Pastoral Care for Trauma Survivors

• We have been offering Spiritual Healing Retreats for Combat Veterans with PTSD and their spouses or significant others for a decade now. Each year we present from two to four of these retreats in different locations around the country. Specifics about the location and dates of the next retreat are on the Spiritual Healing Retreat page.
  
  
• The Clergy Trauma Training Project This project began in 1999 with conversations between NCVNVM and the Sidran Traumatic Stress Institute and has led to an exciting partnership between organizations. A two-semester hour graduate level course at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington using the curriculum was taught in the summer of 2002. A training curriculum entitled "Risking Connection for Fatih Communities: A Training Curriculum for Faith Leaders Supporting Trauma Survivors has now been published as of February 2006. An orientation to the new curriculum was given by one of the co-authors, Elizabeth Vermilyea, at the October, 2006 Annual Meeting of our organization in Menlo Park, California. Trainers are being recruited and trained to work with Sidran in presenting workshops using the Risking Connection in Faith Communities curriculum.
  
  
• Spirituality and PTSD in Vietnam Combat Veterans This is the first in a series of articles that will address various topics investigated by Margaret Nelson-Pechota, Ph. D., in her research with Vietnam combat veterans while completing her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology. ICWVM member Nelson-Pechota wanted to find out how spiritual and moral issues are related to symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam combat veterans -- specifically, which aspects of an individual's spirituality might prevent a soldier from developing PTSD, and which aspects of his or her spirituality might result in prolonged suffering from symptoms of PTSD. This is one of several articles on Spirituality and Trauma.
  
  
• ICWVM member efforts includes a host of activities that have emerged in the areas our members work in response to specific needs. One is availability of ICWVM members to talk or correspond with veterans who seek them out. Another is articles, presentations and workshops on trauma.
  
  
• Proposed Workshop on Suffering. How can civilian clergy help bring spiritual healing to Vietnam veterans? We would like to see some workshops take place for civilian clergy, and here are some thoughts on how such a workshop might appear.
  
  
• Church and Trauma Resource Links. As we use the internet, we have come across a number of church and trauma links and other resources which can be helpful in providing pastoral care for trauma survivors. In addition, we have identified a number of internet links specifically to PTSD.