Beyond Trauma: Hope and Healing for Warriors

Book excerpt: It is estimated that well over 250,000 military veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering today from PTSD, and even more from post-traumatic stress or PTS. Clinical interventions alone do not adequately address all the issues associated with PTSD. There is also a profound spiritual dimension to trauma, and it is frequently manifested in post-trauma symptoms such as guilt, grief, and shame; and in various forms of loss including, loss of meaning, loss of faith, and loss of peace. Pastors, chaplains, and Christian counselors have a legitimate, healing role alongside clinicians in addressing the spiritual aspects of trauma through spiritual interventions that are based on Scripture and leverage new ways of viewing trauma and assumptions about its meaning. Beyond Trauma: Hope & Healing for Warriors equips pastors, chaplains and other pastoral caregivers with the knowledge and resources to not only understand the spiritual effects of trauma, but to make appropriate interventions that will lead veterans in their churches and communities to healing and growth.