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 7 Aug 2010 @ 14:05
"...let me say that as human beings our basic aim is to have a happy life; we all want to experience happiness. It is natural for us to seek happiness. This is our life's purpose. The reason is quite clear: when we lose hope, the result is that we become depressed and perhaps suicidal. Therefore, our very existence is strongly rooted in hope. Although there is no guarantee of what the future will bring, it is because we have hope that we are able to continue living. Therfore, we can say that the purpose of life, our life's goal is happiness." The Dalai Lama, Dimensions of Spirituality, p.3.
Having been involved in the healing process of over 200 soldiers since 2008, I am inspired to improve the quality of lives, health, and relationships of injured warriors, veterans and their families through integrative health practices that have been proven effective. I have recently met with the California Coalition, Ft. Bayard Restoration Project, Menzies TBI Clinic, and others to assist with endeavors to facilitate the healing of soldiers and families diagnosed with PTSD/TBI. The US Army premier Ft. Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center (R & R Center)can only treat Warriors willing to return to the Force, fit-for-duty.
Our team is highly motivated and we are eager to transfer our 'hands on' knowledge and experience gained during our many years in the development of comprehensive, intensive and extensive treatment programs applying integrative and holistic health methods and approaches with all injured and wounded warriors and their families.
It has been my observation over the past 25 years, while serving as the Ft. Bliss Stress Management Trainer with the US Army Community Services and as clinical/holistic social worker in our R & R Center, that soldiers and veterans treated using primarily conventional mental health methods and psychotropic meds will unlikely be successful. PTSD is an injury that affects the soldier and his family and our wider community. Identifying this injury as a mental health 'disorder,' rather than as an injury that affects the whole being--physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and socially--is a big part of the problem for soldiers.
The integrative model, therefore, recognizes what affects one part of a system affects all systems, is the appropriate and healthy way to transcend these limited mental health practices and injurious labels (eg.,Brain Disorder). The conventional mental health approach has not worked and it is time to change.
Those warriors suffering and hiding out in their homes, in institutions,under bridges and in despair and pain, only show us the failure of the conventional mental health model, the failure of psychotropic drugs and, the failure of our professional health education and welfare programs for continuing to support them.
Far too many SM's "fall between the cracks" because of the poorly administered, limited mental health model that is focused primarily on sick care rather than on the whole person in interaction and in relationship with Nature and with all that is.
It is definitely time to change these limited, sick care approaches--labeling and drugging our soldiers. We have great healing and wellness methods that work wonders and give hope for this dreaded injury. These are the programs and the treatment modalities that our Wounded Warriors experience regularly: meditation, massage, acupuncture, therapy dogs, reiki therapy, movement therapies, therapeutic arts, water therapy, a cleansing of toxins, biofeedback, therapeutic outings, gestalt group therapy, holistic self-care plan, health education, evaluation, aftercare and followup. Why would we not give our service members everything they deserve to get better as well as offer their family a support system? See Belleruth's article on how meditation helps our soldiers. She is especially known for her guided meditations and they work. [link] Meditation and mindfulness also helps soldiers in war zone. [link]
As another example of an integrative approach, our 15-Minute StressOut Program is very popular with our Wounded Warriors and Vets in nursing homes and other programs as the Power of Touch, coordinated with the Vitality of Breath produces an empathic connection and positive relationship as we welcome them all home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Please let us know if you can help our Team Leaders introduce and teach this health practice with every Veteran, Wounded Warrior and their Family and others in your community. Contact: [link]
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Soldiers share power of touch with veterans
Julia Yubeta
WBAMC Public Affairs
More than 15 Soldiers from the Fort Bliss Restoration and Resilience Center visited the Ambrosia Guillen Texas State Veterans Home in Northeast El Paso July 15 to share with fellow veterans the benefits of the 15-minute StressOut Program.
The program was designed by Jerry Vest, an Army veteran and a clinical social worker with William Beaumont Army Medical Center’s R and R Center. The program was first developed by Vest in 1979. After giving more than 40,000 “stressouts” over a 30-year period, he has learned that the program is safe with all populations.
Vest introduced the program to the residents of the veterans home by showing a “Welcome Home from the Wars” DVD, and an instructional video about the “stressout” program, and a video that provided guidelines for the safe use of touch.
“Both the giver and receiver of this program serve as partners to connect the vitality of breath with the power of touch,” said Vest. “This brings about mindfulness as an intrinsic awareness program for both the giver and receivers of touch and physical interaction.”
He explained that while systematically applying pressure points and introducing the “laying-on-of-hands,” we remind the givers and receivers to maintain an awareness of their breath throughout the activity.
“The chair-like massage becomes like a partner meditation – relaxing yet energetic,” he said.
Willie Brown, activities director at the veterans home, said he had been working with Vest for more than a year. “This is a fantastic program that highlights the power of touch and its healing benefits.
“Many of our veterans have forgotten about touch. The only touch they routinely receive is when they need help transferring from bed to their wheelchair,” he said.
“I watch their faces and can visibly see the release of tension. They comment on how good they feel afterwards.
“The benefits are two-fold, for both the Soldiers, as the givers, and for our elderly veterans.”
The veterans from the home were brought to the activities room in two groups to allow for maximum participation. One of the residents said she was a little hesitant and didn’t know what to expect. Her Soldier partner talked steadily to her while gently employing the techniques he had learned. She smiled and relaxed and asked when they were coming again.
After the session, a Soldier commented that this was his second visit, but wouldn’t be his last. He added that it felt good to feel someone relax using the techniques they had been taught. Another Soldier added that he felt comfortable being around other veterans and felt a sense of brotherhood. Both Soldiers said they had learned a lot about the power of touch.
“This healing touch is a gift from the wounded warriors to you, and from you to them,” said Vest to the elderly veterans. “Everyone can benefit from the power of touch.”
More >
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 14 Jul 2010 @ 14:53
I am very pleased and honored to write this letter of support and recommendation for Paws of Honor Organization. SGT Paul Jeffers, Army Medic and Founder/Owner, has been successfully adopting, working and training Service and Therapy Dogs for some time.
As Coordinator of Health Education and Clinical/Holistic Social Worker for Ft. Bliss Restoration and Resilience Center, I have taken a special interest in observing his Dogs while also bringing SGT Jeffers into our Center for presentations and for his Dogs to relate and interact with our Wounded Warriors every week for the past year.
Our R & R Center is the US Army’s premier integrative health program for soldiers diagnosed with PTSD and for those wishing and able to return to the Force following their 6 months of intensive and extensive treatment. Aftercare is also provided for an additional month and more if needed. SGT Jeffers’ contribution to our Wounded Warrior’s health and wellbeing is significant and encouraging for soldiers suffering from these injuries that affect the whole being--physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
This service member & Debbie Kandoll have helped our soldiers with their experience of isolation, agitation, hyperarousal and persistent avoidance by introducing their therapy dogs and assisting our Wounded Warriors to adopt, train and develop their dogs as friends and partners in their healing process.
We look forward every week to his participation with us in advancing the health and wellbeing of our soldiers and for bringing his well disciplined and friendly therapy dogs into our Center.
We thank SGT Jeffers and his therapy dogs for their excellent services and support. Paws of Honor is a welcome addition to the treatment services for our soldiers and others returning from War.
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Thank you for visiting our site. Just to give you a better understanding of what we are about, here is my story.
My name is Paul, I am a Medic in the United States Army and have served now for 12 years. I have deployed to the Pentagon and Iraq. During my combat time I received several injuries/illnesses including PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and TBI (Traumatic brain injury).
After trying everything available to treat these problems they never completely went away, so I ended up getting a dog to use as a service dog. I trained this dog with help and even though I'm not Healed, I am better now. I started using her for therapy for other soldiers and they have had an easier time dealing with their PTSD, and getting service dogs as well. Some have been able to stop their medications after getting the dog and noticed a dramatic improvement in their quality of life.
I started this organization to help other soldiers that need service dogs and don't have the means or funds to get one. with my help I can get the soldier the dog they need, train them, and with donations, help with vet bills. Currently the military does not cover the cost of Vet bills for service dogs even though the soldier needs it for medical purposes. If I get enough help and donations, this organization will build a small kennel to house 4-5 dogs that will be rescued from a pound, so in the process we will also be saving dogs that could be such a help to Americas heroes and have probably done nothing but want love.
