In This Issue

Feature Topic

Summer Update

Our August edition is a brief update to inform you of a variety of new materials. Be sure to see the interesting stories in PTSD in the News.

Audio Podcasts on Trauma and PTSD

Mp3s are now available online for streaming or from iTunes*:

• Understanding PTSD
• Understanding PTSD Treatment
• Returning from the War Zone

New People to Meet

We’ve expanded AboutFace, the award winning online video gallery of Veterans talking about living with PTSD and how treatment turned their lives around. Hear from even more Veterans. View a new section where clinicians offer advice.

Meet them in AboutFace.

En Español

Key pages from the National Center for PTSD Web site are now available in Spanish: Páginas en Español.

Back to College

The Post 9/11 GI Bill is bringing student Veterans to universities in record numbers. To help campus staff understand the unique experiences and needs of these men and women, view the VA Campus Toolkit.

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For Providers

To get back in the swing of things following vacation season, make sure that you are signed up to receive these publications:

• Clinician’s Trauma Update - Online
• PTSD Research Quarterly

Below, find a few end-of-summer updates.

Skill Training in Affect and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) Course

Learn how to provide STAIR - an 8-session individual treatment for PTSD. STAIR can help you teach trauma survivors emotional and social skills they either do not have due to early life trauma or maltreatment, or which have diminished due to severe, prolonged or repeated traumas experienced later in life.

Discover and implement techniques to reduce PTSD symptoms and improve emotion regulation and interpersonal problems. Skill Training in Affect and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) Course

Web site Updates

• PTSD History and Overview: Dr. Matthew Friedman provides a history of PTSD, the diagnosis, and the criteria needed to meet a PTSD diagnosis, including DSM-5.
• PTSD and Telemental Health: Discusses technology, clinical considerations, and how telemental health can help patients with PTSD - especially patients living miles away from the clinic.

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 For VA Providers

VA Monthly Lecture Series

Subscribe: Learn about our PTSD Lectures

VA staff, please sign up for VA Staff PTSD Updates/Lectures to receive monthly notices that include a registration link and instructions for joining these live lectures:

PTSD Psychopharmacology Best Practices

3rd Wednesday of each month, 2 pm ET

• 09/18 - Bruce Capehart will present on Stimulants and PTSD

VA PTSD Consultation Program Lecture Series

3rd Tuesday of each month, 2 pm EST

• 09/17 - Frank Weathers on PTSD in DSM-5

VA PTSD Consultation Program

Free PTSD consultation for anyone working with Veterans. Call 866-948-7880 or email ptsdconsult@va.gov.

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Research at the Center

New Consortium to Alleviate PTSD

The Center, in collaboration with the STRONG STAR Consortium (www.strongstar.org*) of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has received funding to form the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD. This research group will develop effective diagnostic, prognostic, treatment, and rehabilitative strategies for PTSD. Read the press release: DoD, VA Establish Two Multi-Institutional Consortia to Research PTSD and TBI.

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PTSD in the News

The Role and Importance of the 'D' in PTSD. New research supports the acronym PTSD vs. PTS. Read more.*

PTSD in the Spotlight at Medal of Honor Ceremony. SSG Ty M. Carter received the Military’s highest award for heroism in Afghanistan. The Medal of Honor recipient talks about living with PTSD and how treatment has made a positive difference in his life.
Read more on Washington Post* | Hear more on NPR*

Aftershocks of War: One Iraq War Veteran's Search for Peace. Dr. Paula Schnurr, Deputy Executive Director of the Center discusses writing, self-expression and PTSD in this article in the Indianapolis Star. Read more*.

Trouble Sleeping? VA Has an App for That. As our lives become busier (and more connected) it can be hard to make good rest a priority. But a new App may help. Read more*.

PTSD on the Rise Among Our Veterans. Hear Veterans from AboutFace in this WLUK-TV (Fox 11) piece on how the new VA Green Bay Outpatient Clinic is providing good PTSD treatment, which can turn lives around. Read/view more*.

Be sure to forward this update to others so they can subscribe. We send only one update per month to keep you informed of the latest PTSD developments.

Feature Topic next month: PTSD and Suicide Prevention.

The Staff of VA’s National Center for PTSD

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