January 6, 2008
Dear Friends,
Many of you have probably heard of the
famous Christmas Truce of World War I. In December, 1914, British
and German troops put down their weapons and met in the no-man’s
land between their gore-soaked trenches. They played soccer,
exchanged gifts and stories, and helped each other recover their
dead. They sang carols of joy, love and peace to the very men whom
only hours before they had tried to kill. When the holy day passed,
the troops did not want to return to their trenches or pick up their
weapons again. Their officers had to beat them back into the horror.
This is the time of year that we rest from conflict and stress and
review the work we have done and the road traveled. It is a time to
evaluate self and service, restore energy and hope, and rededicate
ourselves to the tasks before us. We have the luxury of this pause.
Our loved ones in harm's way, the millions in daily danger around the
world, do not. Nor do those whose bodies may be safely home from the
wars but whose minds, hearts and spirits are still torn apart inside
from their time in the hell. We serve them. Our thoughts and prayers
go out to all who are endangered and suffering.
While I, Ed, have been working with veterans for 28 years and Kate
for a long time as well, Soldier’s Heart has completed its first
calendar year of service. Ed, Kate, Paula, and Maureen while she
worked with us, a hive of devoted volunteers, veterans, family
members, active duty service people, healers, clergy, professionals,
activists from all over the country have joined forces in mutual
devotion and concern to help support, guide and heal our active duty
service people, our veterans and their families from the devastating
aftereffects of war. Simultaneously, we have worked together to help
restore truth-telling to the war experience.
Here is a brief summary of our Soldier’s Heart programs, some of
what we accomplished in the year past, and what we hope to
accomplish as we enter a new year together.
Counseling and Psychotherapy: Ed, Kate and Soldier’s Heart workers
provide a unique, holistic and psycho-spiritual model for the
treatment of PTSD based upon models and research in worldwide
warrior traditions and cultures. For many years now much of this
treatment has been provided to veterans from a dozen different large
and small American conflicts for free or for reduced fees. In 2008
Soldier’s Heart intends to expand its clinical treatment services,
train additional healers and counselors, and provide counseling to
veterans and families in need at little or no cost. In addition to
ongoing counseling and support for veterans, we intend special
efforts on behalf of female vets and veterans’ spouses and children.
Veteran Retreats: The SH model for the holistic, community-based,
experiential treatment of PTSD is taught and practiced at SH
retreats for veterans, their family members, and community based
service providers, especially counselors and clergy. At SH retreats,
we take participants through the entire transformational process of
civilian into soldiers, identify where the process broke down and
became wounded or damaged, and guide the survivor in healing his or
her wounds and completing the initiatory process into a mature
identity as a returned warrior of honor. SH retreats are intensive 3
– 5 day residential programs. We have worked closely with the
Theosophical Society in America to co-sponsor some of these
retreats. In 2008 and continuing this partnership, we intend to
conduct 6 – 8 retreats all over the country to reach veterans in
need, train counselors, and develop community based affiliate
programs. We already have retreats scheduled for Seattle (early
Feb.), New England (late Feb.), Texas (late April), and the Hudson
Valley region in New York State (Mid June), Please visit our web
site for exact dates and details. And please join us!
Soldier’s Heart Affiliations: SH is helping foster a national
network of community-based veterans’ safe return programming. SH
Affiliates are dedicated to providing such care in their local
communities. In 2008 we intend to continue to develop the existing
affiliates in Seattle, Wisconsin, Illinois. We are developing
affiliates in Texas, New England, New Jersey, California, Arizona,
Atlanta, Florida, Europe and Viet Nam.
Community-based Outreach: Communities need extensive professional
and volunteer referral networks and training and development of such
services in order to meet the health and healing needs of veterans.
SH provides community outreach, extensive public education efforts
through the media, lectures, workshops, networking, advising,
meeting with clergy, community leaders, veteran advocates. We help
communities locate and create referral sources in their region. We
help them reach out to veteran and military organizations to locate
vets in need of services.
We are dedicated to creating a model community locally in our home
community of Troy, NY area. Our goals for 2008 include community
education through churches and veteran advocacy groups, out reach to
and ongoing referrals from local veteran’s organizations, the V.A.
clinic, homeless shelters, churches and the county veterans’ affairs
office. We are pleased to announce our new internship program with
occupational therapy and psychology student interns from Russell
Sage College. We express our gratitude to Profs. Barbara Thompson
and Cheryl MacNeil for their devoted collaboration in training
students. We also thank Rev. Beth Illingworth and Margaret Leatham
for Sage collaborations that include Reading of the Names of the War
Dead and community and student education efforts regarding war and
vets on the Sage campus.
Workshops: We presently have workshops planned for 2008 at the
Department of Peace Conference in Rhode Island in March, State
University of NY New Paltz in April and Ft. Hood, Texas in
September.