We are also connected with militaryworkingdogadoptions they are who got me the help I needed and trained me. They save retired Military working dogs that would otherwise be put down. I will put more info up at later dates as we grow, so please feel free to come back and leave a comment and any donations would be a blessing.
You can also visit the organization we work with at [link] and[link] More >
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 31 May 2010 @ 22:18
In our webpages, I will introduce the basic need and requirements for human touch. While there is strong evidence that our society and human family are becoming an endangered species, many governments, such as the USA, pay little attention with minimal commitment, to global warming, nuclear stock piles, environment, natural and economic disasters, health & wellness, unemployment, poverty, abuse, neglect, pandemic health diseases, and little control over growing "...government-military-industrial complex" - corporate monopolies. We are now experiencing an unprecedented disaster in the Gulf with oil spilling out of the guts of our Earth with no end in sight. And, we now have a greater division and inbalance between the very rich, middle class, and impoverished. Unemployment is catastrophic for a rich nation in resources, yet bankrupt with the political leadership and a systemic failure of our social systems--economic, family. criminal justice, education, health, medical care, aging programs, etc. Quality of care is absent and lacking when these communities and resources deny and ignore the basic human need for Touch or Physical Interaction and the kindness, respect and dignity every human being desires.
While many of us are aware of these impending and current disasters, organizations such as New Civilization, are attempting to awaken humanity through mindfulness, virtual interaction on The Internet, and by forming healthy, respectful alliances to make a difference and encourage changing the direction we are heading.
Our international health promotion team is a modest effort, but hopefully an expanding opportunity, to awaken individuals, couples, families, groups, organizations and communities to an awareness that touch or physical interaction with mindfulness, respect and love are basic human need requirements for safety, survival, resiliency, and for the wellbeing of humanity and all that exists. Our 15-Minute StressOut Program is a great model and "Best Practice" for bringing about change and improvement for the quality of lives, health and relationship throughout our society and beyond.
Obviously, there are serious considerations for being circumspect and skillful in offering nourishing touch as a conscious intervention in the workplace, schools, programs for elders, military, and in a family environment. Guidelines for the Safe Use of Touch include:
1)providing the option for participants to self-administer our program;
2)receiving permission to touch and reminding participants that contact is always in safe areas;
3)having witnesses or partners present;
4)teaching the activity to others so that they can be the givers of the stressout program;
5)encouraging participants to use the teaching DVD & Study Guide (Vest,1995)if the participant chooses not to make physical contact.
INVITATION
You can join with us in advancing the use of healthy, respectful and nourishing touch throughout the world by visiting and studying our website. Interact with us on our Forum , as well.
Humanity, nature and earth are in a vital relationship that is interactive, integrative and participatory with a total interdependency--What affects one of us affects all of us. This recognition calls on all of us, including our decision makers, to begin taking responsibility for what we do and how we improve our conditions, relationships, and our planet. Money, power and greed have gotten us into this quagmire. We must now dig ourselves out of this 'sink hole' of an economy, wars and a growing or expanding military-industrial complex. It is time for all of us to change and to contribute our resources, knowledge, skills and values for the improvement of our planet.
This change requires us to have empathy and compassion for one another and our planet. The quality of our lives, health and relationships depend upon each of us to find our place and niche in our society and in Nature. I believe we are created for a purpose, much like a tree, an animal, fish or bird. We need one another and everything to live and enjoy our opportunity to be alive. It is for this reason that I have chosen Touch, one of our Basic Human Need Requirements for living and for being whole and healthy. Our approach is to advance our knowledge, skills, values and practices to achieve our best possible human and social conditions while discovering our lost dignity and self respect.
Come join with us NOW!!!
Jerry Vest, ACSW/LISW/LMT, Organization Team Leader
Professor Emeritus, NMSU and Holistic-Clinical Social Worker
Ft Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center
Note: Sand Painted Picture of War Dancer (Sands are all natural colored rocks)is by Daman Watchman, Sheep Springs, NM. More >
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 24 Apr 2010 @ 20:41
Thanks Luis for sharing this article about PTSD that describes what happens to our soldiers who go on multiple tours and have to sustain their awareness 24-7 in an extreme temperature & environment with 100+ #'s of armour on their upper body. It is very rare to see a soldier who doesn't have serious injuries in their knees and backs. Most of the warriors I know are very brave and never complain, but they know that their equipment was produced by the 'lowest bidder' and not the best that it could be to support them and prevent these injuries.
PTSD and TBI are serious injuries as well that don't just affect their minds. As we know, what affects the mind affects the body and what affects the body also affects the mind and spirit. I am pleased that we are a holistic-integrative program so we have all of the interventions to support their whole being. Read this story in this NYT's article describing conditions and the hardships that soldiers face while being placed in a Warrior Transitional Battalion at Ft Carson, Co. after returning from deployment. [link]
Anyway, I have heard these traumatic stories every day for almost 2 1/2 years and I have come to see that if everyone could hear these experiences of our Marines and Soldiers, perhaps we would think more clearly or take the "Right Action" to prevent these atrocities from ever happening. I know that this comment comes from my over idealism, but for God's sake, NO MORE WAR!!! Humanity must wake up and discover compassion, love, respect, empathy, understanding, and kindness.
I have decided to give notice and complete my Work here at Ft. Bliss as we will join our family in Denver. Today I announced that I will be leaving at the end of July so that personnel can find a replacement for my position. In addition to providing individual and group therapy daily, I coordinate Health Education, Water Polo and Meditation. I also participate in therapeutic outings. It generally takes at least 3-4 months to complete the process as a licensed provider of service so I'm hopeful that our Center can fill my position in a timely manner.
Most of our soldiers have completed 2-4 tours of duty that last over 12 months while the Marines have 6 month tours and I believe that they have fewer diagnosed with PTSD, but then, perhaps we'll never know the true extent of these identified with these injuries as few warriors wish to be identified or labeled with a mental health "disorder."
Mental health systems really could improve as they use the disease model and psychotropic pills are the preferred & primary method of treatment for most soldiers treated in MH. Perhaps they don't know any better way, right now, as most therapists are trained in using the DSM to give pills for related symptoms. However, we offer health options, but the medical professions are cynical about holistic-integrative methods and most conventional practitioners are very skeptical about our integrative approaches. See our website for details and links to our health resources--how we serve our Warriors. [link] More >
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 23 Jan 2010 @ 18:54
PTSD occurs when a person has experienced, witnessed, or has been confronted with a traumatic event, which involved actual or threatened death or serious physical injury to themselves or others. At which point they responded with intense fear, horror or helplessness. These diagnostic criteria for PTSD falls into three groups and are summarized as follows:
1)Re-experiencing the trauma (nightmares, flashbacks, and intrusive thoughts).
2)Numbing and avoidance of reminders of the trauma (avoidance of situations, thoughts and feelings, etc.).
3)Persistent increased arousal (sleep difficulties, irritability, anger outbursts, startle response, etc.). Downrange to Iraq and Back by Bridget C. Cantrell, Ph.D. & Chuck Dean
More than this, however, is the fact that a physical injury affects the brain with these long, multiple tours; long days and nights while maintaining an acute awareness with all of the senses. And, emotions are 'wired' while performing military functions to prepare for action, secure the perimeter, protect your team and "look out" for potential dangers with sustained alertness without having the needed REM state sleep for recovery.
The concussions by IED's cause Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and are also a devastating blow to our soldiers' brains that have enourmous inpact on the central nervous system and impacts memory of short term activities and events. So many of our Warriors have enormous headaches and Migraines as well. So many of our Warriors also have Sleep Apnia that can be a career buster. "Big" Joe will describe his experiences and how he has dealt with his pain, suffering, transformations,ups and downs, relationships, rehab, and more. Thank you, Joe.
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I am proud and honored to post this article by MSG Joe G. Hunt, SR.(Ret.) who tells his story about some significant and traumatic events that he experienced during 3 tours in Iraq and his 6 month recovery in our Ft. Bliss Restoration and Resilience Center. I had the good fortune to be "Big" Joe's primary therapist during this time and can affirm that he did everything possible and all that was offered in our treatment program and more, to recover and complete his 34 years as a great Warrior in our US Army. This service member has written his story to help brothers, sisters and others in our society understand and appreciate what soldiers often experience during the wars. We will never know the whole story of war and all of the trauma, sleepless nights, horrendous nightmares and all of the other symptoms that prevent our wounded warriors from returning home and joining their families with comfort, security, and joy. In fact, it seems to me that it is a miracle that any of these families make a successful recovery--our soldiers are no longer the same persons they were went they went to War--families no long recognize their loved ones and those they left behind often find them as strangers to re-discover.
