Tag Archives: healing

Recreational Therapy Deep Dive #3: Adventure Therapy/Outdoor Therapy

Today we’re continuing our ongoing series on the different forms of recreational therapy available to veterans by exploring an option that many people may not know even exists: Adventure Therapy, also known as Outdoor Therapy.

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

What Is Adventure Therapy?

Adventure Therapy is primarily based around the healing properties of interacting with nature in fun, exciting ways, hence why its often referred to as Outdoor Therapy. It can be practiced alone but is often done as a group to utilize the healing power of group therapy through shared activities. Performing Adventure Therapy with others fosters a sense of community among each member involved, leading to many positive benefits down the line in addition to the naturally therapeutic activities each person is performing outside.

These activities can be almost anything, from hiking, fishing, or hunting to ultimate frisbee and horseback riding. Some groups will hike out into the wilderness together and camp for a weekend or more. The sky is quite literally the limit when it comes to Adventure Therapy, so there’s almost certainly an activity out there for everyone.

Does It Really Help?

While there isn’t a lot of data specifically studying Adventure Therapy since its still relatively new, its actually quite easy to see how it could be beneficial for many people. Most of the activities involve some form of exercise, which has many studies supporting it as a form of therapy. Since almost all of the activities take place outside, there are also the benefits of getting fresh sunshine and interacting with nature. When looked at individually, it’s easy to see how the separate therapeutic parts can come together to make Adventure Therapy an effective alternative to more traditional forms of therapy.

Image by Khalid Mehmood from Pixabay

Veteran Specific Programs

Knowing the benefits of Adventure Therapy, several organizations have risen up to provide a place where veterans specifically can go through the therapy with other veterans.

The Warrior Bonfire Program is one such program, with an emphasis on providing adventure therapy for Purple Heart medal recipients. They have multiple camping retreats per month and each group is made up of six Purple Heart recipients.

Warriors & Quite Waters provides something similar, allowing their veterans access to a sprawling outdoor ranch located in the heart of Montana for fishing, hunting, and building a sense of community with other veterans. Instead of Purple Heart recipients, this program emphasizes assistance for any combat veterans who served post 9/11.

Outward Bound for Veterans is a program run by the Outward Bound organization and serves over 600 veterans per year. Much like the other programs, the emphasis here is on a camping retreat with other veterans. Outward Bound takes a unique approach however, incorporating certain aspects of military life into the camping retreat in order to recontexualize those experiences in a positive, supportive environment.

These are but three of the many options available to veterans seeking Adventure/Outdoor therapy. Several other such programs exist in a smaller, more local capacity, so it never hurts to search online for similar programs near you!


Are you a veteran in need of assistance? Click this link for a list of resources made specifically for you. If you’re having suicidal thoughts, please call either The National Veterans’ Foundation at 1-888-777-4443 or the VA Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (800-273-8255).

Both hotlines are free and confidential. If you’re not a veteran but would still like to help out, you can get involved through our donation page here.

Don’t Let SAD Drag You Down This Winter


From Guest Blogger Kimberly Hayes

First comes the joy of Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving and the greatest celebration of all, Christmas. During that period, when most people’s spirits are up, others find themselves burdened with an unwelcome visitor: seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD.

This mental condition leaves its victims crippled with a host of symptoms that include fatigue, insomnia, hopelessness and depression. For some, getting through the day is a constant struggle as they drag themselves out of bed, go to work and come home in a state of misery.

If you suffer from SAD, you want to find a way out. If you know someone who does, you want to help. Here’s how to do that.

Exercise

This is going to be tricky, as this is about the last thing a sufferer wants to do. The trick is to not make it too difficult; a simple walk around the neighborhood would suffice for starters, and that’s even easier with a friend tagging along or a great playlist to jam to. This may get the ball rolling, after which they can make the workouts more difficult until back in summer form.

