"Collaboratory" Journalism That Matters in the Pacific Northwest and Beyond

Virginia Pellegrino, Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Who speaks for the public if no journalist is listening?

This is but one of the questions posed by a group of journalists, educators, new media producers, artists and members of the community who have come together to explore the media landscape in the Pacific Northwest. This unconference organized by Journalism that Matters is entitled: Re-imagining News and Community in the Pacific Northwest and is taking place at the University of Washington January 7-10.

At the heart of the conference is the central question, What is possible when journalists and the public come together? At a time when the basic underpinnings of mainstream journalism seem to be coming undone, this conference offers an opportunity to break through the fear of change and begin to recognize what is emerging in our changing news environment. Words like trust, passion, collaboration and possibility all have been identified as important ingredients in the evolution of what's next. And the questions that are being posed by those attending the conference offer a window on this time of transformation and re-invention.

And so, each morning we were asked to submit a question to the mix, to share our passion and/or interests and take responsibility by spearheading a break-out session around it.

Coverage of the First Joint DoD/VA National Mental Health Summit

A selection of press clipping on this past week's watershed conference, and, in extended, you can view Gates' and Shinseki's opening statements in full. First up, Thom Shanker, New York Times At War: Notes From the Front Lines:

In his most extensive comments on mental health challenges facing American forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that many military personnel fear a stigma if they seek help for psychological injuries.

And he criticized a government and military bureaucracy that is “frustrating, adversarial and unnecessarily complex” — even for those who actively seek assistance.

The critique was delivered by Mr. Gates as the keynote address during a “Mental Health Summit” convened by Eric K. Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs who previously served as Army chief of staff.

The two secretaries have pledged that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs would improve how they share information so that the delivery of benefits could be streamlined, even as both acknowledged that the two current, long wars have brought attention to the types of invisible injuries often ignored in the past.

The fighting in Afghanistan now has surpassed the length of the Revolutionary War by about three weeks, Mr. Gates noted, making it the longest conflict in the nation’s history fought with an all-volunteer force.

Quick Impressions from the Survivor Corps Veterans Community Reintegration Summit

Great things happening at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., today and into tomorrow as an historic conference has gotten underway. Its aim: Foster synergy among a wide range of stakeholders to better serve the reintegration needs of returning veterans and military families.

To do this, barriers and competition between entities need to be breached and broken down into a laser-focused 'megacommunty' made up of the federal, state, and local government sectors; large and small businesses; national and community-based NGOs and nonprofits; media (national, local and new); health care providers; educational institutions; veterans service organizations and veterans/military families.

Swift Warrior, Healing Heart: Hand2Hand Contact's Alison Lighthall Presents at the 11th Annual Force Health Protection Conference

This is a long, long delayed post on an extraordinary individual, doing heartfelt and much-needed work to bring the public's attention to combat PTSD. My greatest appreciation for her and her work, and apologies this took so long to get online.

Beginning tomorrow in Albuquerque, New Mexico, attendees of the 11th Annual Force Health Protection Conference (free conference to military and civilian alike) will be in for a great treat. Alison Lighthall, founder of Hand2Hand Contact, presents "10 Things You Can Do If You Only Have 10 Minutes: Healing Interventions That Can Be Done With Veterans Anytime, Anywhere."

"Healing the Hidden Wounds" Symposium to Unite Nashville Military and Private Veterans' Caregivers

Happy Armed Forces Day, everyone.

On Thursday, I buttoned up my semester at NIU.

This weekend, I'm busy preparing for my upcoming "Healing the Hidden Wounds" veteran symposium presentation. Organized by Nashville Public Television, NAMI Tennessee and YMCA/Restore Ministries, the summit aims to raise awareness of existing resources for active duty personnel and veterans from all branches of military service and to begin forging partnerships between the Veterans Administration and community mental health agencies.