One more reminder for all of us. Don't let our Iraq and Afghanistan Warriors return home without the recognition that they deserve. They did not start these wars or continue them--they did their duty the best they knew how. Welcome them home with the respect and dignity that they deserve and help them get the best services possible to help them heal and recover from all of these injuries, wounds and trauma. Darryl Worley, "Coming Back from the War" describes this experience vividly in his great ballad: [link]
Jerry Vest, LISW, Holistic Health Social Worker
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This is my story and I give my authorization and permission for Jerry to post this on his Log. I was a patient in the worlds primere PTSD treatment center and I waive my rights to privacy and confidentiality so that others will seek treatment and help for these invisible injuries. No one should ever feel guilty and wrong for taking advantage of services that can help them return to their families, to active duty or get medically boarded.
My primary counselor from the R&R program, (Restoration & Resilience Program), Jerry Vest asked me to write about my deployments to Iraq and the effects that those three deployments have had on me and my family functioning in daily activities. First let me give you some background as to who I am. I spent 34 years of my life doing a job I have loved, being a soldier in the US Army. My rank at my retirement is MSG/ E-8. I have been an active duty soldier, Oklahoma National Guardsman, Army Reservist. During my 34 years of federal service I have worked daily in the Army and had several civilian jobs.
On December 25, 1990 I and my unit left Nurnberg, Germany to enter Operation Desert Shield. The ground war lasted 5 ½ days and no real major problems for me existed at the completion of that action. Yes, my humvee was fired upon by a Russian T-72 tank and I watched rounds drop 500 meters off our perimeter. Yet I truly believe I was okay when we arrived at Bassara highway, (highway of death) in Kuwait. The next morning I and my driver were tasked to help clear the highway so Gen Schortzcroft could land for the signing of the peace treaty. We were to put yellow flagging tape around vehicles with no bodies and red flagging around vehicles with dead bodies in them. This was absolutely the worst two and half days of my life at that time. Me and my driver vomited more times than I can remember and saw some of the most grotesque scenes imaginable. Bodies and vehicles were still smoldering, some were torn apart so bad you couldn’t tell their sex, some were charred so bad that they had broken in half. The smells, the sights, were more than I could handle. I returned back to Germany to my wife and son only to isolate from them, get very angry and blow up for nothing, and the worst was the nightmares. I had been a Medic early in my career and knew the symptoms of PTSD but missed them terribly for myself.
After returning to the states at Ft. Sill, Ok I got off of active duty and entered the Oklahoma National Guard. I had a civilian job and was not doing well at all. I and my wife had multiple problems and I thought I was crazy, (truly). The Oklahoma VA gave me all kinds of medication and life started going downhill fast. Me and my wife separated in November 1995 and divorced January 1996. I moved to Texas, (Houston) and started working in a totally different field. The Houston VA was no help with my symptoms and diagnosed me as Major depressive with bipolar symptoms and chronic Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS). A lot more physical problems surfaced and I continued to get worst. In 1997 I started community college with the intentions of becoming a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. I graduated in 1999 with honors and started interning. All the time going to the VA and having anger outburst and the nightmares got worst.
I have to go back and tell a real part of my life now so that the understanding will become really clear to you. On March 5, 1986 I entered a Residential Treatment Facility in Nurnberg hospital for the treatment of alcoholism. Since that day until this day I have not had a drop of alcohol. This March 5th will be 24 years. I needed to tell you this for reasons that are associated with soldiers with PTSD and TBI. Drugs and alcohol are a way of coping in a society that doesn’t have a clue, especially the ones closest to you. All the time from my return from Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and The Kurd Relief until my completion from college and interning drinking and doing drugs were not an option for me. Going to AA saved my life literally. I knew I was crazy, I didn’t belong, feel comfortable, or feel loved by anyone at the same time I didn’t want anyone to know me or get close. This was my double edge sword.
Things actually started getting better in 2001. I was working as a case manager for an HIV/AIDS outreach center and was actually enjoying it. The center after 9/11 lost a lot of its funding and we moved into a church that had a food pantry for my clients. I worked extensively with the pastor and my guilt got to a point that I was baptized and became a member of the church. I met my wife now at the church and we were married September 21, 2002. This whole time I was also in the Army Reserves. Six months after my marriage I was put on orders for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I left for Ft. Hood, Texas and came home on weekends I could and left for Iraq on January 4, 2004. The nightmares, anger, isolation, hypervigilence all were becoming even worst than before.
I arrived at LSA Anaconda Balad, Iraq with mixed feelings and emotions, but as crazy as this sounds I hadn’t felt as comfortable with myself since before I went to the Gulf war. Several things happened while I was at Anaconda, first being on a convoy and having an IED go off about five vehicles in front of me and my driver. No one got hurt, but it was a baptizism under fire thing. We came off the road with a high that no drug could ever match. It was and incredible feeling, even when nothing happened we would get this high. Second being at LSA Anaconda the Stars and Stripes newspaper dubbed Anaconda, “Mortaritiville “as we got hit with rockets or mortars everyday. Three to six at a time, I was knocked to the ground more times than I can remember. I received a Combat Action Badge for being engaged by the enemy under indirect fire. I and a 2nd Lt were on our way to the base theater to eat lunch one afternoon when a 127mm rocket hit and knocked us to the ground. I was stunned and dazed but his mouth was moving and everything was in slow motion. His voice sounded like the voice in Peanuts, “ wha,wha,wha,wha “, I don’t know how long it was but I heard a pop in my head and I could hear and everything was back to normal sort of. I had an intense headache the rest of the day and evening. No blood or any outward signs of injury were present not even from my ears. The headache would come and go and every attack after that one I would get real angry and start talking to my self. Once on a convoy a RPG round flew right in front of our windshield and landed about 50 meters from us as we were driving down the road. My gunner peed her pants. Other things happened but not as bad as the ones mentioned.
I returned back to Ft. Hood on 14 Dec 2004 and was very anxious, scared to return. I didn’t know how I was going to react with life and my wife. After six months things were okay I guess. Nightmares would come and go and most I couldn’t remember. I would be walking nothing going on and all of a sudden I would see a flash of bright light. It would scare the crap out of me and I would start breathing fast and my palms would be sweaty and then would go away after some time passed. All this time I couldn’t understand what was wrong with me. Having an Associate of Applied Science of Mental Health Technology degree only compounded my feelings. I had enough mental health education to be very dangerous. My self diagnosis was becoming obsessive. I finally diagnosised myself as truly crazy, just nuts and should be locked in a rubber room. For one year after returning I did not work or see any doctors. In April of 2006 I received orders to go back to Iraq. In some ways I was relieved but still scared. I had angry outburst against people and senior officers before leaving and I look back now and see were somebody should have stepped in and said go get some help. But no one did and I thought life was normal in a lot of ways. Me and my wife had some issues upon my return but nothing really major. I could not argue or debate anything. It was either relaxed or un-believably angry conversation from my end. I could see the fear and hurt in her eyes yet couldn’t do anything about it which made me even angrier. I only wanted some one to understand what was happening. Prior to leaving I couldn’t sleep and emotionally I was a wreck.
