When I visualize a traditional therapist’s office, and then a military boot camp . . .
. . . I come up with two very different images.
It might seem obvious to those of us within the helping professions that, in order for treatment to be effective, we need to match the intervention to the person sitting in front of us.
But what if our own life experiences are so vastly different from our client’s that we’re barely speaking the same language?
And, is it possible we don’t even realize the degree to which unfamiliarity with another’s way of life impacts our ability to offer help?
That’s the situation my good friend Belleruth Naparstek found herself in when working with soldiers suffering from symptoms related to PTSD. She discovered that the typical approach we, as practitioners, take when working with soldiers didn’t translate well into the language and customs of the military.
I admire Belleruth because she didn’t allow unfamiliarity with military culture to stand in the way of getting help to wounded men and women who truly need it.
Her work offers an example of what can happen when we reach far beyond our own cultural inclinations and open our hearts to connect with the unfamiliar.
Take a look at the video below to see how she and one particular soldier bridged their communication gap in order to help him begin to find relief from PTSD.
Every time I post this video, people have asked where they can find these resources, so here’s the link.
Now I’m not an affiliate or anything, and if you decide to purchase anything from Belleruth or Health Journeys, I will not receive a commission. It’s just good stuff and I thought you’d like to know about it.
And there’s one more reason . . .
. . . according to the National Institute of Mental Health, millions of people in the United States suffer from
PTSD, but less than half of those diagnosed with the disorder have received treatment.
As we think about the sacrifices of men and women who have laid down their lives in military service, I also want to highlight the challenges that many face when they return home.
If you or someone you know is suffering from symptoms related to PTSD, I hope you’ll share this video with them.
Now I’d like to hear from you. How might Belleruth’s experience in working with Sergeant Rauls change your approach with clients suffering from PTSD? Please let us know in the comments section below.
Grateful for this. I will definitely use it with my military clients. Very timely. Thanks!
Bravo for Bellaruth for being willing to step out of her “comfortable usual.” My work over the past 6 years with Veterans and their partners has taught me more than I can say. I have been and remain profoundly moved by how committed these folks are to our country and to each other. My research partner William Collinge and I developed a program called Mission Reconnect that is available via webstream and mobile app. We got wonderful guidance by offering workshops with Veterans and their partners in multiple settings before finalizing the videos and audios that make up Mission Reconnect. Some things we tried had to be let go of and are not in the final program, and the reasons were varied. One “meditation” involved a sound that was too high-pitched for people with tinnitus to tolerate. Another addressed the sensitive issue of self-forgiveness, but we headed their too quickly for people with whom the relationship had not yet been developed, and would not be developed as the program is designed for folks to use in their own homes. We are deeply grateful for the guidance we were given. This program was just tested in a randomized clinical trial with 160 Veteran/partner dyads in four cities from San Diego to NYC. We found that Mission Reconnect usage significantly lowered PTSD scores, depression, perceived stress and more, while it increased self-compassion and the capacity to respond to stressful events. I feel honored to have created something that turns out to be useful to people, and I am very clear that we did not create this alone.
Bravo, Janet! So important to go about the creation of your intervention the way you did!! Can you provide a link or more info re how to check out this app. It sounds wonderful and sorely needed.
Best,
Belleruth
Thus is great and shows the importance of peer support. What a brilliant idea your patient came up with. Thanks to Dave and everyone else involved in this for publicising this breakthrough in trauma treatment.
Wonderful. thank you.
This made me laugh out loud in a good way! I’m not a professional therapist. I’m the daughter of a WWII soldier, and I’ve been through my own kinds of war. EMDR and DNRS helped greatly. But I could never easily get going with guided imagery; I scoffed at it. And now I know why.
Thank you for this. It makes so much sense and reminds me again of the first lesson in grad school,
“Start where the client is at.” sometimes the answers are staring at us in the room if we just take a pause and tune in..Amen to Belleruth for truly listening to Dave. Together you have created the start of a healing process like never before! And thank you Ruth for this platform. I feel so fortunate to have access to all of the information that is provided here. Gratefully yours.