Montana Working to Destigmatize PTSD, Holds Its Largest Combat PTSD Conference in November

From the Helena Independent:

When Carroll Jenkins looks back over the past six years, he can’t help but credit the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks for creating a broader understanding of post traumatic stress disorder. For a psychotherapist specializing in PTSD, that’s a good thing.

“It seems like our society has to get hit right upside the head, pretty hard, to get it,” Jenkins said Friday. “I think we’ve got it this time. I’ve been battling this sucker for years. To see people sit around talking about PTSD the way they are now — we’re destigmatizing it.”

Jenkins was recently contracted by the Montana National Guard to help train therapists across the state in recognizing and dealing with PTSD.

Now, nearly a month later, he’ll help the Montana Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers in a related conference to be held in Helena next month.

John Wilkinson, executive director of NASW-MT, said the organization will host what’s believed to be the largest conference ever held in the state dedicated entirely to post-combat stress and veteran care.

NYC Veteran? Two Upcoming Events for Your Calendar

Supporters of the Moving a Nation to Care project are most likely aware of my upcoming book signing (I prefer to think of it as a community gathering) taking place at the NYC-Greenwich Village Barnes & Noble on May 18, 2007 -- the day before Armed Forces Day. Paul Rieckhoff's IAVA are sponsering my stop and Paul himself has offered to introduce me if his schedule allows. What an honor! (I'm really getting excited about the tour, and have a few more stops to pass along to you in a coming post.)

Another NYC event, the 23rd Annual “Hidden Client Conference,” follows on June 18, 2007. I was recently contacted by Joe Bello, an area veterans advocate and member of the group NY Metro Vets, a YahooGroup with about 250 members. He wrote to send me an event flyer and pass along the details, which includes the news that author Trish Wood is one of the keynote speakers. Highly recommend taking the time to make the event if for nothing else but this treat. She is marvelous. Thanks, Joe!

Details:

The 24th Annual “Hidden Client Conference”
Organized by the Manhattan Vet Center
Date: Monday, June 18, 2007
Theme: “PTSD Re-Deployed: Our Continued Committment”
Place: Hunter College School of Social Work (129 East 79th Street - Lexington & 79th Street) [directions]
Time: 8 am - 9 am Registration
9 am- 4 pm Programs
Keynote Speakers: Trish Wood, author of What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War and the Soldiers Who Fought It and Miklos F. Losonczy, MD, PhD, associate chief of staff for mental health and behavioral sciences at the New Jersey VA.
Workshops: Download flyer for details.
More Information: Contact Jack Maloney at (212) 742-9591.

Register Now for May's 15th Annual International Military and Civilian Combat Stress Conference

March 31 is fast approaching -- the early registration deadline for the 15th Annual International Military and Civilian Combat Stress Conference. It will take place this year at the South Mesa Staff Club at Camp Pendleton (Oceanside), California, from Friday, 4 May though Thursday, 10 May.

Themes include supporting our war fighters and their families, terrorism, combat stress, Operation Iraqi Freedom issues, and PTSD. For more information and a registration form, please download the PDF brochure, or visit Continuing Education Central.

Click on 'Article Link' below tags for details...

Details:

15th Annual International Civilian & Military Combat Stress Conference

Supporting Our War Fighters & Their Families, Terrorism, Combat Stress, Operation Iraqi Freedom Issues, PTSD

Friday-Thursday, May 4-10, 2007

Earn up to 8 CE/CME Hours Per Day for Physicians, Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs), Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs), and Nurses

South Mesa Staff Club • Camp Pendleton • Oceanside, California

HIGHLIGHTS
• Special Guest Presentation by Duane “Dewey” R. Clarridge...Former head of the CIA’s Counter-Terrorism Center & Author of A Spy For All Seasons: My Life In The CIA
• Invited Guests & Statesman and Stateswomen To Be Announced
• “A Show For Family Support” Variety Show on Saturday Night
• Living Military History From Rome to Current Era: How Combat Stress And Family Support Was Addressed
• Weekend Conference Featuring 18 Plenary Sessions
• Choose From Six One-Day Courses and Seven Two-Day Programs
• Earn Up To Eight C.E. Hours Per Day