We arrived once again at LSA Anaconda on August 24, 2006 and I was home once more. I can’t describe the feeling I felt once I stepped off the plane. I still had panic attacks but not near as many. The Army in all of its infamous wisdom really didn’t have a job for me when we first got to Anaconda. So I started doing things for different people just to have something to do. Finally I met a 1LT that was Commander of a National Guard truck company from Arizona. She needed a Convoy Commander very badly. So I said yes and off I was. Again coming off the road was such a high. When things would happen there would be an even greater high if that’s possible. After being their for about 6 months, one night the convoy in front of us stopped in area 49 on MSR Tampa. Area 48 & 49 were known to be ambush sights or ied’s, efp sights. Anyway, the convoy in front of us started receiving fire from the passenger side of the road behind a berm. I got out of my vehicle and walked to the humvee that had been hit hard. I started giving medical support and gave a situation report to the convoy commander. They started moving and my truck came by and I got in. It was like everything that happened was in slow motion. I could hear rounds whizzing by my head but it didn’t bother me at all. That’s the only real incident that happened during that time. We still received mortar and rocket fire at the Forward Operating Bases we would stay at. I was relieved of my duties and put at Balad hospital as a patient liaison for injured and sick soldiers. This was hell. We would take the litters off the helicopters and take them to the ER. We would identify the person and contact their unit and give them an update. Sometimes the head Nuro-Surgeon would look at me and say palliative care. Then I would take the soldier to ICU 1 in the back and unplug everything and hold his hand and wait for him to die. Once that happened I would drape an American flag over the body and take it to the morgue for processing. I would be with the body until mortuary affairs would show up to take the body to the collection point. This was hard and I got full in my heart real quick. I had no room for anything else, nothing. Then Gabby Bell came into my life and in a world of chaos and craziness she made the world right. This baby girl I helped take off the chopper one evening thinking that it was empty. But under some blankets was this brown eyed little girl. She had been hit in her abdomen with shrapnel from an ied. Both her parents were killed. She would not go to sleep one night and I heard her crying. So the nurse gave her to me and I took her down to my desk and held her while I worked. She slept so peacefully. She would give this little grin just for a moment. So cute, a blessing for all of us. I tried my hardest to adopt her and take her back home with me. But the Iraqi government wouldn’t allow it. One day this Iraqi woman shows up and says she is her grandmother and takes her away crying. Boy, I cried like crazy and got extremely angry. I didn’t go on the Iraqi floors or have anything to do with them anymore. To hell with them. My time ended and I came back to Ft. Hood, Texas on August 2, 2007. My eyes hurt from all the green that day and I was sweating from the humidity, but yet I was shivering from being so cold. Completely strange, which didn’t help my home coming at all? The Army saw I had 18 years of active federal service and sent me to Ft. Bliss, Texas for two years to retire. I and my wife had a home in NW Houston and so I went to Ft. Bliss alone.
Once at Ft. Bliss I was assigned to B Co WBAMC, thank God the hospital SGM put me at the Wounded Warrior Battalion as patient liaison NCOIC. I was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. I couldn’t sleep; large crowds scared the hell out of me. I had no interest or hobbies and everywhere I went I was always watching for something to happen. I could see flashes of bright lights and smell war everywhere. One day some soldiers from this place called the R&R center came to the battalion to tell the wounded soldiers about the R&R program. I met a lady named Sharon and she invited me to the center for a visit. A week later I show up and before I know it I’m crying my eyes out and being admitted into the R&R program. It was the best thing that could have happened for me. People actually knew I wasn’t freaking nuts or trying to get out of doing something or make a buck off the government. Group counseling was a dream comes true for me. I heard things that happened to me and heard the same crazy things that I saw, smelled and did. I know for a fact that the R&R program saved my life. My primary counselor would listen to me intently and have me talk to a chair with no one in it, (The Gestalt Therapy), if you have never done that you ought too! My secondary counselor knew of my AA background and had me write a lot. I didn’t want to but I did. Both counselors saved me from my self. I had zeal like I hadn’t had in along time. I really and honestly wanted to get well. I would force myself to go to the malls during very crowded times just to deal with it. I always took someone with me never went alone. Some days were really great others were not so great, but the gap between worst and best was shrinking. The group counseling was really good for me as it reinforced to me that I wasn’t alone or crazy. The latter being near and very dear to me as you can realize.
The R&R program was 6 months long and intensive which I believe it should be longer. I know we are trying to get soldiers back in the fight and understand that. But after I left the program I regressed a lot. I was working at McGregor Training Base Complex at the Mayor Cell as the evening shift NCOIC. There were times I would panic for absolutely no reason at all. Right after leaving the R&R program I started seeing a doctor for TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). He put me on zanax 1 mg for anxiety and to help with sleep. I had x-rays and an MRI of my head and he diagnosed me with TBI post concussion syndrome axis level I. My symptoms are memory short term recall, headaches, dizziness, some tendinitis in my ears ringing, irritability, concentration, frigidity, and anxiety. I spent a lot of time with a speech therapist for memory and concentration which helped considerably. After I left the R&R program I regressed and I know it was from just starting to feel comfortable and then you leave. If the program was a year long it would provide ample opportunity to relax and deal with everything. The families are really left out in the dark cause all the treatment is for the soldier. Arguing with your spouse every night while trying to relax in the daytime is very difficult even for someone who doesn’t have PTSD, I will never be the same person as I was before but hopefully I will get close. I’m now retired and at home in NW Houston and trying very hard every day to be the best I can be. I and my wife are communicating and working through issues. She has phone numbers to call any of the therapist or even my TBI doctor whenever she feels she needs to. My memory is my biggest problem today. I can’t talk clinically anymore because I can’t remember simple words when talking and it makes me sound like a complete idiot. I hope I have given you enough background and answered a lot of questions you may have about PTSD and TBI from a soldier’s perspective. I am patiently waiting my award letter from the VA with my compensation percentage so I can start going to the doctor again. The feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, and extreme guilt are fading each day. Depression seems to not be their quite as bad as it was. But the tools I have learned from the R&R program work and I still use them.
Thank you all so much. More >
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 20 Dec 2009 @ 16:52
If you're a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom (O1F) or Operation Enduring Freedom(OEF), we welcome you home and sincerely thank you for the time you served. Words can't convey the deep appreciation that we and other Americans across the country have for your valor, commitment, and hard work. While in harm's way, you endured many hardships, from constant threats and unpredictable crises to extreme temperature, chaotic operations, absences from loved ones, and uncertainty about your return home. You have much of which you can be proud. Courage after Fire by Keith Armstrong, LCSW/Suzanne Best, Ph.D./Paula Domenici, Ph.D.
One of our soldiers visited my website and forum and said that he would like to be a guest presenter and tell one of his stories about being injured by an explosive device. This great soldier, like many others in our program, are now working to recover from this blast, PTSD, and other injuries.
These injuries, often accompanied with Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), are often very difficult to diagnose and treat, yet so many of our soldiers have enormous headaches and now have short term memory loss; sleepless nights; anger episodes; hypervigilence; anxiety and panic attacks; and, other physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual injuries.
I am not using this Warrior's name, even though he has given me authorization, as I wish to protect his privacy and confidentiality as a patient in the Warrior Transition Battalion. It is our hope and our interest in informing others about these 'invisible injuries' so that these great soldiers will be treated with the respect that they deserve and given every possible treatment with rehabilitation services to help them recover and carry on and carry out their lives as civilians in our society that is often described as indifferent and judgmental. Many of our soldiers will return fit-for-duty; however, those who are unable, must be supported when they return to civilian life.
This soldier is very intelligent, brave, resourceful and eager to get better so that he can go to college and join a profession of his choice. Let's get behind our Warriors and thank them for their service and for their courage. Welcome our soldiers home with the respect and dignity that they deserve.
Jerry
Dear Colleagues and others,
I was deployed to IRAQ, the first time from Feb. 2004 until Feb. 2005. I was involved in several engagements. The methods of engagement ranged from: small arms fire; IED's; mortars and everything in between. Looking back now on my first tour there are at least a handful of times where I was suffering from mild concussion symptoms. Most of us, if not all of us, had something wrong with us, but we just kept driving on and pushing through it. Because of our small size we didn't have the luxury of extra men/women and down time like infantry platoons. I was in C co. 1-77AR, 3rd platoon out of Schweinfurt, Germany and my platoon was a tank platoon converted to one of those needed by the Army. We pulled every kind of mission you could think of. All the while being told we were soldiers first then our MOS specialties were considered later, if at all.
One of those missions was VIP escort and drop off, and it was one one of these missions that my life would be changed forever. It was late night sometime in Dec. 04 when we were tasked to pick up SGM T........ from LSA Anaconda and drop him off at FOB Paliwoda. I was the last truck in the column that night and it didn't have gypsy racks or anything just the standard shield and 240 machine gun that came with the truck. We were driving North up route Linda just past Yathreb when IED struck my vehicle--peppering the passenger's side rear of the truck with shrapnel and blowing out the tires. The percussion of the blast rendered me unconscious, and when I awoke in a dazed state, I remember a bright light and an intense pressure all over my body but all other events of that incident are fuzzy.
I have little to no recollection of the rest of my time in Iraq after that either with the exception of my friend being KIA. Had it not been for the help of my battle buddy JS, I wouldn't have been able to take care of myself. John was tasked with the job of making sure I ate and dressed properly and bathed. He was my only way to function, and without his help I would have been lost. From that time till now I still suffer from the effects of that blast, and even with the rehabilitation for TBI I continue to struggle.
