lindemann memorial lecture, will feature a panel discussion, including longtime veterans advocate and VA psychiatrist, Jonathan Shay, M.D., Ph.D., winner of a MacArthur grant and the author of several important books on understanding the psychology of combat veterans: both Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, and Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming.

CE Credits:	2.5 (for Psychologists, Social Workers, Nurses & LMHCs)
Tuition:	$20.00 (for CE Credits) Open to the Professional Community and the Public, No Admission Charge. Pre-registration requested. Call 617-327-6777 x 282 to reserve your seat.
	Speakers: Jaine L. Darwin, Psy.D., Supervising Analyst, Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis; Clinical Instructor in Psychology, Dept. of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Co-Chair, SOFAR Project—Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists Richard T. Moore, M.A., State Senator and Chairman of the Health Care Financing Committee; General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Jonathan Shay, M.D., Ph.D.., Staff Psychiatrist, Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic, Boston; Author of Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character (1994); and Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming (2000); MacArthur Foundation Fellowship Award (2007) Moderator David G. Satin, M.D., DLFAPA, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Chairman, Erich Lindemann Memorial Lecture Committee

The program is sponsored by The Erich Lindemann Memorial Lecture Committee, and The Erich Lindemann Community Mental Health Education Center Initiative of the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology in cooperation with The North Suffolk Mental Health Association Board of Directors.

For further information about the program, including registration, click here. To read our previous blog entries about Dr. Shay, click here, here and here.