An Operators Manual for Combat PTSD has been written to give the combat veteran a sense of hope and to develop an inner voice to assist in coping with everyday life. We live in two worlds: The physical world around us; The world we can see, hear, touch, and feel, and the world within ourselves. These essays assist the veteran in learning how to monitor triggers, our cues, and balance the world within with the world we live in. With harmonic balance, there is essential well being, validation, even joy.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a medically recognized disorder that develops as a result of a traumatic event; as a result of PTSD, an individual may suffer nightmares and flashbacks and become hypervigilant, angry, or emotionally numb. This work describes PTSD: causes, symptoms, effects, and coping strategies. While there is no cure, individuals and their loved ones can find healthy ways to cope, and it is important to recognize the strengths that arise in both individuals and families as a result of living with the disorder. This handbook describes how the characteristics of PTSD manifest in daily life and details its effects on the emotional, mental, and physical aspects of an individual's life, including disorders and physical disabilities that may occur jointly or as a result. The work analyzes the affect of PTSD on the couple and the family, detailing possible reactions, and compares the characteristics of healthy and PTSD families. The work explains how and by whom the disorder is diagnosed, with discussion of cross-cultural perspectives on PTSD and the effects of cultural difference on its diagnosis and treatment. The study describes mental health approaches to treatment, such as individual, group, and substance abuse counseling. Techniques such as exposure therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and Traumatic Incident Reduction are also discussed. The work describes drug treatments, including antianxiety and antidepressant medications. Newer approaches to treating PTSD such as biofeedback, relaxation techniques, and herbal medications are also explained. A conclusion suggests effective strategies for living with PTSD and indicates directions for future research. Appendices include the definitional criteria for PTSD, a list of resources for PTSD survivors, and information about veterans' benefits. A filmography and bibliography are also provided.

As seen in military documents, medical journals, novels, films, television shows, and memoirs, soldiers’ invisible wounds are not innate cracks in individual psyches that break under the stress of war. Instead, the generation of weary warriors is caught up in wider social and political networks and institutions—families, activist groups, government bureaucracies, welfare state programs—mediated through a military hierarchy, psychiatry rooted in mind-body sciences, and various cultural constructs of masculinity. This book offers a history of military psychiatry from the American Civil War to the latest Afghanistan conflict. The authors trace the effects of power and knowledge in relation to the emotional and psychological trauma that shapes soldiers’ bodies, minds, and souls, developing an extensive account of the emergence, diagnosis, and treatment of soldiers’ invisible wounds.

This timesaving resource features: Treatment plan components for 39 behaviorally based presenting problems Over 1,000 prewritten treatment goals, objectives, and interventions plus space to record your own treatment plan options A step-by-step guide to writing treatment plans that meet the requirements of most insurance companies and third-party payors Includes Evidence-Based Practice Interventions as required by many public funding sources and private insurers PracticePlanners® THE BESTSELLING TREATMENT PLANNING SYSTEM FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS The Veterans and Active Duty Military Psychotherapy Treatment Planner provides all the elements necessary to quickly and easily develop formal treatment plans that satisfy the demands of HMOs, managed care companies, third-party payors, and state and federal agencies. Features empirically supported, evidence-based treatment interventions Organized around 39 main presenting problems in treating veterans and active duty military personnel, including substance abuse, adjustment to killing, anger management and domestic violence, pre-deployment stress, survivors' guilt, and combat and operational stress reaction Over 1,000 prewritten treatment goals, objectives, and interventions plus space to record your own treatment plan options Easy-to-use reference format helps locate treatment plan components by behavioral problem Designed to correspond with The Veterans and Active Duty Military Psychotherapy Progress Notes Planner Includes a sample treatment plan that conforms to the requirements of most third-party payors and accrediting agencies including CARF, The Joint Commission (TJC), COA, and the NCQA Additional resources in the PracticePlanners® series: Progress Notes Planners contain complete, prewritten progress notes for each presenting problem in the companion Treatment Planners. Homework Planners feature behaviorally based, ready-to-use assignments to speed treatment and keep clients engaged between sessions. For more information on our PracticePlanners®, including our full line of Treatment Planners, visit us on the Web at: www.wiley.com/practiceplanners

The Veterans and Active Duty Military Psychotherapy Treatment Planner provides all the elements necessary to quickly and easily develop formal treatment plans that satisfy the demands of HMOs, managed care companies, third-party payors, and state and federal agencies. Features empirically supported, evidence-based treatment interventions Organized around 39 main presenting problems in treating veterans and active duty military personnel, including substance abuse, adjustment to killing, anger management and domestic violence, pre-deployment stress, survivors' guilt, and combat and operational stress reaction Over 1,000 prewritten treatment goals, objectives, and interventions plus space to record your own treatment plan options Easy-to-use reference format helps locate treatment plan components by behavioral problem Designed to correspond with The Veterans and Active Duty Military Psychotherapy Progress Notes Planner Includes a sample treatment plan that conforms to the requirements of most third-party payors and accrediting agencies including CARF, The Joint Commission (TJC), COA, and the NCQA