One of the biggest obstacles I face, unlike some soldiers, is that my wounds aren't visible, and there is still so much misunderstanding about this type of injury. If a soldier loses an arm or leg you can see that clearly, but there is no way to go back in time and see my level of function before the blast and compare it to Now.
Traumatic Brain Injury is so strange, in fact, if you put four people in the exact same situation as I experienced, all four would be affected differently.
For me it was my mother who noticed the drastic changes in me first, but I didn't see them for myself until much later. Sometimes a man's pride stands in the way of his progress and all you can do is hope someone notices and helps you help yourself. I will never be at the same level I once was, but in time with hard work I will be better than I am today. Thank you for your time. I will be patiently awaiting the decision of the Medical Board.
A Wounded Soldier! More >
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 13 Dec 2009 @ 18:41
"I just came back from a War." I just came back from a place where they hated me." I'm no longer the same boy....I just came back from the war." "They don't care anymore." "You don't love Me." Darryl Worley
Thank you Darryl....this song touches me and our warriors, their families and others who work everyday to overcome these injuries of War---the trauma, stress, anger, depression, sleepless nights, nightmares, hyper-vigilence, headaches, isolation, and numerous other physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social injuries and wounds.
[link]
Also, see Darryl's short video singing his song: [link]
Note:
One of our soldiers took pics of us giving the StressOut Program with the elder Vets living in an El Paso, TX Home/Residential Center. Do visit our homepagesWebpage and [link] to see our goals and mission. Do play this Worley Ballad while you tour our website. More >
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 11 Oct 2009 @ 15:08
In his seminal work, Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin, Ashley Montagu (1971) brings together a vast array of studies shedding light on the role of skin and physical touch in human development. He goes on to illuminate how the sensory system, the skin, is the most important organ system of the body, because unlike other senses, a human being cannot survive without the physical and behavioral functions performed by the skin. "Among all the senses," Montagu states, "touch stands paramount" (1986, p. 17).
Several years ago, I created a Global Touch Project here on the NCN and developed a website to inform and to discuss our progress with our students, participants, instructors and partners.
Currently, our 15-Minute StressOut Program is doing great as we are introducing our soldiers (wounded warriors)to our healthy touch program so that we can visit Veteran's Homes and interact with our brothers/sisters who served in previous wars. Our soldiers have given over 100 stressouts, during 3 sessions, in the Ambrosio Gullen Veterans Home, El Paso, TX with the cooperation and leadership of Mr. Willie Brown, Activities Director, Virginia and other staff. We have over 25 soldiers & staff, either certified, or in the process of completing their requirements following last week's workshop.
I can tell you, it is a very 'touching,' moving, and a remarkable experience observing and participating in this Warrior StressOut activity. Initially, I introduce our "Warrior StressOut Video - Coming Home", and our "Guidelines for Safe, Skillful, Ethical and Nourishing Touch"; followed, by Mr. Brown's, Integrative & Generative Exercise Program with the Elder Vets and our contingency assisting.
We then hook up our soldiers, staff and volunteers with the residents, all in wheel chairs, and give them a "StressOut." We have a big screen TV that shows our Instructional DVD (step-by-step instructions) while I take them through the process of our Best Practice Program.
Following our session, participants are invited to share their experience. One of the spouses of an elder Veteran spoke out, as tears came down her face,-- "God Visited Us Today--Thank you all so very much."
While we are getting great results from our work throughout the country, many professionals and health, education and social service programs are still reluctant and fearful to use physical interaction to empower, strengthen, and improve the opportunities for their patients, clients, students and residents to improve the quality of their lives, health and relationships. The following article will hopefully address these issues of Risk Management prohibiting safe touch.
Read Dr. Zur's Homepage and Blogs to learn about the Myths of Touch, discussions by other professionals, and Guidelines for professionals and other helpers such as integrative practitioners, social workers, teachers, therapists, and counselors. Many of us believe that it is unethical to withdraw essential methods and approaches from clients and patients, especially when they are identified as Best Practice, like our 15-Minute StressOut Program that is always done with guidelines that include permission, witnesses present,and follow-up evaluations.
Please comment on this important contribution to our use of physical interaction for primary prevention and for empowering and treatment for stress, anxiety and depression. We know that we can reduce lonliness, isolation, medication, anger for residents and care givers in aging programs, hospitals, veteran's homes, nursing centers with safe, healthy touch. We can also ask why so many children feel "left out" and "drop out" of schools and family life.
Our best practice research by the Ameican Diabetes Association also demonstrates the effectiveness of reducing blood sugar levels of Diabetes patients while increasing quality of life indicators. I wish to thank Dr. Zur and the late Dr. Ashley Montagu for their courage and outstanding work in advancing knowledge, wisdom, love and truth that will set us free from ignorance, prejudice, fear and doubt about the use of healthy touch by all sentient beings.
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RISK MANAGEMENT PROHIBITION OF TOUCH by Dr. Zur
Risk management has become one of the most influential forces in medicine in general including psychotherapy. Risk management is the process whereby therapists avoid certain behaviors and clinical interventions--not because they are clinically ill advised, unethical, harmful or wrong, but because they may appear improper in front of judges, juries, licensing boards or ethic committees. (Gutheil & Gabbard, 1993; Williams, 1997). While the conscientious and ethical therapist carefully weighs the possible risk of any therapeutic intervention, including touch, against its potential benefits, risk-management frightens us into avoiding all "risky behavior" regardless of the likely positive results (Bonitz, 2008; Lazarus, 1994, 1998; Williams, 1997; Zur, 2007a).
Touch has often been placed at the top of the 'Do not do' list. "From the viewpoint of current risk-management principles" Gutheil & Gabbard stated, "a handshake is about the limit of social physical contact at this time" (1993, p. 195). Similarly, WebMD (1992) announces "A Hug-Free Zone: The threat of lawsuits, the already strong language in the APA code, and the general litigiousness of society have prompted many therapists to erect barriers between themselves and their clients when it comes to any physical contact. No more hugs for a sobbing client. No encouraging pats on the back" (section 2, Para. 1).
Like male preschool teachers who no longer hug young children, or camp counselor who would no longer hold a child in their lap for fear of being accused of inappropriate sexual behavior, many therapists, for similar reasons based on fear, have generally abandoned the practice of touching their clients. Defensive medicine, fueled by fear, is the defining forces behind risk management practices. The teaching of risk management principles seems to dominate ethics classes in graduate school and legal-ethical continuing education workshops. They are the foundation of endless attorneys' columns in our professional organization newsletters and a more recent breed of risk management presentations at our professional conferences. In all these formats, we are told never to hug, pat or hold our clients. Basically, we are told not to touch beyond a handshake and when possible even to avoid a handshake too. Beware! We are told, the slightest deviation from these ersatz commandments will set us on the 'slippery slope' to perdition. But even if one has not slipped uncontrollably down the slippery slope, the sheer idea that an action may appear suspicious to licensing boards, ethics committee members, or to administrative or civil courts' judges is adequate motivation to avoid touching clients, children or adults all the same.
When we listen closely to the risk management dogma, it is clear that no one really disputes the scientific fact, and the common knowledge, that touch is one of the most elementary human ways to relate and can be a powerful method for healing. Nevertheless, we have been frightened out of employing touch and most other forms of boundary crossings, such as self-disclosure, home visits, accepting gifts, bartering and many other behaviors frowned upon by the so-called "risk management" experts. These experts' advice often goes specifically against the practices of humanistic, cognitive-behavioral, family, feminist and group therapists. Ironically, these are also the orientations most practiced by psychotherapists.
Misleadingly, many of these attorneys, ethicists and so called risk management experts have mislead the therapeutic community, clients and licensing boards and courts to believe that non-sexual touch is unethical and below the standard of care. Unlike most commonly held beliefs, boundary crossings, such as touch are neither unethical nor below the standard of care. Ethics codes of all major psychotherapy professional associations (e.g., AAMFT, 2002; ACA, 1996; APA, 2002; NASW, 2001) neither prohibit boundary crossings in general nor do they prohibit the use of appropriate touch in therapy. All psychotherapy professional codes of ethics view sexual or violent touch with a current client as unethical. For specific details refer to the 'ethics codes' stance on touch in therapy ( Zur, 2004).
The obvious question then becomes, "Why are behaviors and interventions, such as touch, that are known to be clinically helpful, as well as very natural elements of human interaction, banned from our practices or, at best, driven underground?" The answer lies primarily in the concept, practice and teaching of defensive medicine or risk management.
