Armed For Healing

Eight practical steps to help military families through the unique issues they face When service members return, it's up to their families to try to soften their re-entry into civilian life. Healing Stress in Military Families offers practical help for military families coping with the myriad repercussions of their loved ones' duties, from their deployment to their return home. Based on the latest scientific research and best practice guidelines—as well as the authors' experience treating veterans and their families—Healing Stress in Military Families offers answers for the stress that comes not only from war, but also from other related issues, including deployment and redeployment, relocation, and reunion. Healing Stress in Military Families provides: Evidence-based advice for clinicians helping military families with adjustment problems by facilitating communication, reconnection, and growth "Making It Real" exercises for clinicians to employ with families in sessions "Talking Points" that explore how to guide the family in their healing process Homework handouts and between-session "Taking Action" exercises for families that reinforce and build on skills and information introduced in sessions Compassionately written with the military family at heart, Healing Stress in Military Families provides the information, tools, and skills that will empower these courageous families to more easily heal and become stronger and more resilient as they go through life. "This practical workbook will help others understand the highly complex factors that cause dysfunction within military families. Using a clear format that avoids jargon, providers and families can work through the eight practical steps that focus on reconnecting the family and improving resiliency. This excellent book will surely become core material for anyone interested in working with military families." —Bradford Felker, MD, Director, Mental Health Primary Care Service, VA Puget Sound Health Care System and Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine "Healing Stress in Military Families: Eight Steps to Wellness is a timely, practical publication that recognizes and addresses the impact of traumatic stress on countless 'hidden victims,' our military families. The focus on empowerment and goal-directedness—versus illness, disorder and dysfunction—is so needed today." —Mark D. Lerner, PhD, President, American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress

Jennifer Needle in Her Arm explores the emotional turmoil that parents go through when they have either lost a child to drugs or have to deal with a child currently addicted to drugs. Bonnie Kaye, who lost her daughter Jennifer in 2002 at the age of 22, suffered the guilt and shame almost all good parents go through in the aftermath of losing a child to drugs. In this book, Kaye talks about the journey she and her daughter went through together, and how in the end, nothing she did changed the outcome. She shares some articles she wrote in the years following her loss to help people understand what parents go through with a drug-addicted child. Kaye has also included a number of heart-wrenching writings that Jennifer gave to her to share with others in hopes that they would read about her pain and not have her daily struggles of survival. One passage includes these words of despair and hope: Dear Addiction, What have I ever done to you to deserve all this pain and agony? You have taken everything from me. My family’s trust, my family’s sleep, my sleep, my apartment, car, jewelry, etc. But worst of all you’ve taken my sanity, my life, and me. I think of you every day. I even dream about you at night. I’m sure your only thoughts about me are to totally destroy me. I love you yet hate you so much. No matter how hard I fight, you are stronger. I’m 19 but feel 69 because of you. You have robbed me of my childhood. Because of you I have killed, robbed, sold drugs, sold myself, and hurt everyone close to me. You’re a liar!!!! You swore you would make things easier for me. You swore I wouldn’t have to worry about anything. You promised fun and heaven. But all you have given me is hurt and agony and a living hell. This is my life and I’m taking it back. I’m going to win this battle. I PROMISE. The book is comforting to parents who continue to suffer from shame, guilt, and feelings of helplessness. They will realize they are not alone--and they are not responsible.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with service women and men, Nancy Sherman weaves narrative with a philosophical and psychological analysis of the moral and emotional attitudes at the heart of the afterwars. Afterwar offers no easy answers for reintegration. It insists that we widen the scope of veteran outreach to engaged, one-on-one relationships with veterans.

How does one forgive an international political transgression as deep as genocide or apartheid? Forgiveness is often conceived of as an element of personal morality, and even at that it is difficult. This book argues that it is also an essential part of political ethics, especially when dealing with collective wrongdoing by political regimes. In the past, a retributive justice demanding prosecution and punishment of all past offenses has kept the international community away from moving on to the next step in regime change. Here, Mark R. Amstutz takes a restorative justice approach, calling for nations to account for crimes through truth commissions, public apology and repentance, reparations, and ultimately forgiveness and the lifting of deserved penalties. The distinctive feature of forgiveness is the balance it strikes between backward-looking accountability and forward-looking reconciliation. The Healing of Nations combines a theory of the role of forgiveness in public life with four key case studies that test this ethic: Argentina, Chile, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. Amstutz uses the hard cases to illustrate the promise and limits of forgiving without forgetting.

​This book intends to contribute to the growing body of transitional justice literature by providing insight into how truth commissions may be beneficial to victims of mass violence, based on data collected in Timor-Leste and on the Solomon Islands. Drawing on literature in the fields of victim psychology, procedural justice, and transitional justice, this study is guided by the puzzle of why truth-telling in post-conflict settings has been found to be both helpful and harmful to victims of mass violence. Existing studies have identified a range of positive benefits and negative consequences of truth-telling for victims; however, the reasons why some victims experience a sense of healing while others do not after participating in post-conflict truth commission processes continues to remain unclear. Hence, to address one piece of this complex puzzle, this book seeks to begin clarifying how truth-telling may be beneficial for victims by investigating the question: What pathways lead from truth-telling to victim healing in post-conflict settings? Building on the proposition that having voice—a key component of procedural justice—can help individuals to overcome the disempowerment and marginalisation of victimisation, this book investigates voice as a causal mechanism that can create pathways toward healing within truth commission public hearings. Comparative, empirical studies that investigate how truth-telling contributes to victim healing in post-conflict settings are scarce in the field of transitional justice. This book begins to fill an important gap in the existing body of literature. From a practical standpoint, by enhancing understanding of how truth commissions can promote healing, the findings and arguments in this volume provide insight into how the design of transitional justice processes may be improved in the future to better respond to the needs of victims of mass violence.

On an unsuspecting Friday night, Liyla lost her son to an accident. Lost and disillusioned, all she wanted was a chance to speak to her son again, tell him she loved him and missed him. But death is the end, isn’t it? In a mind bending journey through the many planes we humans exist in, Liyla’s life changes as she encounters people who help reach across the veil of life and connect her to her son. This event opens a door in her life through which she discovers the meaning of life and beyond. Her studies ranging from contemporary Western sciences to ancient Indian wisdom lead her to understanding what it means to live, and our purpose on this planet along with a clear realization that the universe is just energy. This book will take you on a journey that answers many questions that have plagued humanity. What exactly is the mind? What is Consciousness? What is destiny? And the biggest one of all-- What happens after our physical forms pass from this life? Liyla looks at these questions with a scientific lens, hoping to bridge the gaps between science and spirituality — for each one of us looks for answers for these same questions within this cosmos. In this book, the spiritual aspects of life are explained with reference to the Panchakosha (five layer) theory of Indian spirituality which is elucidated in the Upanishads and other ancient Indian books. This gives a strong logical basis to understand Consciousness, and life in the physical and subtle planes.

A physician and expert in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation presents a series of effective strategies to help anyone heal better, faster, and stronger, addressing the three most important components in a personal super-healing program--a healing diet, therapeutic exercise, and proper rest--and how to use them to promote one's recovery.

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