Oct
7
WARRIOR DEDICATION
Filed Under Brain Injury, Combat PTSD, PTSD treatment, TBI & PTSD, Tears of a Warrior | Comments Off
by Janet J. Seahorn, Ph.D
Here is a question to think about…how many of you would take your entire retirement in one lump sum and then put it into a facility that would serve as a place of support, safety, and relaxation for our country’s vets?
This special place would require quite a bit of work. You would need to paint the walls, put in new furniture that would be comfortable and calming, and develop programs that would facilitate a wounded warrior’s emotional and physical well-being.
Such a facility would need quiet places where an individual could find the best environment to heal. For instance, one room would serve as a large conference room for presentations and discussions. Another would be a smaller area with a number of large reclining couches as well as chair recliners. My favorite happens to be a room with three oversized, state of the art massage recliners.
Each of the two “relaxation” rooms is equipped with head phones to listen to select music of choice under dim lighting. Small water fountains provide a sense of a quiet, flowing river. A large screen TV scrolls messages of hope and inspiration. Every detail was thoughtfully conceived to provide a special place of peace.
And here is the amazing thing, the person who has formed this sanctuary does not charge one cent for a veteran or family member. The Warrior Relaxation Response Center is located on the south side of Colorado Springs, CO, close to Fort Carson military base. It has been open barely a year. To continue to provide these services, the owner, Antoine Johnson, is desperately trying to obtain grants from various organizations as well as the army’s military base.
With a challenging economy, this will be no easy task. As Antoine tells it, “It is a true leap of faith”. He explains that he simply loves the military men and women who served our country. He and his wife spent many years in the army, fought in Desert Storm, and then became teachers. Working with traumatized children became his specialty. Many of the children came from military families torn apart by combat deployments, with parents returning with TBI and PTSD. Antoine saw a calling to help those returning from war to achieve a more stable and balanced life.
Last Thursday we were invited to visit the center and speak to some of the veterans and their families. Young and old were present, each with a story of trauma The flashbacks, the lack of understanding from family and friends who have not had to endure war, the numbing of the senses just to get through the day, and the sometimes overwhelming anxiety of not knowing when the next emotional attack will occur.
Throughout our country there will be an even greater need for more centers like the Warrior Relaxation Response Center A place where an individual can visit to simply be alone and find some solace. A place where he/she will not be judged, asked questions, or encouraged to just get on with living. Sometimes, as Antoine understands, a warrior simply needs a quiet space. Healing takes time, often a lifetime.
For those who want to contribute to support this mission or learn more about the facility please contact Antoine Johnson: http://www.warriorrrc.com
Aug
12
Wilderness and Healing PTSD
Filed Under Treating PTSD | 3 Comments
They come at the most unexpected times; the demons, depression, sadness, anxiety… It is the uncertainty of the unwanted feelings, the never knowing for sure when or where they might appear that makes Post-traumatic Stress such a challenge to manage.
Modern civilization, with all of its new technologies, now has more clever and massive means to torture and kill. And our conscious and unconscious psyche knows and understands this fact. So why in the heck would someone with PTSD feel secure and at ease in a large city, a crowded mall, or a traffic-filled highway?
Many times it is these modern places that exacerbate PTSD symptoms. Finding a place of safety to escape and heal may be to retreat to the wilderness. A place where Mother Nature opens her soft arms to surround us with peace, soothe our torn nerves, and comfort us with gurgling mountain streams, meadows splashed with abundant colors, greens so bright that they almost appear painted. Soft breezes and tiny birds sing a lullaby so sweet that we almost weep with gratitude. Compassionate, wilderness spirits seem to enfold our entire bodies and minds with their loving presence.
This summer we have been fortunate to spend a great deal of time in the mountains: camping, fishing, hiking, floating rivers. Each experience reinforced what we have always known – wilderness places heal.
There is a healing that takes place in the wilderness. Where hatred, greed, and meaningless violence cease to exist. When we are surrounded by wilderness our senses open up to drink in the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures that quiet our minds, hearts, and tattered spirits.
Nature allows us to relax, to rejuvenate. It is why we are blessed to visit each special, wild place. We are privileged to experience natural environments and acknowledge the value of these common places becoming our sacred, healing grounds.
Please send us stories of your wilderness, healing places. We would enjoy hearing from you.
Mar
6
Healing Takes Courage
Filed Under Treating PTSD | Comments Off
Its been almost two weeks since I last wrote a blog. We had to cancel Tony’s last EMDR session and reschedule for Monday, March 2nd. He is struggling trying to understand exactly what EMDR is supposed to do for him. He wants to analyze everything in concrete terms. That would be fine if PTSD were a concrete, cogntive issue. It is not. Trauma doesn’t first happen in the brain/mind. It happens in the sense cells of the body. These sense cells then rely the information to the brain for interpretation, and the brain determines if the stimulus from the cells is worthy of response ranging from being safe to a dangerous situation that would require the body to fight, flee, or just freeze from fear.
At the beginning of the session, Shelly, Tony’s therapist, takes him back to the first few days of being in Vietnam. When a military person is told where his/her assignment will be, there is no discussion. No bargaining saying, hey, I don’t want to go to that place because that is where most of the fighting and deaths occur. You can’t stand up and yell, “Hell no, I won’t go!” You are slowly being pushed into the decision that has been made for you by a stranger. You come to an acceptance of the situation – a realization that what is… is. Mission first. The job now is to stuff the feelings… fear, excitement, apprenhension. Shelly keeps gentle urging Tony to focus on the feelings. She is trying to getting his body to process the gaps between the mind and the body. I must say, that watching this session made me understand how much easier it is to stay in the head instead of the feeling in the body. The pain is real. Why would anyone want to go back to hell — except that only by going back will the body heal and the mind mend.
I am still being surprised at what I thought I knew but didn’t and what I never even considered as a potential problem. Yes, the whole experience of war gets dumped into the same memory box, wrapped up tightly and sealed away somewhere in the mind and body. Holy Smokes, healing combat trauma is like having to undergo an emotional chemo to survive. Just as chemo changes the cells of the body to fight against cancer cells, therapy to heal PTSD changes the cells in the mind/brain to recreate the sense cells of the body to heal from the damage of trauma.