Team Sports

“Isn’t this just more exercise?” you’re probably thinking. But no, it’s much more than that. Sure, it burns calories, but joining a basketball, volleyball or soccer team also provides a dose of friendship and camaraderie that are hard to find elsewhere. It may involve paying a fee or buying some quality equipment, but bolstering your mental health is worth the small investment.

A Healthy Diet

A dietician speaking with Everyday Health emphasizes eating foods high in fiber, like beans, oats and brown rice, along with fruits and vegetables to maintain an optimal blood sugar level and keep your energy up. The protein found in chicken and fish also aid in that endeavour.

Quality Sleep

There’s a bit of a contradiction here, as it’s often the condition itself that’s preventing sufferers from getting a good night’s rest. However, there may be a way to break the cycle, and it could be as simple as keeping the bedroom cool and dark while avoiding stimulants like caffeine and sugar late in the day. A healthy diet and exercise help as well.

A Routine

Once the sufferer has broken the cycle of tossing and turning all night and feeling groggy during the day, they should stick with that same schedule, waking up at the same time, day in and day out, even on the weekends. They’ll fall into a natural rhythm as their body tells them when it’s time to go to bed in the evening.

A Dawn Simulator

As for waking up in the morning, this device can help. It’s far from complicated. It’s just a bedside lamp that wakes the sleeper up by gradually increasing in intensity, mimicking the rising sun during the springtime. That alone dispels some of the winter doldrums.

A Light Box

The condition is brought on by the longer nights and the absence of the sun’s brightening rays earlier and earlier in the day, but they can be replaced by this device. It’s used as a form of therapy, with sufferers of SAD turning it on and facing the light whenever they feel down.

Meditation

According to one writer with Headspace, this ancient practice helped him emerge victoriously following a long struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide. Though difficult, his regular sessions of mindfulness allowed him to accept his demons, then gradually distance himself from their grasp and reach a state of contentment. It could do the same for you or your loved one.

Aromatherapy

How this lifts someone’s mood is still a bit of a mystery, but scents have been used for this purpose over the course of millenia, so it may be worth some experimentation. That involves diffusing essential oils in your home, with lemon balm, sage and lavender coming highly recommended.

These methods may take time to be effective, but with a little patience, they could also put the joy back in winter.

Life Changing Book for Vets


To merely categorize Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Eric Newhouse’s latest writing Faces of Recovery as “a book” is misleading. In actuality, it is several books in one, with varied reader-audiences.
Its subtitle, Treatments that Help PTSD, TBI and Moral Injury, covers vastly more information as well, including research, personal stories, interviews, perspectives, and compelling examples aimed at educating military veterans, their family members, veterans’ counselors, civilians, and decision-makers in our Veterans Administration.
His writing is in-depth; his reporting focuses on various past weaknesses and some current improvements slowly being made to assist veterans, but his ultimate conclusions are uplifting and positive.
There is hope for those suffering from war’s “invisible wounds” as well as those with more obvious scars. Many people who never faced combat but who suffer from PTSD and other injuries can learn methods to help them begin healing.
What readers will discover is an overview of how millions of American veterans and their families continue daily to confront issues that resulted from what they experienced first-hand in battle or witnessed as journalists/photo-journalists, or as military and medical personnel. Some never left our shores and yet have PTSD symptoms years after the original incidents occurred. Clearly, our society may be experiencing a vast and complex general condition: soul injury.
Newhouse’s numerous personal interviews combined with gut-wrenching and detailed stories are reinforced by scientific research and statistics backed by reliable medical studies and decades of veterans’ data which leave no doubt that prolonged combat increases emotional and physical injury.
A veteran himself, Newhouse reveals in a stunning description how he was suddenly, personally, and emotionally affected when, for the first time, he stood in front of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. He had served in the Army, but since he was never deployed to Vietnam, he felt he had left the service unscathed. It was his psychological experience at “The Wall” that triggered his mission to seek help for those millions of Americans who served, both in combat and on the home-front, still suffering the effects of lost innocence.
Memories of actions resulting in killing someone during combat can also cause life-long guilt and trauma, if left to fester. Moral injury, as he terms it, can be as catastrophic as brain injuries.
Newhouse often speaks to veterans’ groups and those who counsel vets. He consults with Veterans Administration planners, interviews those veterans and civilians who, through military service or their civilian jobs, have suffered everything from “shell-shock,” a term used following WWII, to PTSD and TBI or moral injury from Vietnam or Middle East combat.
His book also includes revealing writings and interviews from many combat vets as well as one woman journalist who witnessed, solely on television, a major natural disaster with resulting deaths when her hometown of New Orleans was forever changed. Still today, although improving, she is re-living some of the images. Newhouse outlines successful techniques and approaches to make progress on what can be a slow-but-sure road to recovery.
Having taught Marines and sailors for the past two years at Camp Pendleton in a volunteer program called, “Writing for Strength,” I am honored to be mentioned in Newhouse’s latest release, a sequel to his Faces of Combat, used extensively in counseling and other educational programs to help veterans and others start to recoup their lives.
His books are essential for those working with veterans. Counselors and chaplains who attended my program consider Newhouse’s methods vital for connecting with and helping vets begin their healing process. Individual Marines and sailors who participate in Camp Pendleton’s program report finding his techniques something they need to continue to practice. Newhouse shows how writing, physical exercise, counseling and education can be combined to assist those who are injured.
He continues to dedicate his own life to making a difference in the lives of others. Faces of Recovery is the latest of his superb guidebooks for those in need.

