A good start would be to search for publications by Norman Jones, Simon Wessley and Neil Greenberg, who are all based at Kings in the UK. Neil was the last Defence Professor of Mental Health, and Norman is the current Defence Senior Lecturer. 

Hope this helps,

Jason

Thank you Jason  much appreciated especially as I am in the UK that is particularly helpful :)  

Regards

Holly

I'm very interested in this type of research as well. If you wish to collaborate at any point, please feel free to contact me. [email protected]

Hi Charley

YES I would love to collaborate, I will mail you :)

Hi Holly

Two journal articles I found helpful are attached.

Both available via Discover It at the CQU library

You may also be able to track down Karen Klockner who is with the OHS faculty - she is a regsitered psychologist / EMDR practitioner who works extensively with PTSD clients.

Cheers,

cc

Really appreciated Chris - and at CQU (excellent)   :)

Hi Holly, it looks like you are at CQU so perhaps some Australian references? Look at ACMPH website (it was originally a defense focussed service) and also at the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ASTSS). Also look up Alexander McFarlane.

HI Gail

Yes Im at CQU although living in England (go figure lol) thank you for that, most helpful and appreciated :) Say hello to WA for me my first landing place in Australia.

Holly

Hi Holly,

I'm also very interested in this type of research. If you wish to collaborate at any point, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Hi there Ioanna, thank you for for contacting me, I am reading your papers now :)

Hello Holly Jordan,

I hope it can help you!

Carlos Carrusca

Book Traumas no Trabalho - uma nova leitura do Transtorno de Estr...

Si, es verdad!

Muchas Gracias Carlos :)

I am a war veteran (Falklands) who has experienced symptoms of PTS but never went as far as seeking treatment, as I managed my symptoms, so no diagnosis of the Disorder bit.  I am researching the impact of deployment on informal care givers (spouse and partners) and the most informative way I have gathered evidence is to take a Veteran Led approach by involving Veterans at all stages of the research.  

We at Veteran To Veteran (veterantoveteran.co.uk) have trained and developed a veteran cohort (steering group) for the West Midlands (UK) to act as consultants to the Clinical Research Group of the NHS.  We assist in the formulation of research questions, development of interview/survey questions and the interpretation of the data collected from a War Veterans point of view.  This service is available at no cost to the researcher at this time.  

We see misinterpretations of data collected from Veterans due to the culture of the military using the same language, but using it in a different way, and those that see the military as a sub-culture of civilian street.  

As for suggestions on papers, PTSD is a construct of many symptoms, and many Veterans find solace in using PTSD as an anchor for recognition within civilian street.  We have found that Governments support with funding those who do not find that the deployment has any significant impact on well-being, relationships and that war related PTS is not significantly higher than civilian PTS.

Both Dr David Jackson and myself are happy to collaborate to give a research project our knowledge and experiences of being a War Veteran, and to place the "Voice" of the War Veteran within research projects and also to carry out training in the area of understanding War Veterans (go to website for more information). 

Holly,

I'm also writing a thesis and proposing a study that will, hopefully, build on the extensive work of Dr. Richard Tedeschi and Dr. Richard McNally, among many more. Specifically, I'm interested in techniques that will aide individuals prior to, during, and after stress/trauma. This is a particularly meaningful topic, as I have spent thirteen years in the military with three of those years in combat as an infantryman and have experienced first and secondhand the detrimental outcomes of the extreme life events that happen during and after combat. Fortunately, I have also witnessed the overwhelming positive growth that can occur in the wake of combat and other types of trauma.

That being said, I am also looking for others who are interested in affecting positive change in the way schools, militaries, employers, and parents equip the populace to plan for, practice, potentiate, and experience post-traumatic growth and resilience.

Feel free to email me at [email protected] and we can start collaborating immediately!

Best,

Brent Schneider

I would be interested in reading your research Brent...in the UK they have a programme called TRiM and it starts with a philosophy of pre warned is pre armed, it informs service personnel of what to expect and trains the officer class to recognise symptoms in their own men...however there is a fear by the serving soldiers I have spoken to that derives from a belief that if they are diagnosed with any CMD they will be discharged... so they try hard to hide symptoms...I have collaborations here in UK and in Germany so no time at the moment but I would be pleased to collaborate in the future...