Well done!
Thanks for sharing this video. Truly powerful when we understand another person’s journey… it is a great intro. Really sums up even for hard core Type A civilians who believe their invincible stories, see no reason to relinquish their hold on them to open up and unwittingly deprive themselves of the ability to connect with the true self. I know of what I speak. When I was told multiple times to seek help to address my emotional pain after decades of successive losses, I stubbornly ignored this option until the health of my mind, body and heart became severely compromised after being depleted physically, emotionally and spiritually along with setbacks after multiple surgeries. Very thankful for the one thing that saved me; my relentless pursuit to find a way to heal my broken spirit and heart, learn to love, to comfort my grief and to have compassion for my vulnerabilities. Through health professionals, supportive family, friends, research and resources like NICABM I am building new pathways in connecting to uncovering the essence of my true self. Therefore deeply appreciate this village that continues to raise me up and give me support and encouragement.
On this Memorial Day weekend as well as all year round I retain the outlook to be in honor to all members of the military like Dave in the video… who are and have served our country or lost their lives like my brother, Capt. Merton Cabot Harris. I am in deep gratitude for your service in keeping our country safe!!
Hello, Belleruth here. I so appreciate the thoughtful insights and sharing of clinical experiences in this forum (not to mention the generous encouragement)!!
And hearing from delightful old colleague-friends like Doug Canterbury-Counts, whom I forgot I met at a John Wellwood workshop on relationships, eons ago!! What a pleasure!
Many thanks to NICABM for providing the platform and making it all possible.
We’re getting scores of emails, asking for the specific audio program that has Dave Raul’s intro on it. So I’m posting it here to save a little time:
It’s called Mind-Body Exercises for Self-Mastery and it can be found here.
>
Thanks again to everyone for the interest, enthusiasm and insights. All best, BR
This was excellent. Having gotten to know some ex-soldiers, it makes perfect sense. It is also interesting to hear the metacommunication in the way his voice softens through the course of the introduction. It meets the client where s/he is and gradually paces them down to a level where they can more easily assimilate the imagery. What a great guy and how wonderful that Belleruth was able to recognize what he had to offer.
Thank you for sharing this video. I think it will be very helpful in working with first responders.
Bellaruth’s description of Sgt Rauls was so helpful. He reminds me of a 65 y/o Viet Nam Vet that I see. He is the tough guy who wants help but believes it’s not possible for him. He’s been through too much loss and feels too betrayed by the VA. Also, he grew up with an abusive alcoholic father. He has seen multiple therapists in the past but never stayed. He has made some progress but not enough to give him relief from his lifelong PTSD and chronic depression. As I listened to your recording, I realized that he needs a Way In to be able to receive permission for Self Soothing.
I believe he would do well with your and Sgt Raul’s PTSD relief recording.
Thanks so much for your video.
I thought this was great. I would’ve liked to of heard Ruth’s guided imagery as well
How powerful this is! Allowing ourselves to understand the cultural implications of individuals is so critical to the success of our clients. This is such a stellar example of this. It also takes humility on our part as therapists to recognise when we need to listen to our clients-we can learn so much from them. The soldier used the drill as an anchor whichin mindfulness work allows the client to orient themselves to a space providing calm and a kind of resolved focus . This will allow them to gain greater value from the guided imagery. Thanks for sharing!
If you work with a parent of a Murdered child I need your help. There is very little published literature on this topic from the parent view regarding therapies used. I need to complete my dissertation and need three more volunteers to interview for one hour. I’ve been interviewing my very few volunteers since January 2015 to get to the total of five licensed therapists. Please help this field by offering your expertise. Call, text or email for a package to review.
