A Soldier's Guide to PTSD
The Soldier's Guide to PTSD
A Guide to Reclaiming Your Life
by Virginia Cruse
Genre: Nonfiction, Self-Help, Military
Finally, a book that plainly explains Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Moral Injury, and how Service Members can reclaim their lives step-by-step
As a therapist, Virginia Cruse was becoming frustrated with the rumors her clients heard about PTSD that kept them from getting better. Why did so many of them believe that PTSD had no cure? That they couldn’t have PTSD because they were not in direct combat? That they didn’t “deserve” to have PTSD, or didn’t “deserve” to get better? The answer hit a nerve with Cruse: no one had taken the time to explain PTSD to Service Members in a way that made sense. Soldiers were losing their resiliency and optimism in a culture that propagated misinformation and went against the facts about PTSD, facts that are necessary to know in order to recover good mental health and salvage important relationships.
Told in the voice of a Soldier-turned-therapist who struggled through her own debilitating PTSD, The Soldier’s Guide does not waste time cutting through the bull and getting down to brass tacks. It is a call to arms, offering facts, empathy, and direction, while urging Service Members to get the help they need, helping family members to understand the battlefield, and connecting civilians with a Warrior culture.
Virginia is a Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Counselor specializing in Military Issues and Combat-Related Trauma. She provides crisis intervention and evidence-based treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Moral Injury, Depression, Combat Operational Stress, and other diagnoses. Virginia is a certified clinician in Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure Therapy and has 20+ years' experience serving Active Duty Military, Veterans, Military retirees and family members. She is a Certified Group Psychotherapist (CGP) and active American Group Psychotherapy Association member. Virginia is an Army Reserve Officer, Combat Veteran, and published re-searcher. She has one amazing husband, Jay, and one terrible dog, Peanut.
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This looks like a valuable resource, especially for those with friends and family who suffer PTSD.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking time to comment; we are excited to share our work with you! Yes, this is especially helpful for family members and loved ones. Often, we don't know what to say when someone we care about has PTSD, and The Soldier's Guide explains PTSD in a way that is easily understood. Thank you again!
DeleteThis sounds like a very helpful read for those in need and suffer from PTSD.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment and your support. Too many people suffer from PTSD when there are evidence-based treatments that have been proven to work for most people most of the time. Prolonged Exposure Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and EMDR work in 8-12 sessions (only 2-3 months if working with a therapist weekly).
DeleteReally good guide, nice relevant topic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Calvin. I wish the topic were not relevant. We've been talking about PTSD and military suicide for too many years and haven't made a dent in terms of reducing suicide or stigma. There is a lot of information out there, but not much of it is user friendly for Veterans or family members. To bridge the divide, we took a linguistic approach. PTSD is easy to understand when it is presented in a way that is not unnecessarily clinical. We are convinced that when Veterans know the facts about PTSD and Moral Injury - and about and the evidence-based treatments that are proven to work - they will make more informed decisions and reclaim their lives.
DeleteThis sounds like a book that will be very helpful for a lot of people!
ReplyDeleteHi, Stormy - thanks for your comment and your support. Our goal is to reach Veterans, first responders, and the people who love them. PTSD is highly treatable and the three evidence-based treatments for PTSD (Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and EMDR) have been clinically proven to work for most people most of the time. Many people think PTSD has no treatment, but this is not true. Thanks for spreading the word!
DeleteThis could be helpful for people going through this problem and their families. Thanks for the chance. It could help anyone really understand the issue more.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Lynn - PTSD is easy to understand when it is presented in a way that is not unnecessarily clinical. The Soldier's Guide translates the jargon into English so that Veterans and family members can reclaim their lives. Treatment is widely available and we can ask for effective therapy by name.
DeleteThis sounds like a great and very important book!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking time to comment. No one write a book about PTSD for the money or the fame. Our hope is to share our experience, strength, and hope with Veterans and the people who love them. Our book defines PTSD and Moral Injury and gives straight talk on treatment options so that Veterans can make an informed decision and reclaim their lives. There is healing for PTSD, and it only takes 8-12 sessions (that's 2-3 months if working with a therapist weekly). Treatment doesn't tickle, but it's not forever, either.
DeleteI am sure that this book will be of enormous help to those in need.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. There is a lot of information out there about PTSD, but not much of it is user friendly for Veterans or family members. PTSD is easy to understand when it is presented in a way that is not unnecessarily clinical. The Soldier's Guide translates the jargon into English so that Veterans and family members can reclaim their lives.
DeleteThis book sounds like it would be very helpful.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. We want Veterans, first responders, and the people who love them to be able to understand their PTSD symptoms so that they can advocate for effective treatment. There are three evidence-based treatments for PTSD (Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and EMDR) that are proven to work for most people most of the time. There is healing from PTSD; spread the word!
DeletePTSD is very complex and misunderstood. Hopefully, this book can make things clearer.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Jeanna. You are right; PTSD is misunderstood. It is often presented as a complex problem, but PTSD is a very logical and easy to understand disorder (just not when it is clothed in clinical jargon). The Soldier's Guide's goal is to explain PTSD in a way that empowers Veterans and family members so that Veterans can make informed decisions and reclaim their lives. Thank you again and take care!
DeleteLooks like a very useful book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.
Thank you for taking time to comment here! Our book is for Veterans, first responders, and the people who love them. Many people think PTSD has no treatment, but this is not true. In fact, it is highly treatable and the three evidence-based treatments for PTSD (Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and EMDR) work for most people most of the time in only 8-12 sessions. Treatment works - whether someone has had symptoms for 5 months or 5 decades. While our book is written for military members, we know that PTSD does not only affect military. Thank you for taking time to connect - it is so cool to connect with people like you across the globe! Take care, Virginia
DeleteIt takes a soldier to understand a soldier- that's entirely true.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking time to connect. Our book is written for Soldiers and our hope is to give others the verbiage needed to connect with Soldiers as well.
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