Personal resilience—the ability to recover from stress, or painful, difficult experiences—is essential to resolving trauma. Resilience is a life skill that can be learned. Under contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs, our institute provided a year-long training in resiliency skills to treatment teams in eighteen medical facilities in New York and New Jersey. What happens when people, particularly caregivers, lose their resiliency? Under stress without relief, they can develop compassion fatigue or spiral into burnout. Compassion Fatigue Stress, compassion… Read More »

Have you ever wondered if something painful from your own past, which you can’t quite let go of, is evidence that you carry unresolved trauma? In this excerpt from my book, Trauma: Healing the Hidden Epidemic, I address some of the challenges of seeking treatment. I’ll continue this topic in by next post, as well. “If you have ever considered seeking treatment, even if you have yet to follow through with it, I acknowledge your courage. Facing reality and accepting… Read More »

Relationships and Trauma Excerpts from Trauma: Healing the Hidden Epidemic, by Peter M. Bernstein, PhD “Trauma and its psychological wounds often destroy relationships, families, and communities, even claiming lives.”                                  From Chapter 7: “A Note to Veterans and Their Loved Ones” Trauma affects, or almost “infects” relationships. The partners of individuals with unresolved trauma bear burdens that can be both practical and personal. Practical Burdens… Read More »