In principle, nothing is wrong with managing risk if it is done thoughtfully by applying sensible clinical judgment and employing critical thinking rather than paranoid thinking. There must also be a sound knowledge of the professional codes of ethics and laws of states. All actions and clinical interventions involve some risk. For that matter, we often forget that inaction can be risky and even damaging to clients, as well. For example, I have been working with a woman who, 10 years prior to our first session, lost her infant son in an automobile accident. In an emergency appointment with a psychiatrist right after the death of her son, as she sobbed uncontrollably, she begged him to hold her. He refused, citing something about professional boundaries. Instead, he prescribed Valium. Eight years later, addicted to Valium and alcohol, she began therapy with me. After an intense few months of therapy, we visited her son's grave. It was the first time she had visited the grave. There we stood, holding each other and both weeping as she finally started facing her baby's death and grieving for him and for her years lost in drugged denial. While the psychiatrist followed risk management guidelines to perfection, he also may have inflicted immense harm. Did he sacrifice his humanity and the core of his professional being, to heartless protocol?
All therapists may, of course, with due consideration, attempt to reduce their own risks and the risks to their clients when employing touch in therapy. This is especially important when working with cases involved borderline or dissociative proclivities. This attempt to reduce risk goes side by side with clinical integrity, relevant training, and sound employment of treatment plans. Appropriate, risk-benefit analysis, requires that therapists ask themselves basic questions, such as, "What is to be gained by employing touch and what is there to lose? What do I risk if I do not touch and what do I risk if I do?" It is very important that such an analysis be made for each client and each clinical situation taking into account the specific client's mental state, presenting problem, history, culture, personality, communal support, class, gender, etc. (Complete guidelines for the use of touch in therapy will be found at the end of this article.)
Malpractice insurance carriers represent the primary force behind risk management, or what some attorneys call "healthy defensiveness". While the actual likelihood of a lawsuit or of licensing discipline for psychotherapists is extremely low (Williams, 1997), in the rare event that it takes place, it can be very costly to the insurance company and emotionally and financially devastating to the practitioner. The rare, but nevertheless outrageously costly, judgments drive the malpractice insurance companies to advocate strict risk management practices and the avoidance of any behavior that may give a jury reason to suspect inappropriate behavior and levy an expensive penalty. Ironically, this strategy, as will be discussed later, is more likely to backfire on the insurance companies.
Aiding and abetting the insurance companies and attorneys has also fueled the risk management fire, inspiring paranoia and widespread instruction in risk avoidance behavior. Attorneys' advice columns seem to have become a regular feature in our professional journals. Scheduled sessions with legal professionals abound at our professional conferences. Often, without any clinical training whatsoever, they sternly give us long lists of what we should avoid. At the top of the list is, of course, "Do not touch!" Obviously the list does not stop there. They tell us never to leave the office even though going to an open space with an agoraphobic client, as part of a systematic desensitization is the appropriate, if not mandated, clinical intervention. They tell us never to socialize with clients even though it is often impossible to avoid doing so in rural areas and in small communities. They tell us never to share a meal with a client even though an "anorexic lunch" can be part of a perfectly executed family system-based treatment plan. When it comes down to it, risk management can be also defined as attorneys' advice overriding clinical judgment.
Risk management and the fear it induces effects not only mental health, but also our entire society. It is part of a bigger and more complex phenomenon: the American litigation explosion and the rights movement. Even though, as has been stated, litigation is rare in our profession, the mere possibility of such a consequence is daunting and affects us strongly. We have become a culture where everyone tramples everyone else in the fight for his or her rights and entitlements (Etzioni, 1987, Zur, 1994). While accountability is an important civic quality, this lawsuit-happy culture, combined with the culture of victims, creates an atmosphere of dread that changes the way we do (or don't do) business, play or healing. We all know about the playgrounds across the country that have been stripped of monkey bars, high slides and fun swings due to the thousands of lawsuits filed by parents after their children have 'gotten hurt' while playing. Ministers, teachers, and youth counselors avoid touching - especially children or women. People have actually sued McDonald's for the obesity resulting from too many Big Macs! Litigation gone wild, indeed.
Flowing directly from this trend, fear-induced risk management has driven physicians to practice defensive medicine' and to routinely order a huge number of diagnostic tests, such as lab and radiology investigations, not because they believe they are medically necessary but as part of their risk management strategy. The rationale is that the physician will not be accused of not having done everything in his power to rule out even the most unlikely diagnosis. Some estimate that doctors waste between $50 to $100 billion annually on defensive medicine. Shockingly, some also estimate that this is the amount that could buy health insurance for the 40 million uninsured Americans. While attorneys laugh all the way to the bank, our risk management-intoxicated, phobic culture ends up settling for inferior care of every kind; children are deprived of touch and opportunities for play; and spiraling medical costs continue to bankrupt the country.
One of the major concerns inherent in risk management is that fear induced, defensive behaviors, and the systematic avoidance of many behaviors have gradually stolen in through the back door to become the perceived standard of care in medicine and mental health (Zur, 2007a). The standard of care is not anything that can be found in a textbook; it evolves as more and more professionals adopt certain practices, which then achieve acceptance as the "standard" in the community. A prime example of how risk management affects the standard of care is the requirement that a woman chaperone be present during a gynecological pelvic exam. Besides providing some comfort to the female client, the chaperone's primary role is to protect the physician from false accusation, criminal complaint or lawsuit. The witness also reduces the risk that misconduct may occur. Before chaperoning became part of the standard of care, some women preferred not to have such a witness, especially if they had a long, trusting relationship with their physician or if the physician was a woman. However, today, not having a witness is considered practicing below the standard of care. The danger that we face in mental health these days is that more and more risk management proscriptions may metamorphose into the standard of care.
Bear in mind, though, that risk management is neither part of the ethics codes nor part of any treatment standard. Risk management is merely a set of precautions advocated by malpractice insurance vendors and attorneys, supposedly to minimize the chances of being sued. When it comes to touch, good treatment and good risk management may sometimes call for mutually exclusive decisions regarding a given client. For example, it would probably be good risk management never to touch children and for male therapists never to touch female clients. Most of us would agree that such risk management advice is utter nonsense, since helping those in need is a fundamental ingredient of the psychotherapy professions. This example, like the case of the psychiatrist who refused to hold the grieving mother, illustrates the faulty logic and drawbacks of risk management and its single-minded devotion to avoiding lawsuits and its equally single-minded lack of regard for the primary goals of our work.
We have seen how, over time, a new standard of care insinuates itself into psychotherapy. This results in a continuous rising of the risk management bar as to what constitutes acceptable clinical behavior. Expert witnesses have often encountered testimonies by prominent experts that boldly and falsely asserted that touch, like gifts, extending a session beyond the allotted time or bartering always fail to meet the standard of care (Williams 1997). Similarly and dangerously, many licensing boards have uncritically accepted risk management recommendations as their guidelines. Paradoxically and ironically, as the bar is raised and more interventions seem frowned upon by the boards, courts and attorneys, there is increased likelihood that insurance companies and therapists will be sued or sanctioned. Risk management, without any doubt, has come to haunt the insurance companies, an unforeseen retribution for their shortsighted, cost-saving strategies. Sadly, it also impacts our profession negatively and often reduces our creativity and effectiveness, thus depriving our clients of the fullest measure of care.
The fear campaign by the insurance carriers, attorneys and many ethicists and "risk management experts" has too often succeeded in paralyzing therapists and forcing them to restrict themselves to rigid and constipated ways of relating to clients and avoiding any physical contact with their clients. As a result, clinical effectiveness is compromised. The danger that risk management poses to clinical effectiveness can be clearly seen in its injunction against touch which obviously has a significant negative effect on therapeutic alliance, the number one predictor of effective therapy (Lambert, 1991). We cannot think of any more effective ways to enhance therapeutic alliance then a reassuring or comforting hug, pat or hand holding. All of this may not be effective 'risk management', but it is basic good therapy.
Very regrettably, most professional organizations have jumped on the bandwagon and joined the fear campaign. They promote the practice of defensive medicine through their own risk management workshops and seminars. Some, as we see monthly, have given attorneys a regular column in their newsletters or journals where this paranoiac thinking is disseminated. As risk management becomes more prevalent, its effect is clearly seen on new therapists. In the numerous Ethics with Soul workshops I have conducted across the country, I (O.Z.) have noted that older (non-analytically oriented) therapists seem to be less concerned about risk management practices. The opposite is true of the new graduates. Alarmingly, through the fault of most graduate schools and their ethics professors, many of the newer therapists believe that risk management practices are part of the standard of care.
