Deployment Psychology Blog

Staff Perspective: Faith Heals - Integrating Spirituality to Treat Moral Injury Associated with Combat-Related PTSD

By Kimberly Copeland  on 26.06.2019 9:23 am
Kimberly A. Copeland, Psy.D.

During my recent research on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatments, I have been spending more time reading about moral injury and reflecting on therapeutic practices that incorporate tools such as forgiveness and spirituality into the healing process. I have worked with clients of different faith backgrounds and different spiritual practices. I am careful to ask questions in order to assess what this means to the individual, as I know my own faith expression and experience may be very different from their own. I have worked with clients who are Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, Wiccan and all have taught me a great deal and we have worked well together. If a client tells me their faith is important to them and wishes we integrate it into treatment, we work on this.

CDP News: 21 June 2019

By Christopher Adams  on 21.06.2019 10:56 am

Welcome to this week’s edition of CDP News! We like to use this space to review recent happenings in and around the Center for Deployment Psychology, while also looking ahead to upcoming events. It's the first official day of summer, but we're not slowing down any!

Research Update: 20 June 2019

By Shirl Kennedy  on 20.06.2019 10:37 am
Research Update Icon

The weekly Research Update contains the latest news, journal articles, useful links from around the web. As part of PTSD Awareness month, we've got a handful of specific PTSD-related topics and more! Some of this week's topics include:
● Comparative Efficacy and Acceptability of Pharmacological, Psychotherapeutic, and Combination Treatments in Adults With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Network Meta-analysis.
● Severity and Symptom Trajectory in Combat-Related PTSD: a Review of the Literature.
● Dealing With Complexity and Comorbidity: Comorbid PTSD and Substance Use Disorders.
● Patient-reported use of medical cannabis for pain, anxiety, and depression symptoms: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Staff Perspective: Addressing Anger in PTSD Treatment

By Laura Copland  on 19.06.2019 8:55 am

Let’s take a look at a specific model of CBT to treat anger. The premise of this treatment model is that anger develops from unmet expectations. Norman Cotterell, Ph.D., Clinical Coordinator, Beck Institute, puts it this way: “We expect people to treat us fairly and they don’t. We expect children to respect the wishes of their elders and they don’t. We expect the government to have our needs at heart and it doesn’t. Each time there is a gap between expectation and reality, anger is more than willing to fill in that gap. We may decline. We may accept. But it’s important to know that it’s a choice we are making” *. Perceived loss of control for getting important values met causes anger. 

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