How well equipped are your staff to handle students who have Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD)? What is the success rate at your center with students with PTSD compared to those students who do not have PTSD?
Do the staff at your center know the symptoms of PTSD? What special strategies are needed to help someone with PTSD find healing and achieve the full potential in life that God has for them?
Many military veterans suffer from PTSD. But they are not the only ones. The “T” stands for trauma, and many of our students have experienced trauma in their lives. One staff told me of a student whose mother hated him so much that she forced him to leave home at age 7. Now 38 years old, he still holds on to unforgiveness against his mother.
Hope is one of the bedrock principles of Teen Challenge ministry, but hope must be more than a magic wand. How can we bring hope and help to those who struggle with PTSD? One of the first steps is to provide some basic training on PTSD for our staff.
There are a number of places where basic training on PTSD is offered to family members of veterans. That is one good place to look. You may also want to have a veteran who has struggled with PTSD talk about the process that helped them find healing.
The book Down Range: To Iraq and Back, by Dr. Bridget C. Cantrell and Chuck Dean (Word Smith Publishing) is an excellent resource for staff training. The authors write to both those struggling with PTSD and family members seeking to understand what is happening in the life of their loved one.
The major symptoms of PTSD can be accurately assessed as a rebellious student who is not serious about changing their way of living. Giving our staff and students basic training on PTSD can help all begin to have a better understanding of the problem.
Compassion was one of the common trademarks of the ministry of Jesus. Certainly that is a key trait we need as we seek to help those struggling with PTSD. We also need to help our staff understand what are some of the effective strategies that can help bring God’s healing to those struggling with PTSD.