Stay safe

Kevin

Bio:  16 years service; Airborne Forces; Falklands (82) and Northern Ireland (76) deployments

I now counsel Veterans, I am Prison Law Consultant for Veterans that are in Prison, and co-director of V2V...

TriM

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/~/media/royal%20navy%20responsive/documents/welfare/emotional%20support/10_228_trim%20trauma%20risk%20management.pdf

Kevin,

Thank you so much! Based on your responses, I see that we subscribe to very similar, if not identical, interpretations of the literature and what we've observed in our own experiences. I'll definitely be in touch as time permits. Undoubtedly, several of us will be able to help one another out and put it all to use!

Best,

Brent Schneider

Thank you Kevin and Brent, I am glad that if nothing else I have also helped you connect. I am based in the UK, will be going to the US shortly Brent, that is where as a freelance screenwriter I first met young men that were being deployed, and I was shocked at the lack of preparation they had. I was invited by the US generals to the pre deployment training centre (Fort Irwin) in Nevada and was privvy to the training of units immediately prior to deployment to Afghanistan. These guys were of an average age, like the old record (nnnn 19) and most lacked the common sense skills that you learn with age from experience, and when I interviewed them, they had joined the military because it was their only hope of supporting families at home due to lack of work. I could see they were going to be fodder, and if they survived, their experience would change their lives forever in a negative way. I feel compelled to help in some way, as far as I am concerned, whether PTSD manifests physically upon their return or not, all troops that are exposed to the trauma of war are suffering PTSD but internalised. . There are proven studies that explain preparedness minimises the impact of trauma, it is a programme such as this that I wish to be involved in, to create a study that stimulates more than just a few readers, but one that ignites a real change.  I think we are all like minded and should work together. I will make myself available to help in any way I can. 

I will email you Brent, and call you Kevin as I am here in the UK (milton keynes)

Holly

Holly,

Thank you for your response! I'm really excited to see what will come of our efforts. I share the same urge that compels you to intervene and prevent PTSD and its often tragic effects. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't contend that not all combat veterans are suffering PTSD. I am beyond blessed to count myself among a growing group who have experienced and continue to experience post-traumatic growth (PTG). The nature of combat veterans is, usually, to avoid seeking help from professionals who haven't experienced what they have. It is also in our nature to help one another, which is why the number of us with PTG is increasing. It is my intent to thoroughly exploit the credibility I have with war-fighters in order to reach them and equip them with the means to stand in the wake of trauma and stress a better person for it. Furthermore, it is my intent to spread this to the ends of the earth because of the pervasiveness of trauma and how to thrive in the midst and aftermath of it. I believe that more interventions and evidence (empirical and biochemical) are going to get the attention of decision-makers in academia and in practice in the very near future and I hope we are able to contribute.

Onward,

Brent Schneider

P.S. See attached article, which spurred me toward the study I am proposing. I hope it will speak to you as it did to me.

Article Can We Facilitate Posttraumatic Growth in Combat Veterans?

So most of the guys you interviewed showed lack of common sense?  Common sense in a military environment can easily be misinterpreted in a civilian environment as being lacking...At 17 and a half I was in charge of 3 other Brothers patrolling the street of Northern Ireland...I dealt with the loss of two very dear friends on that tour, which did not prepare me for the loss of more friends in 1982...Also I find it hard to accept that PTSD as a unitary ailment exists...it is a construct of many CMDs...what we do at Veteran To Veteran CIC (veterantoveteran.co.uk) is to inform professionals the best way to gather information on what are the needs of War Veterans is simply to ask them...to place the Voice of the War Veteran within the bowels of the research project...this can be achieved by collaborations with non-academic individuals whereas the researcher will bring the academic skills and expertise and the War Veteran will bring the skills and expertise of being a War Veteran.

