Normalize PTSD

Dr. Arnell has been the Youth Service Officer (YSO) for Giles County. Before being the YSO, she owned Arnell’s Counseling Service, Inc., as a contract provider for the State of Tennessee for 14 years. Dr. Arnell has been an adjunct faculty at Columbia State Community College since 2004, teaching in the Psychology program and some education classes. Dr. Arnell has been a member of the Giles County...

Sarah is a bilingual trauma therapist in private practice who integrates a number of approaches in her work, including Somatic Experiencing®, parts work, EMDR, Brainspotting, Deep Brain Reorienting, various forms of somatic touch work to support nervous system regulation and relational repair, and equine-facilitated wellness, among others. She is also the founder of EQUUSOMA® Horse-Human Trauma Re...

Cary grew up giving back to his community and has continuously found new ways to do that. He was looking for emergency beacons to downed aircrafts as a kid, retired from the United States Air Force’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), and is now a volunteer fire fighter.  I had the opportunity to be stationed with Cary at my first duty station, Luke Air Force Base. I have nothing but fond memories...

Mike comes from a family of veterans and is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel now serving as a leadership coach and healing expert assisting Veterans, military and spouses through the transition to being civilians again. I really enjoyed chatting with him and exploring the concept of Leadership Embodiment.  I was exploring new topics and had someone suggest that Leadership Embodiment was help...

Trauma-related guilt is common, associated with posttraumatic mental health problems, and can persist after posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment. Dr Norman is a psychologist with experience treating, researching and training others on PTSD. We discuss moral injuries, survivors guilt and how so often shame and guilt play a big role in PTSD. Trauma-informed guilt reduction therapy focuses...

There has been a bit of discussion with secondary PTSD. I was put in contact with Dr Steffany Fredman by a former guest, Dr Carmen. Dr Fredman’s interest is in the intersection between individual mental health and couple functioning. Her focus is on those with PTSD. Dr Fredman is really interested in how PTSD affects couples’ relationships. Dr Fredman is passionate about developing, testing, and (...

Matt and I served at the same time but only crossed paths briefly. It was awesome reconnecting with him and I was so honored he wanted to share his story. Matt started his life down in Texas. Grew up playing football, as he put it, trading his body for an education. He eventually changed course in life and that led him to joining EOD in the United States Air Force. Listening to Matt’s story; I’m h...

Mission Statement: Voi’s mission is to deliver the most comprehensive, innovative solutions to help hospitals and health systems, government agencies, educational institutions, families, and communities detect, intervene, support, and care for people at risk for suicide and living with behavioral health issues. Rick identifies and connects with organizations working to provide mental health care s...

Mission Statement: Check A Vet is preventing Veteran suicide by raising public awareness and calling upon American citizens to meaningfully and routinely engage with Veterans Steph Page “Chief” shares his perspective. His perspective is that of a leader. Steph became a Chief Master Sergeant in 2003 because he wanted to positively impact the life of his airmen. He was the senior enlisted leader of...

Allison Feduccia, PhD is a neuropharmacologist, psychedelic researcher and educator. She is the co-founder of Psychedelic Support , a platform for education and to connect with psychedelic practitioners, and Project New Day , a 501(c)3 nonprofit on a mission to help people overcome addiction and actualize mental health through the responsible use of psychedelics. She began researching MDMA in 2004...

Peter was in the Navy on an aircraft carrier for Vietnam. The intense deployment cycle led him to self-medicating, like most of us have found ourselves doing. Eventually he found himself in San Francisco’s Art Institute studying film- that is where he accidentally stumbled across Transcendental Meditation (TM). The group of individuals he became friends with each had a mellowness to them, a sense...

Dr Mclean is a clinical psychologist that specializes in exposure therapy for PTSD. PE is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that works to shift behavior or styles of thinking in a short amount of time. This type of therapy that’s focused on trauma and learning to address the trauma. With PE you do the opposite of avoid and face the things you want to avoid.  Dr Mclean talking about avoidance...