Veterans with PTSD speak: “Anyone wanting to understand what it is to have a ‘flashback’ will learn more from these firsthand accounts than from any textbook.” ―The British Journal of Psychiatry The chances of service members developing PTSD after military-related traumas is, according to a U.S. study, at least thirty percent. The effects can be devastating, ranging from distressing flashbacks to nightmares, sleep disorders, physical symptoms, irritability, aggressions, and memory and concentration problems. These symptoms often cause severe impairment in all areas of life and may lead to despair and hopelessness. PTSD is neither a localized nor a temporary problem. Here, Leah Wizelman relates the true stories of service members from different service branches and ranks from the United States, Canada, Australia, and Germany, who were participants in various wars (Vietnam, Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, Grenada) and peace missions (Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia, Cambodia, Somalia, Cyprus, Haiti). They talk openly about their lives after trauma and share their fates with the reader. Spouses of affected military members also tell their stories. They talk about the challenges loved ones face when living with a partner with PTSD, how it affects their children, and how they manage to cope. As these stories show all too vividly, military-related PTSD has not been dealt with effectively or with enough empathy or sympathy. Those affected by PTSD will realize that they are not alone in their suffering—and others will gain insight into the realities of this challenging disorder. “I highly recommend this volume to all who seek to understand combat-related PTSD.” —Kathryn M. Magruder, MPH., PhD, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Military Science Division, Medical University of South Carolina

A Vietnam veteran and career veterans counselor who struggles with post-traumatic stress (PTS) tells how to recognize the symptoms of PTS and how to begin the healing process. The veteran and those who care about him/her must understand that: - he/she is not alone in this struggle - and that he/she is not crazy. Post-traumatic stress is a sane persons reaction to intense or protracted violence. We learn to control the anxiety, hypervigilance and behaviors that tend to interfere with making a living, studying and social functioning. Making peace with post-traumatic stress means understanding the nature of the beast that followed you home, and knowing what triggers PTS symptoms in you. Making peace means seeking help from Department of Veterans Affairs caregivers who will give you the tools to deal with PTS. The author tells you what to expect from VA Vet Centers, VA Mental Health Clinics, and the trained people who are there to help you. Additionally, we find that we must make peace with those who love us, with the buddies we left behind, and even with ourselves. The author gives personal insights into these issues. He also draws from personal experience to give practical advice to younger veterans on job searches, education, family financial management, and the veterans role in the American political process. Although money is not a cure for post-traumatic stress, the author walks you through the process of claiming PTS (and other conditions) as VA-recognized disabilities for VA compensation. Examples of stressor statement forms that resulted in successful compensation claims are provided. For Vietnam veterans, an appendix provides information on Agent Orange claims.

The mission in writing this book was to look beyond politics in order to explore the extent of the ongoing and long-term human cost of war and military occupation. This book addresses the suffering of our troops and their families and our responsibility as a society, first to acknowledge and diagnose this suffering, and then to care for those who are affected by it. The first of two sections, “Clinical Issues of War Trauma,” contains chapters on signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and pharmacotherapy of war trauma. This section explores the vast variety of pathology such as TBI, PTSD, suicide, affective disorder, addiction, spiritual distress, and forensic aspects of combat trauma. To supplement or advance beyond medication and counseling, the editor designed a set of 12-Step Self-Help Principles for Combat Veterans with PTSD, inspired by addiction self-help programs. The second section, “Witnesses to War,” is comprised of four first-hand accounts of experiences in combat zones, during and after conflict. Some of the chapters of this book were written by professionals with direct involvement in combat, from WW II to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This outstanding book will be a standard text at military educational institutions and highly valuable to civilian professionals practicing psychiatry, family counseling and forensic psychology in the military system.

The purpose of this book is to provide vital information regarding loss and trauma to practicing counselors and therapists. Trauma and loss are pervasive presenting problems, many counselors and therapists possess scant understanding of trauma and loss, and little, if any, attention is paid to trauma or to loss in the graduate training of clinical psychology and counseling psychology students. The book is organized into four sections which cover: an overview of loss and trauma, key conceptual frameworks for understanding loss and trauma, review of several types of events producing trauma and loss, and interventions addressing loss and trauma. A key contribution of the book is the focus on losses caused by death and losses due to other reasons. The contributions to practice include the overview of what is known about trauma and about loss; examination of several frameworks for organizing both understanding of and working with traumatized and bereaved clients; rich descriptive cases of individuals coping with various traumatic events and the losses embedded in the trauma; and presentation of various interventions, including changes that can be made in the graduate education of practitioners.