Tag Archives | behavior change from deployment

Healing Combat Trauma with Humorous Stories and Laughter

Soldiers Peter Nemmers, Morgan Bright and Matthew Hildebrandt from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division laugh while preparing to depart from Iraq at Imam Ali Base on December 17.(Mario Tama/Reuters)

Soldiers Peter Nemmers, Morgan Bright and Matthew Hildebrandt from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division laugh while preparing to depart from Iraq at Imam Ali Base on December 17. (Mario Tama/Reuters)

The last place you would probably expect to find a standup comedian would be in an Army uniform. But there I was for the better part of a decade, trying to make one of the most dangerous chapters of my life a laughing matter. Not because I didn’t take the Army seriously, much to the contrary. I took it very seriously, which is why when the laughter stopped I was in big trouble. Continue Reading →

Saved By My Own Story

Kela Holmes - U.S. Army Veteran

Kela Holmes – U.S. Army Veteran

It has been a painfully slow climb out of darkness. For a really long time, I allowed past traumas to run my life. Bad stuff happened. Years went by. I couldn’t get beyond it. That’s called stuck.  And being stuck sucks. Continue Reading →

The Journey Begins Before the Uniform Comes Off

Up-front-and-early2Joe read the Go Army ads and enlisted. He’s a good guy. Not Harvard or Stanford material, but a hard worker, a guy who knows that courage is acting in spite of fear. He was also thinking about the post-deployment perks when he signed the papers.

So he goes through kick-butt training, gets deployed, gets knocked down, and two years later comes home with PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury.

Continue Reading →

The Healing Power Of Stories

Dr. Gerard Gibbons, Director/Author

Our team here at EmotiveStorytelling.com has just spent two days filming and recording the stories of eleven Veterans, most of whom have seen and survived the worst of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It was an extraordinary experience that deeply touched all of us who were involved.  Each of these Vets has suffered lasting consequences of their combat experience, including Post-Traumatic Stress, mTBI and other emotional pain associated with combat or trauma. Continue Reading →