Every day I turn on the news and see reports of violence somewhere. . . . it may be armed conflicts in the Middle East or Africa. . . . it may be child or domestic abuse here at home. As a psychologist, my next thought is how to treat the mental anguish that must […]
Getting ready for PTSD
In case you haven’t already heard, April is National Stress Awareness Month. Why do we as a nation spend an entire month on this topic? Because we need to. Just to put the insidiousness of stress into perspective, here are a few statistics from the American Psychological Association: Highly stressed teenagers are twice as likely […]
Thousands of Troops will be Coming Home . . . Someday. Will You Be Ready to Treat Them?
With 30,000 more troops scheduled for deployment for Afghanistan, a mission clearly defined and an exit strategy set before the American people, we forge ahead. And while we could debate the party politics and military merit of the road ahead, it’s the unintended fallout that deserves at least equal time. More and more, we’re hearing […]
Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal
Who would have thought that an iPod could hold the treatment for sufferers of post traumatic stress? I certainly didn’t, but research conducted at Duke University and the Durham, NC Medical Center suggests that guided imagery on an MP3 player can successfully treat symptoms resulting from military sexual trauma. No pharmaceuticals, no therapy, just a […]
Trauma Recovery with Tibetan Monks
How would you treat a Tibetan monk who experiences flashbacks of imprisonment and torture whenever he meditates? That can be a monumental challenge. Often practitioners overlook the less-than-obvious manifestations of trauma if they lack the tools to understand trauma across cultures. And the Tibetan monks, for one, present symptoms that might go under the radar […]