Julie Davey, Writing for Strength Program, Camp Pendleton

Amazing World of Service Dogs

service dogWhen I decided to write this blog on working/service dogs, I had no idea how little I knew about the subject. As a child, any thought of a working dog brought images of either a sheepdog watching his sheep (Sam Sheepdog with Wiley “Ralph” Coyote as they clocked in and out of “work” each day) or a Great Dane helping a bunch of meddling kids unmask the villain (you all know who that is). Probably, like most of you, this was the limit of my knowledge of working dogs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_u3YRZb74w

As I delved into the research for this project, I have learned that there is a difference between a service dog and a therapy dog with legal ramifications that would surprise you. A service dog is allowed to go everywhere and anywhere with its human while a therapy or emotional support animal (ESA) is not. They are two different things. First, only a dog may be recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a service animal. This grants that animal all the protections of the ADA. An ESA whether a dog or not may be prescribed by a doctor if the doctor thinks the individual would benefit from having a pet. According to www.servicedogcentral.org, some of the psychological benefits of having a pet are reduced stress levels, less loneliness, and better mental health overall. A doctor can write a request that the animal be allowed in residences where no pets are allowed. The animal can even fly in the cabin of an airplane even if it normally would not be allowed but that’s the limit. It can’t go in stores and restaurants with you. The rest of the world simply views your ESA as a pet.

Are you all indignant now? Upset and thinking that this just isn’t fair or right? Well, don’t be too hasty. This distinction is made to protect you, Joe and Jane Public. Let’s look at service dogs for a minute. What do they do?

” Effective March 15, 2011, under the Americans with Disabilities Act,

Service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability…The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing non-violent protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, assisting an individual during a seizure, alerting individuals to the presence of allergens, retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors. The crime deterrent effects of an animal’s presence and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition

Service dogs have very specific tasks and are highly trained. For certification they must receive a minimum of 120 hours of training. That’s more hours than it takes to become a certified nurse’s assistant in the state of Indiana. And like a CNA, a service dog must pass a test to be certified. Part of that test is to have a big, juicy raw steak thrown at his feet and the dog has simply ignore it. Try that with your dog and let me know how it goes. This is to make sure that when you’re out in public, the service dog doesn’t lunge across the table to grab that ribeye off the next table and get little Timmy in the process. Emotional Support Animals (ESA) on the other hand only need to yearn for that ribeye from outside the restaurant. They actually need very little training. They have to be housebroken, non-threatening to others and not a nuisance (barking, destructive behavior).

