Websites

• • • Community of Veterans A veterans-only online community to connect with other veterans to share experiences and help others make the transition to civilian life.
    • Guide for Veteran Seniors Guide with a number of important resources for veterans who are seniors.
    • Disabled American Veterans
    • Gift from Within: PTSD in the Workplace
    • The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies This orrganization promotes advancement and exchange of knowledge about severe stress and trauma.
    • Make the Connection provides personal video testimonials and resources to help Veterans discover ways to improve their lives. The site also provides informational resources on mental health conditions such as PTSD and traumatic brain injury, symptoms of problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, and life experiences such as transitioning from service and dealing with family and relationship challenges.
    • National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Veterans Resource Center Access to a wide range of resources on veterans and mental illness. Designed for veterans and active duty military members, as well as their families, friends, and advocates.
    • National Center for PTSD in US Dept of Veterans Affairs This website from the Veteran’s Administration has much information about PTSD, and a Guide for families. Resources for women veterans.
    • National Institute for Mental Health See Report: Coping with Traumatic Events
    • PTSD Alliance: an organization of peers who support each other.
    • Real Warriors The Real Warriors Campaign is an initiative launched by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) to promote the processes of building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration of returning service members, veterans and their families.
    • Supporting Military Families with Young Children A Sesame St. Project providing support and significant resources for military families with children between the ages of two and five who are experiencing the effects of deployment, multiple deployments, and combat-related injuries.
    • Spiritual Care Handbook on PTSD/TBI – The Handbook on Best Practices for the Provision of Spiritual Care to Persons with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury by Hughes, Rev. Brian, BCC, and Handzo, Rev. George, BCC.
    • Swords into Plowshares Its mission is to heal the wounds, to restore dignity, hope, and self-sufficiency to all veterans in need, and to significantly reduce homelessness and poverty among veterans.
    • Treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) This website gives a lot of practical information about PTSD and the many kinds of treatments which are used.
    • Veterans Villages This foundation is creating villages to act as a second home for returning veterans to heal and connect back with our society.
    • Vietnam Veterans of America
    • War Trauma Resources There is a fairly comprehensive list of resources collected by Ray Scurfield, DSW, LCSW, Professor of Social Work, University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast. The latest version of these resources can be accessed from his home page.
    • Wounded Warrior Project A discription of the Combat Stress Recovery Program at the Wounded Warrior Project.

Presentations:

Caring for Wounds We Don’t See and Veteran’s Mental Halth Issues by Ronald C. Hamm, M.D., Chief, Administrative Medicine Section, West Los Angeles VAMC. They were presented to the NAMI California meeting in August 2008 and a copy can be requested from Dr. Hamm at Ronald.Hamm at va.gov. The presentations emphasize that recovery from PTSD is a gradual, ongoing processing. Healing doesn’t happen overnight, nor do the memories of the trauma ever disappear completely. This can make life seem difficult at times. But there are many things you can do to cope with residual symptoms or reduce your anxiety level. Covered are types of treatments, life-style adjustments, medications and family dynamics.

Books:
War and the Soul: Healing Our Nation’s Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, by Edward Tick, Ph.D., Quest Books, 2005. This book shows that healing depends on our understanding of PTSD not as a mere stress disorder, but as a disorder of identity itself. In the terror of war, the very soul can flee, sometimes for life. Tick’s methods draw on compelling case studies and ancient warrior traditions worldwide to restore the soul so that the veteran can truly come home to community, family, and self.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D., Penguin Books, 2015. Excellent book about trauma and how people heal from it. Dr. Van Der Kolk uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments-from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga-that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. The real deal.