Time to wrap up the week with the latest batch of news from around the CDP. This week we finished up the September edition of our eight-day "Topics in Deployment Psychology" training here in Bethesda. We'd like to thank all of our participants and presenters for making it a big success. Now it's time to start getting ready for the next session scheduled for the 3rd-12th of December!
Next Saturday, Oct. 6, Dr. Dave Riggs, Executive Director of the CDP, will be speaking in New York City for the Penn State Hershey College of Medicine. He will deliver an overview of PTSD. For more information, visit the site at:http://pennstatehershey.org/web/ce/home/programs/socialworkers.
Some time ago I was in a family’s living room talking to a group who had come to the US as war refugees. Many had been tortured before fleeing their homeland, before finding safe haven in the US. I had been invited there to talk about PTSD and effective treatment. Many in the room likely suffered with the disorder, but if so, called it “nervousness” and referred to themselves or those with the problem as, “he’s crazy now…too bad.”
The horrors of war, the deaths, imprisonment and torture leave an indelible mark on the human psyche. PTSD, however, a psychiatric diagnosis, does not have to be part of the lingering legacy of war. That was the main point of my talk…and to share resources for help.
The percentage of children in Department of Defense K-12 schools worldwide who received special education services in the school year 2011-2012, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report -- Military Dependents: Better Oversight Needed to Improve Services for Children with Special Needs.