For more information on the training that service dogs undergo, visit the link below:
http://www.iaadp.org/iaadp-minimum-training-standards-for-public-access.html

Since I have grown up, I have seen many more working dogs than just Sam and Scooby. Some good, some not so good. One that recently impressed me was at a convention on the convention floor. This dog stayed right next to its partner surrounded by hundreds of people and simply stared up at his human the whole time. The dog was wearing a service dog vest, I don’t know what his job was, but I could see that he was doing it diligently. NOTHING could distract this dog from what he was doing and what he was watching for. I was awed by such devotion and by a work ethic that hasn’t been seen since the 1950’s.

On the flip side, my mother told me about a convention she recently attended with a blind group. She used to take my grandmother and since she has passed away, my mom continues to go with her blind friend. My mom’s friend has a seeing eye dog who we shall call “Jazzy”. (Name has been changed to protect the innocent. The dog is the only one innocent in this story.) First, let me say that a service dog can be treated as a loved member of the family but only by the family and only at the direction of the dogs human partner. You see where this is going? My mom and everyone else in their group is always petting Jazzy, talking to her, etc. and Jazzy’s human allows this happen. This takes away Jazzy’s “edge” and dilutes what she has been trained to do by shifting her focus. At the convention, when it was time to head up to the rooms for the night my mom’s friend headed off with Jazzy. My mom happened to follow shortly behind. It was lucky she did. Jazzy led her partner to a downward staircase rather than to the elevator. It was really only a matter of time before it happened.

How you treat a service dog can have huge implications. When you come across one, you must remember that it is working. If you have small children, please instill this in their minds now while they are young. Never do anything that will interrupt a service dog while it is doing its task. Since you never know what that task is, like the dog I saw staring at its human, then please follow these simple rules:

Only speak to the person.
Do not touch, make noises at or even look at the service dog
Never ask if you or your children can pet the dog. Many people are just too nice to say “no”.
Never offer the dog food.

In closing, I’m going to take a minute to recognize one special working dog who represents the working dogs of the police and the military that we didn’t discuss. Those that risk their lives every day.

North at retirement with his human partner.

North at retirement with his human partner.

K-9 North retired on July 20,2014 after serving 8 1/2 years as a dual purpose patrol / narcotics detection dog. North, a black Czechoslovakian Shepherd and who is now ten years old, was forced into retirement due to recent health problems that affected his mobility. K-9 North, affectionately known by his fellow officers as “South” began active duty with his handler, Officer Mike Johnson on February 5, 2006. North’s career included over 1,000 drug arrests in which he was utilized for traffic, residential and school drug searches. North also made several felony tracking apprehensions of fleeing suspects sought by the department. He played a valuable role to the police department in the area of public relations by performing hundreds of K-9 public demonstrations for numerous school and civic groups.

By the way, I wasn’t slamming Certified Nursing Assistant’s (CNA’s) and certainly not specifically ones from Indiana as I was both. The work is hard, the pay is meager, that thanks are few, and the training I received was piss poor but that was also 22 years ago. I was just using it as a comparison.

Those Who Remain

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Those Who Remain by Ruth W. Crocker

In 1969, Ruth’s husband was killed in Vietnam. In her memoir, she describes her struggle to overcome her loss from a war that no one wanted to even talk about. After many years, she began to feel a compulsion to write down her story. Ruth found the process of “writing her memoir and looking for her personal ‘truth’ immensely restorative.”

Ruth has become a firm believer in the effect writing can have on healing from loss. Currently, she holds writing workshops for members of the Gold Star Wives of America. A Gold Star Wife is one who has lost her husband to combat as Ruth did. By her own statement, Ruth will be using the new book Expressive Writing: Words that Heal as the textbook for her upcoming workshops.

For more information on Expressive Writing: Words that Heal and the healing power of expressive writing, click below:

http://www.idyllarbor.com/agora.cgi?p_id=B712&xm=on

To view the very powerful and moving trailer for Ruth’s book, please visit youtube and search for thosewhoremain.