Provide effective care for the members of your congregation suffering with PTSD! This vital book is an overview of the nature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It examines the causes, manifestations, and problems of PTSD as they relate to a person socially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and psychologically. Stressing hope, healing, and compassion, Pastoral Care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Healing the Shattered Soul includes specific suggestions for the prevention of traumatic events and for using peacemaking techniques to stop violence in your clients’lives. Pastoral Care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a practical, understandable, professionally presented and researched working guide for clergy in parishes, for chaplains, and for seminarians who have little or no knowledge of how to pastor to people who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It is also for lay people who minister to those who have been traumatized. Survivors will also benefit from its affirmation for the spiritual component of healing. This unique volume provides the practical means to support people through the healing process while maintaining their spiritual grounding, with: case studies that will help develop your skills a thoughtful discussion of the theological dimensions of trauma and suffering a practical methodology for crisis intervention an examination of the specific needs of veterans a look at the potential for caregiver burnout and how to prevent it ways that churches can contribute to the prevention of the trauma that leads to PTSD methods for using scripture as a source of healing for PTSD survivors Pastoral Care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder also defines PTSD from a mental health perspective and gives examples of the kinds of trauma that may lead to it. No one working with PTSD survivors in a spiritual setting should be without this book!

It is estimated that well over 250,000 military veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering today from PTSD, and even more from post-traumatic stress or PTS. Clinical interventions alone do not adequately address all the issues associated with PTSD. There is also a profound spiritual dimension to trauma, and it is frequently manifested in post-trauma symptoms such as guilt, grief, and shame; and in various forms of loss including, loss of meaning, loss of faith, and loss of peace. Pastors, chaplains, and Christian counselors have a legitimate, healing role alongside clinicians in addressing the spiritual aspects of trauma through spiritual interventions that are based on Scripture and leverage new ways of viewing trauma and assumptions about its meaning. Beyond Trauma: Hope & Healing for Warriors equips pastors, chaplains and other pastoral caregivers with the knowledge and resources to not only understand the spiritual effects of trauma, but to make appropriate interventions that will lead veterans in their churches and communities to healing and growth.

As the nation advances in combat technology and personal protective armor, more people are wounded on the battlefield than killed. By far, the most common of all injuries are psychological and the damage of core beliefs which persist long after the horrific experience when the individuals have gone home. The most corrosive impact of horrific emotional trauma is to be found in the spiritual fabric of persons, and that, the condition of PTSD is spiritual at its deepest level (Sinclair, 1993). While some individuals are capable of processing traumatic events and moving onto posttraumatic growth, others become "stuck" on the trauma, which can inflict such deep psychological wounds that it threatens their very existence. In April of 2010, the Army Times reported that an average of 950 suicide attempts take place every month among veterans already receiving support for their PTSD, 18 of which are successful (Maze, 2010). Clergy are often sought first due to their availability, their services being free, their nonjudgmental stance, and their expertise on sin, guilt, and forgiveness, all of which are common issues for those struggling with psychological trauma. Military chaplains often work on or near the front lines and are the first-and sometimes only-line of support these men and women receive. Periodic training on traumatic stress does take place for the chaplain corps, but unfortunately, this training is primarily clinical in nature. While several studies have been conducted providing empirical evidence of the success in faith-based healing techniques, most chaplains receive little to no continuing education in this area on how to diagnose and treat members suffering from the effects of war. This book, along with the website located at www.chaplainsandptsd.com, will address this important issue and provide both chaplains and pastors several resources to improve their skills in spiritual healing.

As the nation advances in combat technology and personal protective armor, more people are wounded on the battlefield than killed. By far, the most common of all injuries are psychological and the damage of core beliefs which persist long after the horrific experience when the individuals have gone home. The most corrosive impact of horrific emotional trauma is to be found in the spiritual fabric of persons, and that, the condition of PTSD is spiritual at its deepest level (Sinclair, 1993). While some individuals are capable of processing traumatic events and moving onto posttraumatic growth, others become "stuck" on the trauma, which can inflict such deep psychological wounds that it threatens their very existence. In April of 2010, the Army Times reported that an average of 950 suicide attempts take place every month among veterans already receiving support for their PTSD, 18 of which are successful (Maze, 2010). Clergy are often sought first due to their availability, their services being free, their nonjudgmental stance, and their expertise on sin, guilt, and forgiveness, all of which are common issues for those struggling with psychological trauma. Military chaplains often work on or near the front lines and are the first-and sometimes only-line of support these men and women receive. Periodic training on traumatic stress does take place for the chaplain corps, but unfortunately, this training is primarily clinical in nature. While several studies have been conducted providing empirical evidence of the success in faith-based healing techniques, most chaplains receive little to no continuing education in this area on how to diagnose and treat members suffering from the effects of war. This book, along with the website located at www.chaplainsandptsd.com, will address this important issue and provide both chaplains and pastors several resources to improve their skills in spiritual healing. Chaplain Fowler joined the navy in 1989, serving in both Desert Shield and Desert Storm as a damage controlman (DC) on board USS Juneau. In 2000, he joined the Coast Guard where he worked as a DC instructor, which allowed him the opportunity to attend seminary at night at Regent University. After graduation in 2007, Todd received a commission to serve as a navy chaplain and officer. His educational goal is to develop an undergraduate course in faith-based healing for PTSD. Todd has been married for eighteen years to his wife and best friend, Rani, and is currently working as a Coast Guard chaplain in Baltimore, MD.