How to survive PTSD

 
CopShock: Second Edition
Surviving Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

by Allen R. Kates, MFAW, BCECR

 Journaling

Journaling, or writing your thoughts and feelings in a journal after you have experienced a traumatic event, is gaining in popularity and effectiveness. In CopShock, Second Edition, NYPD officer Jonathan Figureroa wrote down his thoughts after developing PTSD, and found that things didn’t look so bad after he was able to examine his feelings on paper. He has continued this practice almost daily.

The following book will be helpful to those with traumatic or acquired brain injury. Research is still underway to determine if a brain injury can cause Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

After Brain Injury: Telling Your Story A journaling workbook
by Barbara Stahura and Susan B. Schuster, M.A., CCC-SLP

   This workbook guides survivors of brain injury and blast injury through the powerful healing experience of telling their own stories with simple journaling techniques. By writing short journal entries, survivors explore the challenges, losses, changes, emotions, adjustments, stresses, and milestones as they rebuild their lives.

Sections include:
• changing sense of self
• loss, memory and resilience
• altered relationships with family and friends
• anger and emotions
• grief and loss
• facing the future
• building hope
• moving forward

   Journaling is a proven therapeutic tool used to explore one’s inner self by expressing emotions, confronting fears, relieving anxiety, coping with stress, celebrating successes, and preparing for new challenges. By writing for only a few minutes at a time, journalers can heal and cope with crises due to illness, death, or any life-altering event.

ISBN# 9781931117524. Pages 120 pages, 8½ x 11, perfect bound. Year 2009 Available at: http://www.lapublishing.com/tbi-survivor-journal. 919-562-0015. Also available at www.BarbaraStahura.com.

   Please click on Journaling Workshops in the above menu for information about Stahura and Schuster's outstanding courses. And please be sure to read Barbara's informative blog at http://journalafterbraininjury.wordpress.com.

   Another book--a memoir by one of the same authors--that shows the valuable role of journaling in real-life situations is:

What I Thought I Knew
by Barbara Stahura

   Whether describing her husband's near-fatal motorcycle accident and recovery from a brain injury, or her bare-ankled encounter with a rattlesnake, Barbara's words rise off the page. This heartfelt memoir, full of humor and insight, depicts a life charged with uncertainties and fears, bravery and joy, and what it's like to be a writer and more, what it's like to be human.
172 pages, Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing (September 26, 2008) ISBN-10: 1932279997  ISBN-13: 978-1932279993 6x9 trade paperback. Available at www.Amazon.com and www.BarbaraStahura.com.