In that safe group setting, the veterans support each other in telling their stories. This enables them to mourn their losses and reach a point where their pent-up feelings can be released. In Shay’s program for Vietnam vets, this always includes a visit to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, that black granite wall inscribed with the names of the more than 58,000 soldiers killed in the war. Often, the act of coming to that shrine and finding the names of their long-dead friends is the moment of emotional breakthrough and release.

The third phase of this program is a reconnection with spouse and children, if they haven’t been permanently alienated. It also involves a reaching out to the larger social community. Veterans may do that by volunteer service, by speaking to civic groups, by sharing their stories at supportive public gatherings or other forms of social engagement. The idea behind reconnection is both to rebuild the closeness of intimate relationships and to restore purpose and structure to their lives.

Dealing with PTSD and depression is a complicated process. While everyone seeks long-term healing, the reality is that most therapies have the more limited goal of improving the worst symptoms. Of course, these go together, but veterans dependent of government-sponsored care often don’t have the option that the rest of us might have to undertake the longer and more demanding treatment that tries to achieve a full reintegration into family, work and social life.

So I’d like to ask what your experience has been with treatments. Do you think the short-term curative approaches can add up to long-term healing? Which therapies have you tried, and which have really helped?