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Recon Mission: Familiarizing Veterans with Their Changed Emotional Landscape Through Poetry Therapy

Trauma needs containment and recognition in order to be handled, and this project enabled the soldier to do both through the use of writing and poetry. This paper is based on the qualitative findings of an 18-month long poetry therapy group conducted in a veteran’s center, and follows the progress of the veterans as they…

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The Importance of Receiving Help – and How To Ask For It

http://parentszone.org/category/military-resource/ Sometimes the act of asking for help can be more difficult than just doing the task yourself. Military families are not strangers to adjusting family roles and taking on extra responsibilities, especially during times of deployment. Asking for help and allowing yourself to receive help can be two of the most challenging aspects of…

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Why Schools Need to Be Trauma Informed

Do educators and schools have an informed role to play in the lives of students struggling with unprocessed traumatic memories other than providing cognitive learning experiences? Although schools are not mental health facilities and teachers are not therapists, teaching today’s students requires alternative strategies and skills compared to what worked a generation ago. Download article…

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SITCAP-ART Research

This randomized controlled study assessed the efficacy of a structured group therapy for traumatized, adjudicated adolescents in residential treatment. Youth were randomly assigned to a trauma intervention (SITCAP-ART) or to a waitlist/comparison group. The intervention included both sensory and cognitive/behavioral components. Standardized trauma and mental health measures were used. Study participants demonstrated statistically significant reductions…

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Reactions

REEXPERIENCING Intrusive thoughts, feelings Traumatic dreams Flashbacks Intense psychological distress triggered by reminders Physiological reactivity PERSISTENT AVOIDANCE Of thoughts, feelings, talking of activities, places, people associated with trauma Inability to recall Numbing, detachment, estrangement Restricted affect Foreshortened future INCREASED AROUSAL Sleep difficulty Irritability, assaultive behavior Difficulty concentrating Difficulty remembering Hypervigilance Startle response PTSD is diagnosed…