The “flip side” of PTSD…making you stronger in the face of adversity… Resilience and self awareness!

by | Feb 12, 2014

Please support my mission of helping families who suffer from PTSD and moral injury…order my book, Reconciliation: A Son’s Story.  Click and order paperback or download Kindle version.  Buy my book at Barnes&Noble as well… Thank you! Steve Sparks, Author

Steve Sparks, speaking at the Lincoln City Cultural Center…

Survive and Thrive…as a family with PTSD…video clip  click on this link for Part I of my presentation…

Post-Traumatic Stress’s Surprisingly Positive Flip Side By JIM RENDON March 22, 2012 New York Times…  Powerful quote from this site…

Resilience…video clip… Testimonials…

“Beltran spent years in therapy and read many books about people who surmounted adversity, all of which, he says, helped him change. More recently, through classes and group therapy at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, he was introduced to the science and thinking behind this psychological change. “It’s given it a name,” Beltran said, “and has enhanced my personal development.” The name for Beltran’s change is post-traumatic growth. And the classes he takes are part of a $125 million Army-wide program called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness, which is intended to help soldiers become more resilient and to help them recognize how the trauma of combat can change them for the better. For years, Beltran carried photos of the explosion to remind himself of what he overcame. Now, he says, he carries those pictures to show to others. “I want to share my experience,” he told me. “Whatever knowledge or wisdom I have.”  

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I found this wonderful website article from the New York Times and also discovered the US Army’s “Comprehensive Soldier&Family Fitness” program and resource.  The above quote explains the value in just a few powerful words.  The program connected with me immediately because of my own personal experience as a military child in a toxic home.  It was also reinforcing because of the treatment and transformation I have experienced as a civilian over the past 3 years through researching and writing my book, starting this blog, and in participating in forums as a speaker.  The common thread with what the US Army is now offering in very proactive ways and my journey is “awareness” in self and others.  The value of human connectedness and in becoming more aware of our spiritual side as humans provides a perspective that begins to create a new, more resilient and highly positive life after trauma.  The work to accomplish big change is deliberate and requires discipline.  The benefits are enormous over time as is demonstrated in my video  along with the US Army testimonial video clip.  For me the greatest benefit in keeping the pain of past trauma at a safe distance is making a difference and helping others.  Standing alone and in silence is pure agony and best described in the below quote by Maya Angelou…  Please take the quality time to review the links and video clips provided in the post.  It might change your life forever…

Steve Sparks
Author
Reconciliation: A Son’s Story  click to order my book…





About the author

Steve Sparks is a retired information technology sales and marketing executive with over 35 years of industry experience, including a Bachelors’ in Management from St. Mary’s College. His creative outlet is as a non-fiction author, writing about his roots as a post-WWII US Navy military child growing up in the 1950s-1960s.
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