The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. - Zen saying While the pain and suffering of trauma can seem unbearable, every day we see examples of people who have found a way not only to survive their experiences but also to really live their life to the fullest. This book is about finding your way back to your valued life. In Finding Life Beyond Trauma we hope to help you to move toward living a vital, rich, and awake life.

When soldiers at Fort Carson were charged with a series of 14 murders, PTSD and other "invisible wounds of war" were thrown into the national spotlight. With these events as their starting point, Jean Scandlyn and Sarah Hautzinger argue for a new approach to combat stress and trauma, seeing them not just as individual medical pathologies but as fundamentally collective cultural phenomena. Their deep ethnographic research, including unusual access to affected soldiers at Fort Carson, also engaged an extended labyrinth of friends, family, communities, military culture, social services, bureaucracies, the media, and many other layers of society. Through this profound and moving book, they insist that invisible combat injuries are a social challenge demanding collective reconciliation with the post-9/11 wars.

Impulsivity, poor judgment, moodiness, risky behavior. "You don't understand." "I don't care." "Whatever, bro." Engaging and working with teenagers is tough. Typically, we attribute this to the storms of adolescence. But what if some of the particularly problematic behaviors we see in teens - self-destructive behaviors, academic issues, substance abuse, reluctance to engage in therapy or treatment - point to unspoken trauma? Teens nationwide struggle with traumatic stress related to poverty, abuse, neglect, bullying, traumatic loss, and interpersonal or community violence. But youth are also generally reluctant to disclose or discuss experiences of traumatic stress, and adults working with these youth may not immediately perceive the connection between prior trauma and the teen's current risky or concerning behavior. Beyond PTSD: Helping and Healing Teens Exposed to Trauma helps adults recognize and understand traumatized youth, and provides concrete strategies for talking to and engaging the teen, overcoming resistance, and finding the most appropriate evidence-based treatment approach for them. Nearly twenty contributors pull from their extensive and varied experience working in schools and hospitals to child welfare programs, juvenile justice facilities, pediatric offices, and with families to provide concrete tips to manage the challenges and opportunities of working with trauma-exposed adolescents. Chapters present trauma-informed approaches to youth with aggression, suicide and self-injury, psychosis, and school refusal; youth with physical or developmental disabilities or medical comorbidities, those in juvenile justice or child welfare; teen parents; and LGBTQ youth, among others. Throughout the text, tables compare different types of trauma therapies and provide information about how treatments might be adapted to fit a specific teen or setting. Readers will also find "real life" case vignettes and concrete, specific clinical pearls-even examples of language to use--to demonstrate how to work effectively with difficult-to-engage teens with complex symptoms and behaviors. Written to be practical and accessible for clinicians, social workers, pediatricians, school counselors, and even parents, with the information, context, and strategies they need to help the teen in front of them.

Victor Volkman has created a tool that takes the mystery out of one of the more remarkably effective clinical procedures in a way that can help millions of people revitalize and improve their lives. To those desperate people who have experienced trauma or tragedy, this process is a pathway to dealing with their feelings and getting on with their lives. In the new book Beyond Trauma, Conversations on Traumatic Incident Reduction Volkman presents a series of conversations with a wide range of people from many different backgrounds and experiences. Each provides his or her perspective on Traumatic Incident Reduction, or TIR for short. The book explains the techniques used by professionals and patients to help people sort out, resolve and overcome the negative effects of painful suffering. Untold countless people have to deal with trauma in a wide variety of situations: Soldiers who experience war or injury, families dealing with death, chemical or substance abuse, parental neglect, child or sexual abuse, terrorism, crime and punishment. Beyond Trauma: Conversations on Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR), is unique in that it addresses both people suffering from the effects of traumatic stress and the practitioners who help them. This method has been effective in dealing with many areas of trauma, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), in such diverse groups as veterans, children, 9/11 survivors, motor vehicle accident and sexual abuse survivors. TIR is a brief, one-on-one, non-hypnotic, person-centered, simple, and highly structured method for permanently eliminating the negative effects of past traumas. Contributors include world-renowned experts in traumatology including Windy Dryden, Ph.D., Joyce Carbonell, Ph.D., and TIR's developer Frank A. Gerbode, M.D. Beyond Trauma highlights stories of TIR helping survivors to regain control of their lives. This book will be life changing not only for survivors of traumatic incidents but also for the professionals committed to helping them. "Not in 30+ years of practice have I used a more remarkably effective clinical procedure." --Robert H. Moore, Ph.D. What people are saying about this book: . "Beyond Trauma: Conversations on Traumatic Incident Reduction is an excellent resource to begin one's mastery in this area of practice." --Michael G. Tancyus, LCSW, DCSW, Augusta Behavioral Health . "I have found Beyond Trauma to be EXCEPTIONALLY HELPFUL in understanding and practicing TIR in broad and diverse areas of practice, not just in traditional trauma work. The information from various points of view is really priceless." --Gerry Bock, Registered Clinical Counsellor, B.C. Canada . "Beyond Trauma offers PTSD sufferers a glimpse at a light at the end of the tunnel, while providing mental health workers with a revolutionary technique that could increase their success rate with traumatized clients" --Jeni Mayer, Body Mind Spirit Magazine . "Having read the book, I feel that I have already become better at working with distressed clients." -- Bob Rich, Ph.D.

Of all psychiatric disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) poses one of the greatest challenges to clinicians. Drs. Davidson and Foa, pioneers in the study of PTSD, have teamed up to edit this landmark volume. In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: DSM-IV(R) and Beyond, members of the DSM-IV Subcommittee on PTSD present a comprehensive and fascinating review of the currently established knowledge about the etiology, epidemiology, neurobiology, course, and clinical presentations of posttraumatic stress syndromes and future directions for study.

Three distinguished experts share cutting-edge insights on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), showing why it occurs, how it affects the development and existence of those it impacts, and how it can be treated. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a comprehensive and thoughtful examination of the nature, causes, and treatment of PTSD. Drawing on the vast experience of its team of authors, the book details the insidious nature and history of PTSD, from the internal and external factors that cause this form of suffering to the ways it manifests itself psychologically and socially. The most cutting-edge research on treatment, intervention, and prevention is thoroughly discussed, as are the spiritual and psychological strengths that can emerge when one progresses beyond the label of "disorder." The book begins with a historical review of the topic. Subsequent chapters offer in-depth exploration of the significant foundations, function, impacts, and treatments associated with PTSD. Each chapter addresses practical issues, incorporating case studies that bring the information to life and ensure an appreciation of the myriad social, psychological, and biological experiences surrounding PTSD. This book answers complex questions like "How does PTSD manifest itself?" and more critically: "How can its effects be mitigated or overcome?" Finally, it discusses how PTSD survivors can move beyond post-traumatic stress to post-traumatic strengths.