PTG is a process whereas a person with PTS uses those experiences to improve their lot?  How do you measure the PTS if you are using it to get better?  Having experienced symptoms of PTS I can say personally that everyone that I talk to (War Veterans) simply manage their symptoms...some research suggest it is the size of the amygdala...that trauma reduces the size of the amygdala therefore affecting its interaction with the hippocampus leading to hyper-arousal (just one of the many symptoms of PTSD)...yet the amygdala has over 15 nuclei...so just how accurate is this scientific research??  I engage war veterans at the recruitment, collecting of data, and analysis of data stages of research...and even then we sometimes get it wrong...and we are War Veterans...how much more difficult is it for none-combatant veterans? or even non-military?  

The Voice of a War Veteran is one of our workshops and it opens the eyes (and minds) of researchers, as does our veterans cohort in the Midlands...just a ending question:  What if those who have progressed through PTSD have simply created management strategies to deal with the symptoms?  This would certainly look like Post Traumatic Growth...stay safe

Somehow or other while on my way to answering the BIG QUESTIONS i learned about the need for reliable measures: this lead me to develop the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale or PANSS, starting in 1980, eventuating with a published manual in 1992, and resulting in continually revised and updated volumes, including one we are presently working on.

You'd think I would have learned from my PANSS "detour," but instead I undertook to develop another symptom severity scale for patients with PTSD, including complex PTSD, know as the SYMPTOMS OF TRAUMA SCALE or SOTS.  We have a few papers under review now, so I am sending you a copy of paper written several years ago about pharmacotherapy of PTSD which also discusses the difference between DSM-IV PTSD and complex PTSD as well as some information on an early 9-item version of the SOTS (it is now 12-items).

Lewis A. Opler, MD, PhD

Desensitisation with any trauma client can re-traumatise or worse create denial and re-bury the trauma...and how do you desensitise someone safely when you have not experienced the trauma of war?  Also many clients I have use combat related PTSD to 'cover' early childhood trauma (being a combatant means they can never accept the weakness of being abused, possibly)...so if these clients were desensitised they would be left open to the more destructive trauma and even develop suicide ideations...very dangerous I feel to use desensitisation, or EMDR, or CBT until person centred counselling counselling has found out the reason for attendance or for the symptoms they present...Person centred as it allows the client to present and disclose at their own speed and they are the expert of their issues...

Many professionals make the error that combat related PTSD can be treated like all the others...I believe it is a tad more complicated than people give it credit for...I have also been informed by others that they have attended a weekend course of this or that because they see the veteran cohort as being an income for years to come...not really the right reason...

Combat PTSD therapy works better when the guys meet in a group (a coffee morning) without any therapeutic agenda...and eventually they will talk about what they want to talk about...and it will be at this time that individuals will ask for one to one counselling...

It can be repeated, or it can be constant as in Northern Ireland (patrolling every day over long periods expecting to be killed or maimed) or The Falklands (the intensity of battle, the unknowing of artillery shells, and the viciousness of shrapnel and close quarter fighting...added to that is the knowledge that your Brothers have been killed or maimed (the screaming never goes away), added to not wanting to kill but being placed in a position that if you do not kill, you will be killed)...I do not have a 'history' of war that occurred in 1982...I live that history on a daily basis, and my 'remembrance' is everyday...this is why we have set up Veteran To Veteran...we develop cohorts for Clinical Research Groups (NHS) so that the 'voice' of the war veteran is heard within research about them...it reduces the assumptions of researchers who have no experience of war...and therefore adds to the credibility of the research study...

We do not say that we know best (because we do not) ...what we say is that collaboration is a necessity and is the way forward...if I was to research outside of my expertise I would want someone with the expertise to advise me on area of research, research question, data collection and data interpretation...because I would know that without this assistance my study would be missing the point...possibly

Ive only just seen this Lewis, its really helpful

I have studied PBH and have discussed with veteran Brothers and Sisters whether this would be beneficial (I always ask my clients what do they think would work for them).  Most mentioned being in Hell and the torment and drive for self loathing was not being in Hell but not being able to get out of Hell - Hell in this instance is the hell that Bradshaw talks about - ',,,never finding your true self and never living your life or knowing who you really are...'.