Train the Trainer: Our Veteran Return Retreats have served as
training venues for those interested in veteran psychology and how
to work with veterans. Our goal for 2008 is to institute an advanced
training program for professionals looking to learn more. This would
combine attendance at workshops and retreats, group conference
calls, individual supervision, reading assignments and written work,
and internships at retreats, workshops and overseas journeys. We
intend to train people to be able to train others after completion
of our program.
Benefits Advisement: We are proud of our alliance with Rensselaer
Co. Veterans’ Affairs director Bob Reiter. Bob will expand his
consultation with Soldier’s Heart in 2008 to provide veterans’
benefit information and serve as veteran’s benefit counselor and
advocate to vets seeking their deserved disability evaluation,
rating and payments.
Philanthropic Healing: Soldier’s heart directs our Sanctuary
International Friendship Fund, a philanthropic endeavor that funds
overseas projects in countries ravaged by war. This Fund makes it
possible for veterans to contribute to restoring areas in Viet Nam
where they once participated in destruction. Veterans and others who
travel to Viet Nam with us on our healing journeys have the
opportunity to meet the people who benefit from their donations.
Since we began this program in 2000, we have funded the building of
a kindergarten in the Mekong Delta, the repair of an elementary
school in Da Nang, improvements to an Agent Orange Rehabilitation
Center east of Ha Noi, the building of six Compassion Houses for
destitute families, donations of livestock, sampans, children’s
school tuition, computers, etc. During our 2007 trip, we re-supplied
the Delta school, donated water buffalos to two impoverished farming
families, donated financial aid to a disabled North Vietnamese army
veteran, built another Compassion House, visited two we previously
built and provided their families with clothing and school supplies,
and contributed to the Da Nang Street Children’s Program. We intend
to continue and expand these efforts in the future.
PTSD Research: Dr. Tick has used the intensive case study model of
evaluation and research for his entire career. His books and
articles have numerous presentations of illustrative cases of
veterans’ treatment and healing. SH staff will continue with
intensive case study research.
We are looking at other research models appropriate to our work.
This year we utilized pre-journey questionnaires for the veterans
who went on our 2007 trip to Vietnam and will follow up with post
journey questionnaires to track long-term transformation and
healing. We have are grateful to Dr. Tony Luick, psychologist and
Viet Nam veteran, who is helping design and conduct our empirical
studies, and to the Kalliopeia Foundation for a grant that enabled
us to bring two veterans and one spouse to Viet Nam and to fund this
research. We will also work with Professors MacNeil and Thompson to
train students to design and implement research.
Publications: Important tools for our training will be Ed’s writing
and development of a companion guidebook to WAR AND THE SOUL, which
Quest Books is committed to publishing in early 2009 along with a
DVD to showcase and illustrate our veteran return retreats. In
addition, Ed, Kate and others will continue to write articles for
interested journals and other periodicals.
Newsletter: Our monthly on-line newsletter features upcoming events
as well as articles and contributions by our readers devoted to
increase education, understanding, and community action on behalf of
our veterans. Our newsletter has a monthly circulation of over 600
readers from all over the country and world. In 2008 we will
continue to publish the newsletter. It is our goal to raise funds to
cover the costs of its production.
Web Based Outreach: SH maintains an active web presence through
distance writing, teaching, networking, referral and outreach. We
will continue and increase such web-based efforts in 2008. We are
grateful to Andy Himes and his organization VOICES IN WARTIME for
their generosity and guidance in creating our new interactive web
site that will encourage the growth of community through web based
ongoing involvement in education, writing, creative expression,
discussion groups.
We have achieved much in our short time together, but it is only a
proverbial drop in the bucket in comparison to the great needs and
suffering across our country and around the world from the scourge
of war. We are grateful for your help and alliance and humbled
before the vision of all that needs to be done. We ask your ongoing
support and help in volunteering, writing, networking, and making
much-needed financial contributions and thank you in advance for
anything you can do. You can contribute to our efforts by sending a
tax-deducible contribution to our mailbox or making a secure on-line
donation through International Humanities Center at
http://www.ihcenter.org.
The Christmas Truce of WWI teaches us that at any time it is
possible to lay down the guns, come out of hiding, transform feared
enemies into beloved friends, and work together to grieve, heal,
support and come home. With all your help, we can add our loving
contributions such that some day no one will be ordered back into
the trenches.
May you have a blessed holiday season and New Year!
Ed
Home - http://soldiersheart.net
About Soldier's Heart-
http://soldiersheart.net/about.htm
To unsubscribe: If you'd rather not receive e-mail
from us, please
go to
http://soldiersheart.net/unsubscribe.htm
or send an e-mail to
info@soldiersheart.net with "unsubscribe" in the "Subject"
line.
|