In summary, a risk managed practice may sound as if it adheres to practical or pragmatic advice but, in fact, it is a misnomer for a practice in which fear of attorneys and boards, rather than feeling, caring and intelligent clinical considerations, determine the course of therapy. As therapists, we are trained, hired and paid to provide the best care possible for clients. We are not paid to act defensively. This fear of board investigations and malpractice lawsuits pushes therapists to take protective measures. Consequently, we lower the quality of care for our clients.
Arnold Lazarus (1994) appropriately claims, "One of the worst professional or ethical violations is that of permitting current risk management principles to take precedence over humane interventions." Clinical interventions must be determined by empirically-based treatment plans, clinicians' intuitive and creative sensitivities, and specific client factors, such as the client's problems, situation, personality, degree of functionality, history, and culture -- never by fear of boards and courts. We must remember that the therapeutic effect of touch has been scientifically and clinically proven. We must also remember that we are hired to help rather than being hired to practice risk management. Therefore we must touch clients when appropriate in a way that will help them grow and heal. More >
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 7 Sep 2009 @ 14:54
"When we look at what price("$"), we see that it effectively devalues everything that defines us as human beings. It devalues all those capacities that are not scarce; yet those capacities, the ones we all share, are what enable our species to survive. If something is worthless because it has no market value, look at all the universal capacities we are devaluing:
o caring for each other
o coming to each other's rescue
o rearing infants
o protecting the frail and vulnerable
o standing up for what is right
o opposing what is wrong
o coming together to reach agreement
o acting as guardians of whatever we feel is precious and want to pass on to our children and their children." (No More Throw-Away People-The Co-Production Imperative) by Edgar S. Cahn
Do read this great article by Caroline Myss about our Loss of Soul as a country as reflected in the latest discussions by the Neocons/Republicans resisting a presentation to the students and faculty in schools by President Obama.
Wake up America, stop 'dumbing down' our schools, and stand up for our real Values and Principles as a Nation!!!
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Crimes Against the Soul of America
"Just stop it. We've had enough. I know I have. And I deeply believe the soul of our nation can't take much more of their strategy of deliberate division against the people of their own nation. That is a true crime -- and perhaps their greatest crime -- against the soul of this great nation."
"There is such a thing as a crime against the soul of a nation. A person or a political party can deliberately incite actions that diminish the strength, the integrity, and the overall well-being of a..."
Thank you for your great contribution to the state of our Nation. I fully agree with many of the comments here in Huffington Post--this may be one of the Best posts we have seen here or in the news media describing clearly our demise and our loss of soul as a nation. Thank you for being here for us as we attempt to recover our spirit after a decade of abuse, neglect, lies, deceit and the theft of our treasury, education and health programs and loss of every value we've cherished as a great nation.
As a teacher, I can assure you and others that it is obvious that our education system has lost its reason and mission for being. Grades are meaningless and everyone knows it, except those in political power, CEO's, administrators and others who profit from these worthless exams, false measurements and phony research designs and results. Caroline Myss, we teachers applaud you!!!
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Note: Picture by SFC Scott Milligan More >
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 20 Aug 2009 @ 13:43
Depression & Trauma--Just as the increased physical arousal that comes with being aggressive can cause anger to spiral upward, decreased physical arousal can cause a downward cycle into inactivity and deeper depression. Being in a depressed mood makes it hard to enjoy many activities, and the less active you are, the more likely you are to feel depressed. A depressed mood can also cause you to see things more negatively, making it harder to motivate yourself to participate in activities. And the less active you are, the more time you have to dwell on negative thoughts about yourself, making you feel even more depressed. Courage After Fire-Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their Families by Keith Armstrong, LCSW/Suzanne Best, Ph.D./Paula Domenici, Ph.D.
Do visit our US Army Restoration & Resilience Center slide presentation.
To really know about our experience, you would have to be be in our trauma health center on a daily basis. However, when a wounded warrior enters our program during their first week and beyond, they are given a Primary & Secondary Therapist, while receiving our Integrative Health methods--Reiki, Medical Massage, Acupuncture, meditation, movement therapy, expressive arts--and, one of our experienced soldiers is assigned to assist and support him. He will also have had a group therapy session daily, supplemented with 2 individual sessions. If he is married his family is invited for a family or couple session.
In addition to serving as a Primary Therapist, teaching meditation, coordinating Water Polo, I serve as coordinator for our Health Education Program. I schedule weekly workshops and presentations related to holistic health--nutrition, touch, movement, anger management, fitness, breathing, neurology, academic opportunities, and other health related activities such as Sweat Lodge (see pic with Red Cloud), other multi-cultural, spiritual rituals and healing and treatment approaches identified in the slide show.
Our goal is to empower and offer our soldiers the best possible selfcare-skills, knowledge and awareness to guide, to heal and to learn about themselves. As identified in our slide show, we introduce them to 'best practice' tools/skills to manage their stress, anxiety and depression with the support of their family & whole being--physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
During my wonderful experience over the past 1 1/2 years with our R & R Center, I have seen everyone get better, with the vast majority, 61%, returning fit for duty to the Force.
I am very happy and pleased that I can be part of this Great Experience and Experiment. My thanks to everyone who makes our health center work, inside and outside. Special appreciation and thanks to all of my colleagues and especially Dr. John Fortunato, Chief and Founder.
[link]
Jerry More >
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 30 Jun 2009 @ 02:54
Health is an experience of well-being that is in dynamic balance with our whole being and with our natural and social environments. (Fritjof Capra) Would someone please describe what our sick care system is all about?
Thank you Sen. Sanders for taking on these corporations and calling for an investigation of their FRAUD! Do go to Sen. Sanders' website and support his efforts. I've posted a number of logs related to the Big Pharmas and their corrupt relationship with Psychiatry. It's interesting to me that recently the president of the APA admitted that the DSM or Diagnostic Statistical Manual and bible for mental health practice is flawed. Also, they are unable to define or clarify what a "DISORDER" is, yet their classification system is based on this concept. People carry their labels for life, yet they have very little science to back up their claims. In other words, make sure you read the fine print and the numerous side affects of their drugs. [link] [link]
Please pass this message on to people who are not aware of the Big Pharmas; Big Hospital Association; Big AMA; Big Giant Insurance Corporations. All of these powerful and wealthy corporations and organizations are fighting a universal health program for all. Ask your congressman/woman how much money they have accepted for their political vote from these corrupt corporations and their lobbyists.
Senator Sanders tells the truth about these giant corporations: "In his remarks before the committee, Sanders suggested that it is absolutely imperative that real health care reform prevent major insurance companies, drug companies and hospital chains from perpetrating fraud and abuse on government health care programs and individuals, which are driving up health care costs in this country by billions of dollars every single year."
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Huffington Post
"We Must Stop the Rampant Fraud in the Health Care Industry
Sen. Bernie Sanders, 06.29.2009
Independent U.S. Senator from Vermont
What we have seen over the last several decades is the systemic fraud perpetrated by private insurance companies, private drug companies, and private for-profit hospitals ripping off the American people." [link]
Read Post | Comments (131) More >
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 12 Jun 2009 @ 00:40
The Ft. Bliss Monitor published an excellent article on our recent Therapeutic Outing to the Texas State Vet Center. Our Warriors administered our 15Minute StressOut Program with the elder Vets as a morning activity to support the healing and interaction of our soldiers experiencing PTSD and elder Vets while giving our Skillful Touch Program. See June ll, 2009 Ft. Bliss Monitor. [link]
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Soldiers reach out and touch veterans
Y. WRIGHT
Fort Bliss Public Affairs
The Fort Bliss Restoration and Resilience Center is a place for Soldiers to recuperate and learn methods of dealing with issues of post-traumatic stress upon returning from deployments. There are several programs incorporated in the treatment regimen to obtain holistic health. One of these practices is the 15-minute StressOut Program. This program reinforces healthy touching as a means of healing.
The StressOut program was designed by Jerry Vest, army/health practitioner and social worker, from William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Restoration and Resilience Center, Warrior Program, in 1979. It involves acupressure and other skillful techniques, coordinated with breathing to balance the body, mind, emotions and spirit.