Pat Griffin 667-315-5688
Patgriffin2014@gmail.com
I love this! I wish I had heard this before guided imagery. I am a soft spoken individual and some people assume I’ve had an easy, peaceful, life. Even being a soft spoken person who projects peace, I thought guided imagery was a bit of fluff. I gave it a chance because my therapist, who had earned my trust over time, encouraged me to just stick with it. I found it to be extremely powerful, over time. I grew up in a hard assed home with unspeakable violence and had severe PTSD in my 20’s. EMDR, therapeutic breathing, Reiki, counseling, guided imagery and acupuncture helped me so that I no longer suffer nor take meds. Thank you for sharing this. I love it!
I studied with Akhter Ahsen for three years and have used Eidetic Imagery for years. It is the essence of so many treatments – including EMDR and Energy Psychology. I have Belleruth’s book and love her work. He has written many many books back as far as the 50’s.
Carrie
This is a great example of adapting to the person we are with. Not one way for all. This can be true for the language of youth as well as people from other countries and cultures. I learned so much from doing groups with men who were mandated for group therapy and as the only woman had to find a way to connect with them. Thank you for this piece.
I love this! I am not a veteran and that specific introduction wasn’t directed at me but it still resonated very much. One of the biggest issues I’ve had seeking help from mental health professionals is that it’s so obvious they don’t understand my reality. They assume their world is also my world, with the result often being that if I don’t accept the help they offer, or I try it out and it doesn’t work, I’m to blame basically. Because they “know” the methods work and if they don’t I most be the one doing it wrong. Examination if the method is in fact suited for me and my needs rarely happens. I have a similar experiences from self help and/or spiritual practises that are often made by well meaning, but fairly functional and rather priviliedged, people not taking more complex psychological issues into account. I really see it as a cultural problem in both cases, not being aware of how your laguage and use of it can in fact be excluding or alienating for a lot of people you are trying to help.
I really appreciated this post, thank you.
I found it interesting, since our subconscious mind associates its feelings with the set and setting that already knows. A smooth way of desensitizing former associations with pain, hopeless and helpless feelings of isolation, and suicidal urge that no longer is serving the highest best of this population.
This really gives food for thought and I can so relate to it from the perspective of treating rage full clients who I often have to meet before taking to a calmer place.
A wonderful example of real collaborative healing.
So honoring – really connecting with the wisdom and experience of those who have the courage to heal themselves.
As a mindfulness, somatic based psychotherapist from a working class background I’m delighted that the field of trauma is shifting what has often felt like a middle-class and top-down approach to well-being.
Yes. Thank you.
Very impressive. Cultural gaps are all around and we seldom acknowledge them. This is a good example
Silvia
Really love this intro! Many clients I see believe my life has just been sitting in a chair at a desk. It’s when we are able to connect as humans, imperfect beings living daily challenges that stretch us, threaten us and make us work, that the sessions get traction. I believe in meeting the client where they are and help guide them to where they want to be. If they can share any kind of future thought at all, at least we are on the way to keeping them safe and can create a commitment with them, a pact, to keep them safe. Then as helpers its up to us to further build that relationship of trust, dignity and respect with them. When we move in that direction, the sky’s the limit. Over the last 9 years I have worked with many survivors of trauma and violence as children. By the time they get to me as adults, there can be many years and layers of mental health issues, addiction, crime, sexual issues, children they’ve had and further violence added to the mix. The process of excavation begins with the help of many community supports, but the bottom line is developing that relationship of trust and respect. Just as they are.
I loved the intro. I work with 14 adolescent girls who average an 8 on the ACES. I want to try this guided imagery them as another tool to help them deal their trauma.
Thank you for this. So helpful to think outside the box and have the courage to try something different.
This entire video and this man’s intro are just fantastic. Nice work!
But the cultural divide with a lot of therapists and those with PTSD isn’t only with those who have been in the military. A lot of the differences are class differences as well as military culture.
I’m not a veteran, though my father was, but this speaks to me.
