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MERRITT CENTER HELPS VETERANS RETURN TO "LIFE
AS
USUAL" -- This retreat attempts to help the
veteran create a new
structure by addressing four areas, the
physical, mental,
emotional and spiritual in a four-weekend
program.
Betty Merritt
For more about PTSD, use the VA Watchdog search
engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=ptsd&op=and
Story here...
http://www.paysonroundup
.com/section/frontpage_lead/story/30679
Story below:
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Merritt Center helps veterans return to 'life
as usual'
by Marie Fasano
For the Roundup
It has been called shell shock, or post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), but it's well known that sometimes after veterans have been in
the fire of combat, they have difficulty coming back to "life as usual."
The Returning Veterans Program at the Merritt Center speaks to this
issue and, with veterans as mentors, is available to any veteran for
free.
Veterans from any war or conflict may come home and bury their feelings,
only to have them resurface at stressful times in their lives. Some
veterans have nightmares and sleep disorders that cause them to wake up
to "check the perimeter" of their homes several times a night. Some feel
anger and rage, others say "I feel nothing."
"Turning off the switch is not that easy." said Anthony, a Purple Heart
and Vietnam veteran, who was first a participant, and now acts as a
mentor in this vet program at the Center.
The Merritt Center and Lodge is a nonprofit retreat center in Star
Valley, founded in 1987 by Betty Merritt for individual or group renewal
and empowerment. Workshops and retreats conducted there over the years
have provided an atmosphere conducive to personal growth.
The 13-acre Merritt Center offers a home-like, simple retreat in a rural
area of Star Valley near Payson that allows the participants the freedom
of forest exploration, a family-like setting for meals and small, but
welcoming, accommodations.
In talking about the Returning Veterans Program, Betty said, "This is a
unique resource because we provide a safe space and provide a place for
trust to develop quickly." All the people who work in this program are
volunteers -- from the people who conduct the daily programs, to those
who facilitate the groups and cook the meals.
Betty learned from the vets that, "Combat is nasty stuff," and with the
help of veterans, she started the program because, for her, and others,
"War hurts my heart."
One Marine combat vet who served two tours in Vietnam played a part in
the early development of the program. He said," I was encouraging and
supportive of Betty's wish to help our returning brothers and sisters of
these current conflicts." He thinks it is important to help the
returning veteran early by those who have "been there," rather than deny
the trauma of PTSD and the effect it has on others.
Betty's energy is boundless. She conducts the programs and often cooks
healthy home-style meals herself. In her empowerment programs, she
teaches what she calls the Cycle of Life. During the sessions, the
participants ask themselves three questions. Who am I? Why am I here?
What do I value? She teaches, "We do not have to be a victim. We can
dream to create a new structure."
This retreat attempts to help the veteran create a new structure by
addressing four areas, the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual in
a four-weekend program. There is time to talk, walk around the grounds
and in the forest, relax in the hammocks, eat healthy snacks anytime and
learn exercises and techniques to help them at home. When they leave
they have phone numbers of the veteran mentors and others from the
program that they can call 24 hours a day.
Time to walk in the forest
For the physical sessions, they take walks in the forest and learn
Trauma Release Exercises (TRE). David Berceli developed the TRE tools
and has years of experience in trauma intervention. He has conducted
post-deployment training in combat operational stress for the military.
David conducted the TRE for the first Vet program at the Merritt center
and trained one of the veterans to continue. Berceli, as well as others
who work with trauma victims, believes the body stores memory. These
exercises elicit mild tremors that release deep chronic tension in the
body to assist the individual in the trauma healing process.
"With the mental, you learn how the mind tricks you and plays with you."
said Anthony, one of the vets who started in the program and is now a
mentor. He listens to the CD by psychologist Belleruth Nasparstek,
called Healing Trauma, that the Center offers the participants to take
home with them to use in times of stress. They also have a session to
discuss non-violent communications.
Another technique the vets learn is called "Tapping." It addresses the
emotional component of the stress. If an event triggers a recurrence of
the trauma, they start tapping certain points on the face, hands or
body. When the trigger occurs the brain goes into a "fight or flight"
mode. One either gets angry, ready to fight, or withdraws and cuts off
all feeling. Tapping interrupts the emotion with a task. "You are then
no longer a victim of this trigger," said Betty.
With the spiritual focus, the participants look at what brings them
solace. All faiths are honored. As the Marine combat vet said, "I
believe the spiritual energy of this place (the Center) allows the
veterans to feel safer and willing to risk sharing the horrors of
combat."
The veterans tell us that during combat, they have a band of brothers or
sisters to "cover their back." When they get home, this band is
dissolved. One way they recreate this "band of brothers" is to sit in a
circle and talk while holding a talking stick. They can say anything and
not be interrupted. At first, some say very little, but by the end of
the weekend, "You can't shut them up," offered one of the group. "It's
because they feel a sense of trust here."
During the weekend, the participants are asked to go into the forest and
pick out a walking stick. One of the men, who shares his love of music
with the vets, was watching them sitting relaxed, outside at the picnic
table cleaning their walking sticks. He said, "It looks like they are
cleaning their weapons." This activity brings them together. This is a
retreat, not a therapy session. It's voluntary.
The Returning Veterans Program, costs the Merritt Center about $150 for
each participant, each weekend. With the help of the many volunteers and
private donations, the retreat remains free to any returning combat
veteran of any war. There is a new women's veterans group that has
started that will include wives of the military.
The vet mentors for the program want to reach the Iraq group. A combat
veteran said, "When we came back from Vietnam, there was nothing." They
want these current returning combat vets to know this retreat is here
for them. "We want them to know they are never forgotten. Here, you are
building this brotherhood and you are not alone anymore."
On Saturday, Oct. 20 there will be an Octoberfest fund-raiser at the
Merritt Center to make this retreat available to many more veterans. For
information call 928-474-4268.
To learn more see the Web site
www.merrittcenter.org.
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Larry Scott --
