WOUNDS [CONTINUED FROM PAGE 57]
A host of healing options
If PTSD isn’t predictable, it is at least “highly treatable,” as Blank puts it. Over the years,a phalanx of standard treatments has evolved to help those with PTSD, and more are being introduced. “Some of the clinical research fields in both the military and civilian sectors [have become] much more interested in PTSD over the last decade or so, partly because of the extended conflicts and partly because of the public health evidence that’s emerging,” says Engel.
When a servicemember enters treatment at a VA hospital or veterans’ counseling center, the first therapeutic course is often cognitive-behavioral therapy. The VA calls it cognitive processing therapy, but the goal is the same: to help the client learn to counter negative thoughts that spring up automatically under certain situations. A therapist can teach someone with PTSD to replace those thoughts with ones more accurate and less disturbing, as well as to deal with emotions such as guilt, anger, and fear.
Exposure therapy is another tool. It involves guiding the client back into memories of the traumatic event, gradually lessening the effect those recollections have, and helping the client realize memories don’t have to be a source of fear. The process, called “desensitization,” also can involve breathing exercises and instruction on ways to consciously relax and self-soothe when memories arise.
The most widely used form of PTSD therapy is psychodynamic, or interpersonal, therapy — better known as talk therapy. Confiding to a therapist in a safe, controlled environment allows clients to unburden themselves of fears and other negative emotions and focus on how the trauma has affected their mental functioning. “There’s a great variety in how much therapy people need,” says Blank. “Some will do terrifically with three to six months, once a week. Others might need three to six years.”
PTSD Resources
■ American Lake Veterans Golf Club:
www.veterangolf.org
■ Circle of Change:
www.circle-of-change.org/VP/index.htm
■ The Coming Home Series (Red Cross):
www.redcross.org, search “Coming Home”
■ Defense and Veteran Brain Injury Center:
www.dvbic.org
■
Dstressline.com: (877) 476-7734 (Marine Corps)
■ Help Hospitalized Veterans:
www.hhv.org
■ Ocean Cure:
www.oceancureinc.com
■ Operation Proper Exit:
www.troopsfirstfoundation.org
■ Outward Bound for Veterans:
www.outwardbound.org/veteran-adventures/journey
■ Project Healing Waters:
www.projecthealingwaters.org
■ Real Warriors Campaign:
www.realwarriors.net
■ Team Red, White & Blue:
www.teamrwb.org
■ Team River Runner:
www.teamriverrunner.org
■ Veterans Book Project:
www.veteransbookproject.com
■ Veterans Crisis Line:
www.veteranscrisisline.net, (800) 273-8255
■ Warriors and Wolves:
http://lockwoodarc.org/warriors-and-wolves
This is only a partial list of many available resources.
88 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2013
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