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
This annual multi-disciplinary event brings the leading mental health professionals and chaplains in the military together to share their clinical expertise dealing with combat stress, the threat of terrorism, PTSD, and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

This combat stress conference is the longest running and one of the best of it’s kind in the world. Throughout the years, this seven-day conference has trained both military and civilian staff to provide services to military personnel suffering from the various combat stress problems as well as civilian disaster victims. The focus, as you can see from the attached brochure, is not only combat stress issues, but also other issues like family support. A recent professional medical journal estimated that 400,000 military personnel would be in need of mental health services by 2008. As you can see—now more than ever—there is a need for this conference to continue to train both civilian and military staff to address this present and continuing need.

Some highlights of the 2007 conference include a Special Guest Presentation by Duane “Dewey” R. Clarridge—the former head of the CIA’s Counter-Terrorism Center and the Author of A Spy For All Seasons: My Life In The CIA...plus other invited guests, statesman and stateswomen. And, this year we have added “A Show For Family Support” Variety Show on Saturday Night as well as a Living Military History From Rome to Current Era: How Combat Stress And Family Support Was Addressed. The weekend conference features 18 plenary sessions and during the week you can choose from seven one-day courses and five two-day program. And, if you're a licensed medical or mental health professional, you can earn up to 8 hours of continuing education each day.

CONTACT
Michael P. Dennis, M.A.
Continuing Education Liaison
15th Annual International Military & Civilian Combat Stress Conference
Toll Free in the U.S. & Canada: (800) 547-2736
Direct: (714) 377-3767

Worth taking the time to attend if your schedule permits.

Online Combat Stress Counseling for Troops Coming in July

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Here's a future scene from the Iraq battlefield, circa July 2007: A U.S. soldier battles against the enemy all day long. At night, after returning to base, he's troubled by what he's seen. But he knows better than to speak up.

Just outside the view of his fellow soldiers, he logs on to a virtual therapy Web site provided by the military called afterdeployment.org. He knows that if his comrades see him talking with one of the shrinks on base, they would lose trust in him, label him a head case. A medical file soon would contain records of the visit. If he ever wanted a promotion, he'd have to explain the weakness of his mind.

Or that's the thinking among the male-dominated, therapy-averse troops, according to researchers, therapists and military psychologists who met at the fifth annual Military Suicide Prevention Conference in Hollywood, Fla., last week. Attendees discussed how to stem military suicides -- in 2005 alone, the last year for which there are confirmed figures, 22 service members killed themselves in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.

While I applaud new ways for the military to reach out and provide mental health services to our troops, a resource like this does nothing to chip away at the biggest hurdle to their getting the help they need: the military culture of stigmatization and fear.

Click on 'Article Link' below tags for more...

Continuing:

"If you told me to try therapy when I was 22, I would have told you you were the crazy one," said Keith Armstrong, a family therapist at UC San Francisco who spoke at the conference. He is one of the authors of the recently published "Courage After Fire," a book that helps families and soldiers cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Armstrong said the military's Web site, which will include an on-screen therapist who can appear in video workshops, will not have the nuance and feel of face-to-face meetings between client and therapist. But, he added, "If a large portion of your population won't step foot into a therapist's office in the first place, maybe this is the precursor to therapy that's necessary."

The Web site has been under construction for two years as part of a Congressional mandate to address post-traumatic stress disorder and after studies showed that soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were reluctant to visit field counselors for fear of being stigmatized by their peers, said Air Force Col. Dr. Robert Ireland, program director for mental health policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Defense.

Please read the whole piece; very informative.