Mission Statement: The Outward Bound Veterans Program helps thousands of returning service members and recent veterans readjust to life at home through powerful wilderness courses that draw on the healing benefit of teamwork and challenge through the use of the natural world. Thanks to the generous support of our donors, these courses are available tuition and travel expense-free. Learn more: http...

Mission Statement: Semper Fi and American’s Fund cares for our nation’s critically wounded, ill, and injured service members, veterans and the military families. Supporting all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, we provide one-on-one case management, connection, and lifetime support. Today, Tomorrow and Together.  Jasper is a Former Marine and Veteran that shares his experience in the military, ho...

Danny and I met during a virtual VA program called iVET. It was a new but short prolonged exposure (PE) therapy course. Very Interesting class that was recommended by my therapist to explore for new programs provided by the VA in Hawai’i. This course was a combination of therapy, group chat and physical health all rolled in one. Danny and I really connected in the group chat. I saw a lot of simila...

I was reading ‘Struggle Well’ when there was a connection made between PTSD and ACEs. It was mentioned that this connection was made by Suzi Landolphi so I reached out to discuss. In this episode Suzi explains ACEs. She broke down how PTSD can give you superpowers & she also talks a lot about “training.” Suzi is such a fun person to talk with. She talks a lot about “training” and this is somet...

Dr. Tedeschi, with Dr Calhoun, researched how people deal with negative situations in a positive way. This is were the concept of posttraumatic growth started. On this episode, Dr. Tedeschi and I discuss where the concept came from, how the idea evolved, and how it was used to help those struggling with symptoms of PTSD.  I really enjoyed Dr. Tedeschi. He has been researching and writing on this t...

Mission Statement : Boulder Crest understands trauma and stress. We know that traumatic stress is debilitating. Our mission is to help struggling veterans, first responders, and their families rediscover hope, purpose, and a belief in a future that is truly worth living. Our team at Boulder Crest uses the science of Posttraumatic Growth to train participants through a proven process of transformat...

Dr Norman is a psychologist  with experience treating, researching and training others on PTSD. I am so grateful for her joining to share her expertise on the topic of PTSD. We dive into what are some contributing factors, some data behind statistical probability of PTSD. She describes how one develops PTSD and some of the symptoms and signs of PTSD. There are links below for more information if y...

Chad is from a small town and was raised in a family of police officers. He shares his story of how he found peace of mind with his PTSD after chatting with his pastor. Unlike his experience in the military, he wasn’t able to find an opportunity to detach or disconnect from the role of a police officer. While out with family or friends he would see criminals he had dealt with everywhere.  Resource...

Scott, former police officer and veteran, discusses his journey with PTSD. He shares how he was able to identify there were so problems and what it took him to change the direction of his life. Scott’s story really resonated with me and I hope him sharing how he improved his life helps you. I really enjoyed the bit of tough love he got from his veteran friends. I know if I didn’t have some badass...

Set an alarm for 10mins, or enjoy the nap 😉  We’re incredibly grateful for the support of this community and would love your help in growing our reach. A like and share on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter would mean the world to us. I’m always looking to connect with veterans and first responders with PTSD who have found ways to improve their quality of life—your story could he...

Episode: 9 iRest with Chelsea Morriss from Waimea Yoga Chelsea joined us today and gave us a taste of what iRest ( https://www.irest.org ) yoga’s meditation piece is like. She shares her unique journey to get certified and what doors that opened. She dives deep into why it works and hopefully you enjoy the 15 mins of meditation.  I have never really explored yoga or this type of meditation ever in...

Micheal has been working with wounded (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) EOD technicians for the last 12 years with EOD Warrior Foundation ( https://eodwarriorfoundation.org ) until he retired last year. He began working with wounded military personnel as a recovery care coordinator. He spent years learning from disabled veterans how they dealt with their trauma and now is sharing those powerful teachi...

Abby describes how having like minded individuals who are going through similar situations helped by sharing resources, ideas on ways to overcome obstacles and help to be able to share things with people who understand. Her group is specific to Bank of America but the benefits are universal to support groups and there was several insightful things shared in this conversation. Things from tax impli...