Psychosocial Assistance Without Borders

Practicing Peace in Times of War with Pema Chödrön is a beautiful offering in line with the philosophy of PAWB. Everything from a lecture in New York City to "a ground-breaking year-long support program for activists working with intense human suffering."

You can find a wealth of trauma-related resources through the website for the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. Dr. Robert J. Ursano is the Director, and he is a crucial contributor to the military and civilian literature for trauma recovery.

As part of the Department of Psychiatry of our federal medical school, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), the Center was established in 1987 as a public private partnership of USUHS and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.

One example of the PDF resources that you can find is the Stress Management Guidelines for Leaders.

Greetings readers. The last time I blogged was one year ago. I was absorbed in other activities -- among them creating a consulting firm called Greenleaf Integrative Strategies (www.greenleaf-is.com). Please learn about Greenleaf when you have time and send me your queries. I have been doing this consulting work without having a name for the work, and Greenleaf is what has emerged.

I am currently undergoing advanced training in Trauma Sensitive Yoga with a group at the Justice Resource Institute (http://www.traumacenter.org/). So I want to share with you how somatic therapies can critically complement standard verbal, cognitive therapies (“talk therapy”) for addressing traumatic stress.

Even if you don’t identify as being “traumatized,” consider that one important definition of traumatic stress is “stress that overwhelms our coping mechanisms for a period of time.” Most of us can relate to feeling overwhelmed temporarily.

Here is a way to get to know psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk's thinking behind treating trauma via somatic therapies. The first paper by van der Kolk (http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/vanderk4.php) is a classic in the field of Trauma and sets the stage for the importance of engaging the body, the physical self, in the context of treatment.

The second piece by Dr. van der Kolk (http://www.traumacenter.org/products/pdf_files/NYASF.pdf) is a very recent look at the neurobiology of trauma and also includes the first of its kind yoga study.