Related Posts

• CBS Evening News Reports on Virtual Reality Therapy for Combat PTSD
  
• Editorial Chimes in on Psychological Kevlar Act and Virtual Reality Therapy
  
• ABC World News Looks at Combat Stress Care
  
• Guardian/BBC Documentary Shows Combat's Stress and Strain
  
• "Brain Rangers" Honored for Treating OIF Combat Stressed Troops
  
• Times Argus: Some Troops Self-Medicating in Field
  
• Combat Stress Causes Brain Changes
  
• Combat Fallout: Acute Stress Reaction and PTSD
  
• NPR's On Point: Troops in Combat Zone on Anti-Depressants
  
• What Makes Iraq Combat Stress Unique?
  
• After Haditha: Shift in Combat Zone Stress Treatment
  
• Scientific American: A Look at the Work of Combat Psychologists
  
• Army Field Manual: Combat Stress Control Scope & Definitions
  
• Combat Stress: A Look Back at the New England Medical Journal Study
  
• Combat Stressed? Virtual Reality Therapy May Help
  
• Emory University Investigates New Iraq Vet PTSD Treatment
  

Feb. 16: National Symposium on Combat Stress Injuries

From Newswire Services:

The National Veterans Foundation has announced that it will co-sponsor the 2nd Annual “National Symposium on Combat Stress Injuries: Addressing the Challenges, Explaining the Solutions, and Managing the Injuries,” on February 16th at the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee. [current schedule]

Hosted by the Florida State Traumatology Institute, the symposium is designed to encourage wider understanding about the barriers to care and proven treatment models for veterans dealing with emotional and psychological scars, and to foster greater collaboration between the military, private clinicians, academics, and veterans service providers----each of whom play a vital role in helping warfighters recover and thrive after their combat experiences.

Well over a dozen of the world’s leading researchers and practitioners in the field of military mental health will present research findings at this year’s event---including FSU Traumatology Institute Director Dr. Charles Figley, Marine Corps Operational Stress Control and Readiness (OSCAR) Program Director Captain William Nash, the University of Tel Aviv’s award winning PTSD researcher Dr. Zahava Solomon, and University of Southern California’s virtual reality innovator Professor Skip Rizzo.

Topics ranging from the military’s role in detection and management of mental health problems on the battlefield, who, why and when certain soldiers are affected, the use of innovative virtual reality tools in treating PTSD, Post-Deployment Health Assessment for military personnel, secondary trauma in the children of veterans, the effect of PTSD on veterans who commit criminal acts, treatment models for veterans suffering from combat stress injury , and the unique challenges facing deployed citizen soldiers—guardsman and reservists, will all be covered during this day long event.

More information in this PDF brochure.

Reporting on Today's Changing Journalism

Some quick links to share my coverage of the Journalism That Matters and National Conference for Media Reform gatherings in Memphis earlier this month. Most recent report at the top, filed just a few hours ago with ePluribus Media:

• War on Press -- Press on War
  
• Looking Back on Memphis - Part I - Journalism That Matters (part II is still in the works...)
  
• Live From Memphis: Journalism That Matters

Will have more on the latest in PTSD news through the night...

Back from Memphis - Journalism That Matters

After dealing with some technical difficulties that prevented me from posting while I was away in Memphis attending both the Journalism That Matters sessions [pictures] and the National Conference for Media Reform [pictures] from Thursday through Sunday, I'm finally back online...and boy do I have some updates to deliver!

Friday night I posted a quick commentary at ePluribus Media on the happenings in Memphis, focusing on the movement of traditional and independent editors and journalists, J School educators, media reformers and citizen journalists working together to improve the news reporting process in these times of great change.

The next day I covered the Press at War & War on the Press panel, which included Eric Boehlert, Sonali Kolhatkar, Geneva Overholser, Paul Rieckhoff, and Helen Thomas. Listen to the full audio recording of it, now available at the Free Press conference website, and look for my full post on the panel tomorrow.