I hope other therapists will learn from Belleruth Naparstek and read her book, Invisible Heroes. The reason SO MANY survivors of trauma, like me, ADORE her is because she listens. I have not met in her person. I mean she listens to what we say about what works and doesn’t.
YEARS and YEARS and YEARS ago she was trying all these different techniques, knowing and SAYING that talk therapy is not only not helpful but sometimes makes people feel worse. Therapists often don’t listen to us when we say that and many did not listen to her. It’s a shame but I’m glad people are listening now.
And, with social media, we survivors of trauma can share with one another, directly, and tell each other about the tools and approaches that work, like hers, which is great.
I just want to encourage ANY therapist who isn’t having a lot of success with trauma survivors to read her book. She gets it (as does Sebern Fisher) in a way few do. It’s a marked relief from most in the profession and I’m SO GLAD she’s getting the air time and respect she deserves for the work she’s done so long and well and affordably for so many of us.
Christine “Cissy” White
Trauma Survivor, Health Activist, Writer with a Guided Imagery practice that wonderfully.
We find our calling in live in the strangest of places. Thank you Dave for being part of the solution.
‘Safe spaces’ also work wonders for women who need to go deep inside and re-discover their power.
S
Thank you for this powerful example of collaboration between so different worlds.
Thank you also for your continuos work in deepening the understanding of trauma and all its different layers and dimensions
Hoo Rah!! … I met Belleruth at a weekend on meditation and psychotherapy with John Welwood somewhere around 1985 … what a gift she has been to me personally and professionally in the years since … this addition by Top is a real asset or the many who just can’t get started … I’ve got two men right now that are going to get this link as another vehicle that may help their own healing … the link itself is therapeutic in the true sense of the word … tending the Garden …
… and thanks to Ruth and all the grunts that keep NICABM serving us all ..
Sending the Love,
Sgt. Doug Canterbury-Counts, USMC 69-75
This is terrific!!
Ruth C. Greenthal, Ph.D.
Licensed clinical psychologist
My wife sent me a link to this…WOW! That was something I have never experienced in therapy, that’s why I quit going.
MSgt thank you, excellent presentation, I’d have a drink with you any day!
I use a technique call Bonny method of guides imagery and music. Music becomes the therapist. The first piece we play has to be where the person is at the moment. Sadness, anger, what ever emotion he is bringing. The they can go to deeper places and heal.
Is it’s important to be with our clients wherever they are.
YEA!! Bonny Method!! I have to wonder if a marching induction might not be a wonderful way to connect the kinesthetics of tension with the grounding of repetitive motion and then on into the deeper working pieces.
I am very impressed with what has been presented here. As a therapist and with a son in the National Guard and a police officer, I can truly see the value in the way this tool has been presented to assist this population.
In my opininion, to be able to meet someone where they are is so rewarding for a therapist. Validation at its best!
Hi all, I am in my last year of a Master’s in clinical counseling degree, emphasizing somatic psychology. I so appreciate this is brilliant and back to basics approach. I find it more than appropriate for the population it is intended for. To me, this is truly meeting the client where they are at.
Thanks for changing the status quo, getting real, and sharing this us. I am excited to be entering the field in this exciting time of reinvention and authenticity.
Blessings and peace.
Thanks for sharing this. It’s an eye-opener.
Fantastic!
This will even help me as an art teacher caring about the trauma students have have and are unable to move forward.
Thanks so very much.
What a wonderful enlightening for this man.I feel some force came to him that made sense. And with that awakening he was able to make it his own and his and other comrades. I wish that he my Fathers time of war there could have been help for him. World War 11.United States Marine. I know loss too, my Dad could not take it and he left my Mom and me.I salute the Men and Women and I will always remember. Thank you Dave
Wha
If you haven’t been in the military you probably don’t have a clue about the reality of immersion in that world especially if it involved active warfare and even if it didn’t.
My take: it’s best to let the vets guide you with regard to what’s what.
Integrate that with your therapeutic methodology and you’re likely to help both yourself and the veteran.