So many said that it would just remind them of their uselessness, however it seems that there was a sort of consensus that PBH would be a good tool to keep them out of hell once they had left it behind (i.e. found themselves).

Many war veterans report that they feel the drive to better their lives however as soon as that thought is borne it is destroyed by the feelings of being ashamed at being where they are...therefore they are shame-bound meaning that any 'good' thoughts are immediately overcome by feelings of shame.

I have found that a good pre therapy is Motivational Interviewing, simply to locate and identify to the client where their ambivalence is seated.  After that I engage in person centred therapy which allows therapy at their own pace and in their own direction, and teaches the client informally to value themselves (as it is value that is amiss rather than lack of confidence or self worth).

Because of my experiences in war to ask me to be kind to self was like asking a tortured person to be kind to their torturer...yes it would be great to forgive but there would be no way of knowing how to forgive...so allowing the client to operate at their own speed and in their own direction allows them the space to eventually make peace with what they have done, or with what has been done to them.  It is not my role to say 'its not your fault', because they say that to themselves a hundred times a day, and all that happens when folk say that, or call them a hero, or tell them how brave they are, brings back the feelings of shame, and in a way re-traumatises the client.  I sometimes think that non-military personnel miss this important point...re-traumatisation can be guised as rescuing...

I will never come to terms with my experiences of war, but I do on a daily basis manage the feelings that the memories, nightmares and fears bring...I am a good man, but I can never believe that I am a good man...and when people say oh yes you are...I feel that they just do not understand...not one of my 1000s of war veteran friends have ever said that to me...the only people I can talk about my experiences to are those who were by my side...and when we get together we do not talk about it...Why?... Because we simply do not need to...

Take a look at courtois c, ford j (eds) treatment of complex trauma: an evidence-based guide, ny:guilford press, 2009

Thank you Lewis...I think the major pitfall in looking at 'main problems' is that PTSD is not an illness, it is a construct made up of many illnesses.  I have had symptoms of PTSD (there has been no formal diagnosis - another important point...PTSD has to be diagnosed) and have never suffered with low self esteem...I have been a successful project manager working for the Courts and for the ODPM; I have a successful career in law; I am a psychology lecturer; I am an accredited counsellor; and I teach young people with difficult behavioural issues... my co-director (former Royal Marine) has lots of self esteem and has been diagnosed with PTSD.  My experience of working with clients with combat related PTSD is that they do not focus on others...they engage in isolatory practices so that they can focus on themselves...

Re-teaching suggests that a person has had full understanding of their emotions at some time...I am not sure that is true of anyone, and especially not military training personnel...and many people said to me before I went back to the Falklands 'you will find peace' well I have always had peace... 'you will lay your ghosts to rest' I do not have any ghosts to lay to rest... I have not experienced emotional pain in relation to my symptoms, only in relation to the loss of friends... I practice person centred therapy and the philosophy that underpins this is that the person knows where they have been, knows where they are, and knows where they want to go...they are the expert... however they may have buried all of their knowledge under a blanket of defences because to think about things brings on emotional states...so their defences are often there to prevent a person experiencing those feelings...I think that combat related PTSD is unique to all other PTSD due to the nature of the trauma... due to the culture of the military... due to the coping strategies of the military... due to the type of person who joins up and the reasons they join up...research has simply uncovered the very tip of the iceberg... but I think you are close in the area of individuals having to recognise and name emotions before they can understand where those emotions come from, before they can understand the triggers that bring on the emotions, and why they do not allow emotions to surface...this is of course my opinion...

You might try going to the Hebrew University website.  They have done a lot of research into PTSD & many aspects of the problem.

Hi Dnise,

Have you investigated the works of both Martin Seligman who consulted to the US Army re peer support for soldiers with PTSD and the works of Stevan Hobfoll on the five areas of work for communities to recover from major traumas?

Need to be careful with research papers from USA about USA troops as KCMHR suggest that there are significant differences compared to the British soldier...having worked with the USA Armed Forces they are not that different, in fact very similar in respect of reactions to trauma... however KCMHR does receive funding form the MoD...