On Thursday, warriors in transition took time out from their healing process to visit the Texas State Center for Veterans to administer a little healing to some of
their own. The Soldiers joined some of the vets in a private room with very soft lighting, ‘’mood music’’ and the goal of creating 15-minutes of relaxation through a partner meditation technique.
The Soldiers agreed that the process is really good for both them and the veterans they were there to help. During the sessions, the “givers,” who are those giving the massage, systematically applied pressure points to the receivers, while the two
worked at establishing a memorable experience.
The idea is for the partners to connect the vitality of their breath with the power of touch during this process of relaxation. Because there are so many myths surrounding touch, Vest said he introduces and demonstrates safe, skillful, appropriate and nourishing touch as a means for teaching physical interaction, stress management, and self-care for individuals,couples, groups and families. “Many of these patients only get touch from the bed to the chair,” said a Soldier from the Restoration and Resilience Center. “Being on either side [giving or receiving] is very relaxing, and you benefit either way,” said another Soldier.
Glenda Bromberg, who was also a part of the team of volunteers, talked about how powerful touch is in healing as well as in everyday life. She said she was moved by “people who are healing, giving to people who need healing.”
After the session, many of the Soldiers who were visiting for the first time said they would like to volunteer to spend time with the vets more often.
“This may be a regular field trip for the warriors,” Vest said. For more information on the 15-minute StressOut Program, visit [link]
Y. WRIGHT
Note: Picture is Dr. John Fortunato, Chief & Founder, Ft. Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center, Wm Beaumont Army Medical Center More >
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 24 May 2009 @ 15:05
"The teachings of Buddhism, called the Dharma, tell us that to understand the hopelessness of 'samsara' is to enter the path to 'nirvana', or liberation from suffering. This path carries us directly to the heart of 'samsara' and teaches us to transform it into peace. When we follow the Dharma, our self-concepts, desires, and negative habits themselves provide the energy that fuels our spiritual growth. Every aspect of every situation becomes a process of training, learning, and understanding. The teachings become a silent song--a thread running through every moment--leading us to greater knowledge and awakening."Tibetan Meditation-Practical teachings and step-by-step exercises on how to live in harmony, peace, and happiness by Tarthang Tulku
Suicides Increase - Beware of Labels
I placed these comments on the Washington Post today as some of us know that soldiers get better and many may have killed themselves had we not had resources such as our Ft. Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center [link] [link]. We return over 62% of our soldiers to active status. We hope that they don't have to return to combat as they need time to assimilate what they have learned and to practice their new found skills.
Several of our soldier would like to have a new MOS that allows them to be counselors/technicians to help others get treatment and to find a way out of these painful nightmares, isolation, despair, agitation, depression, and anger.
Jerry
Your Comments On...
Generals Find Suicide a Frustrating Enemy[link]
It was just past midnight in Afghanistan when Brig. Gen. Mark Milley appeared on the video screen in the Pentagon conference room to brief some of the Army's top generals on a sobering development: his unit's most recent confirmed suicide.
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By Ann Scott Tyson and Greg Jaffe
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vajara wrote:
Some people plant the seed of despair by suggesting that our Warriors will never overcome their PTSD. That is not a very hopeful message to those who are diagnosed with a label--labels stick to the psyche and they may never go away, but I can assure you the soldiers are resilient, they do heal, they do get better, and they return to the force. We only hope that the Army is wise enough to change their MOS and give them an opportunity to be mental health counselors so that they can help their brothers heal and get well. In any event, don't tell them that they will never get better, it just isn't true and it only makes their lives more miserable. How would you feel if the doctor or your best friend told you to forget the treatment and rehabilitation as you will never improve? Please think before you project your beliefs onto others, they just might believe you and commit suicide--it can be a way out when you have these horrendous symptoms. Some of us who work with our warriors do know better.
5/24/2009 10:09:20 AM
vajara wrote:
Seems we need to do a better screening of soldiers serving multiple tours. We could shorten their tours as the Marines have done and they have fewer suicides. We can also stop the wars and bring the troops home. Why do soldiers become disillusioned and it turns into despair? I believe they know that the leadership has let them down by sending them there in the first place and secondarily, what are they hoping to accomplish when history tells them, it is a hopeless cause.
5/24/2009 10:00:03 AM More >
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 10 May 2009 @ 14:06
When we are able to still our body, breath and mind, a very comfortable, soothing feeling naturally arises. As we expand this feeling, we feel very much at home there, and we can return to this feeling again and again in daily meditation. (Tarthang Tulku, "Finding the Space Between Thoughts", p.127, Tibetan Meditation)
Come Join with us in support of our Veterans living out their lives in residential treatment centers and nursing homes:
I've learned that when our soldiers take leave and visit their homes and communities where they once called home, they have little in common to share with their family and friends after returning from "many long extended tours of duty" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of our warriors have been so wounded that they are not often recognizable by their family. Many of our soldiers in rehabilitation in our Ft. Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center are physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually wounded as you may know, so it is hard for them to convey their experiences, especially their trauma, as few people can understand or appreciate what they have been through. After all, much of this war and the long deployments were held in secret by the previous administration while our media, professional organizations and politicians had little courage, ability or will to describe and inform others about the soldier and their family stories. (See, my previous log related to long deployments and how families describe their experiences.)
Can you envision Veteran's Nursing homes with a StressOut Team that partners up with a vet and gives our nourishing touch program to the residents, 2 x's a week. We are especially interested in partnering up with an elder vet suffering with Alzheimers'. We will shortly be training a core group of wives of our deployed Warriors and soldiers from our Ft. Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center, and other volunteers assigned to the Ft. Bliss Warrior Transition Battalion to provide this service.
We know that our mindful and skillful touch program unites the body, mind and spirit. See our Protocol for giving the 15-Minute Stressout. [link] This exchange of energy is experienced as Empathy when we breathe together as One. We open and close our Program while we lay and rest our hands on our partner's shoulders. This experience is referred to as "Melting" in the ancient Tibetan practice of Kum Nye. [link] (I have practiced and taught Kum Nye Relaxation during my 30 yr. tenure at New Mexico State University in my Holistic Health Practice Courses and curretly introduce meditation as a daily exercise in our integrative treatment center.)
Do visit our new Website that Brent Laracuente and Christy Laracuente put together to expand our use of touch into vet centers in our region and beyond; in nursing homes; Family and Childrens' programs; and, now with Wounded Warriors and their families.
If you wish more information do visit this Website: [link]
Several of us at Ft. Bliss are about to launch this training program for the wives of our soldiers assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion and also for the wives having their loved ones being deployed beginning May 11, 2009. In addition to helping or empowering wives and volunteers deal with the physical pain, stress, anxiety and depression often accompanied by these long separations, we are developing a core group of wives & soldiers to give our "stressouts" in Vet Centers in EP and in other places. Currently, we are focusing on the Alzheimer's patients as this population is rarely touched in skillful ways and meds are often the primary treatment intervention.
As I have described in previous logs, our City of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Senior Programs, have joined with us for giving our partner massage/meditation program in diabetic clinics, in-home care, and nursing homes and we are now extending this health program in other communities and vet centers. [link]
If you wish to become trained in using our touch program and become certified as a team member and volunteer, do contact us and visit our websites to learn more about us and this opportunity to serve. [link] More >
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In these articles, I introduce the basic need for human touch. While there is strong evidence that our society and human family are becoming an endangered species, many governments, such as the USA, pay little, if any attention, to global warming, nuclear stock piles, environment, natural and economic disasters, poverty, abuse, neglect, pandemic health diseases, and growing military-industrial monopolies.
While many of us are aware of these pending and current disasters, organizations such as New Civilization, are hoping to awaken humanity through mindfulness, virtual interaction on the Internet, and forming healthy, respectful alliances to make a difference and change the direction we are heading.
Our health promotion team is a small effort, but hopefully an expanding opportunity, to awaken individuals, couples, families, groups, organizations and commuities to an awareness that touch, respect and love are basic human needs for survival and wellbeing.
Obviously, there are serious considerations for being circumspect and skillful in offering touch as a conscious intervention in the workplace or in a family environment. Guidelines for the safe use of touch include:
- providing the option for participants to self-administer our program;
- receiving permission to touch and reminding participants that contact is always in safe areas;
- having witnesses or partners present;
- teaching the activity to others so that they can be the givers of the stressout program;
- encouraging participants to use the teaching video and study guide (Vest,1995)if the worker chooses not to make physical contact.
Join with us in advancing the use of healthy, respectful and loving touch throughout the world. We are One. |
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