Stay open.
Phil
I really like this video. I have seen a number of videos that offer approaches to clients with military or paramilitary background. I work with injured workers and many are construction workers who find this “touchy feely stuff” difficult to get into. I agree that meeting people where they are is a more beneficial way than stating this will help you and the client either feels a failure or is angry with the approach.
As both a clinical social worker and mother of a Marine, I thank you so much for showing us another way to approach military members and their families. Often we try to model ourselves after the psychotherapy “experts” to feel secure that we are doing things (like guided imagery) the”right” way. This is one area where applying the conventional approaches doesn’t really mean you are doing it “right”! Thanks for reminding us to “start where the client is”. (Funny, I heard that in “Social Work 101” over thirty years ago! You think it’d be easier to live it out in my practice. Appreciate the reminder!
Hah!! I learned it in Social Work 101, too, Patty! Not sure I knew exactly what they were talking about, I suppose, but I thought I did, and that was good enough for me! Thanks for the wise commentary.
I SUFFER FROM PTSD. I HAVE OFTEN HEARD SO-CALLED HELPFUL ADVICE FOR IT. MOST OF THE TIME, I DISCARDED IT AS COMING FROM SOMEONE WHO KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT IT, AS COMING FROM A PLACE OUT OF TOUCH WITH MY REALITY. I AM NOT A SOLDIER AND HAVE NO MILITARY EXPERIENCE. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE HERE. ALTHOUGH FOREIGN TO ME, I CAN RECOGNIZE HOW TRUE I CAN SOUND FOR THOSE IT IS INTENDED TO. IT TOUCHES THEIR CORE. IT TAKES THEM HOME. IT CONNECTS THEM TO WHAT THEY KNOW AND RESPECT AND GIVE OR GAVE MEANING TO THEIR LIVES. IN IT, THERE IS A CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF SAFETY AND, FROM IT, THEY CAN RELAX AND LET GO.
Wow. Thank you for this heartfelt and brainy summary..
Wishing you well.
BR
THANKS FOR YOUR OWN COMMENT. I FEEL TOUCHED THAT I COULD SPEAK FROM BOTH MY HEART AND MY HEAD IN AN INTEGRATED WAY AND THAT THIS WAS PERCEIVED BY YOU. IF YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PERSONALITY ENNEAGRAM, I AM A TYPE 4 (HEART) WITH A 5 WING (HEAD). I HAVE STRUGGLED ALL MY LIFE WITH THESE TWO AS THEY WERE ALWAYS IN SOME DISCONNECT. I MAY HAVE FINALLY SUCCEEDED AT BRINGING THEM TOGETHER SOMEHOW.
NOTE: THERE IS A ‘T’ MISSING IN MY INITIAL RESPONSE SO THAT MY TEXT SHOULD READ AS FOLLOW: “… HOW TRUE IT CAN SOUND…”
Yes, thank you. I tried to express something similar in my comment but this really touched me. Thank you for expressing it so well.
thank you for these videos. i find them most helpful in my practice
This is really interesting. I have recently had several clients with PTSD, a soldier, a policeman and an EMT- I am really curious about whether a guided imagery cd with an intro like this might help. Thanks for the introduction and link.
Of Course! For Sure! Cultures, especially democratic cultures, include diversity. So we open our hearts and we let all sorts and styles enjoy the day. We modify our ways to get the job done. Focus on the goal – communion – and maybe a little bit of consecration.
Love that. Communion and Consecration. Yes.
Excellent stuff!
Has me in tears listening to Dave’s honest, true voice expressing himself I his way, knowing the pain he has been through, and admiring his perseverance and willingness to “try anything” and them find a way to help others who might not hang in fit what seems like too much softness. Dave’s voice will speak to so many.
Bless you Dave. And bless you Belleruth Naparstek!
Holly Seerley, MFT
Also a survivor of family suicide & PTSD
And bless you, Holly. xo
Very good!