PTSD Resolution Video: Daily Telegraph

A must-see: Daily Telegraph: the impact of military trauma & how PTSD counselling resolves it http://is.gd/kcbvv9 - See how 8 out of 10 UK forces' veterans are successfully counselled who complete the PTSD Resolution programme. The only veteran's mental health charity to provide stats on results. It receives no Government, NHS or other public funding. Support a veteran: adopt PTSD Resolution as your nominated corporate charity web ptsdresolution.orgless

BBC 3 “Life after Helmand” (Wednesday 9pm): Comment by PTSD Resolution

PTSD Resolution (reg. charity No. 1133188), a charity formed specifically to provide counselling for forces’ veterans suffering from military PTSD, has warned that the current level of provision of care is failing many former servicemen and women.

As highlighted in BBC 3 “Life after Helmand”, symptoms of military trauma include flashbacks, nightmares and depression. Without appropriate help the result can be family breakdown, homelessness, criminality and even suicide.

Piers Bishop, director of counselling at PTSD Resolution, comments:

“ Current provision is still inadequate, by definition, because forces’ veterans are still suffering and in some cases sadly dying. The UK has to do more to reach people whose lives have been turned upside down by traumatic experiences in the services, and that means doing more at a local level, and that there's an important role for organisations that are not connected to central government.

“ Our experience at Resolution is that some traumatised soldiers are very wary of any dealings with the authorities, partly because they blame them for the trauma in the first place but also because if 'they' know about the extent of the trauma it might jeopardise future employment in the forces.  So organisations like Resolution, which work beneath the radar and resolve trauma locally, with an absolute minimum of cost, fuss, wait or bureaucracy, may well turn out to be very important in helping individuals returning from Afghanistan. Cost is just £500 for a complete programme on average.”

PTSD Resolution’s network of 200 counsellors operates nationwide to provide support to resolve military trauma, with a success rate of 8 out of 10 cases for veterans who complete the programme (Source: PTSD report 2012).

According to PTSD Resolution chairman Colonel Tony Gauvain (retired): “PTSD Resolution offers fast help, with an average of just five counselling sessions required on an outpatient basis. No referrals are needed. PTSD Resolution is a very lean organisation: there are no salaried staff or premises: funds are used for therapy and to provide support and information on the help available”.

For further information: PTSD Resolution www.ptsdgive.co.uk. Tel 0845 021 7873. e-mail sb@ptsdresolution.org

The Falklands: case study

We bring you case studies of treatment outcomes from PTSD Resolution counselling: This client presented with long-standing trauma dating back to the time of the Falklands war. At initial assessment expressed feelings of anxiety, low mood (said rarely smiles), failure to cope in general and specifically at work (was currently signed off sick with acute stress for 2 weeks), constantly thinking about the past and sleeping poorly, all of which were confirmed by psychometric assessment.

Treatment proposed and completed included: teaching deep relaxation and anxiety management; desensitisation to the traumatic events, using deep relaxation with focused attention and guided imagery, (rewind); rehearsal of future plans.

Following therapy psychometric reassessment indicated that the effect of the trauma was substantially reduced and now at a normal acceptable level. In keeping with this low anxiety, good mood, and well-being overall were all indicated, and the client reported that:

“I feel so different now, calmer, nowhere near as anxious, relaxed; everything is massively improved. The event will never go away but it doesn’t get me upset anymore, even when talking about it. I think I’m a different person now – I was panicked and not knowing what was happening to me. But not now, I’ve even been giving tips to colleagues at work on how to deal with sleep problems!”

Note: PTSD Resolution is a charity (No. 1133188) that offers counselling, with an 78% success rate, to UK armed forces’ veterans, TA, reservists and dependants, to relieve mental health problems resulting from military service, to ease reintegration into a normal work & family life.