Reiki in the Military helping soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Center Creates "Little Miracles" in Treating Combat Stress

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service 

May 9, 2008

Fort Bliss, Texas - A revolutionary treatment program here is demonstrating "little miracles" as it gives new hope to soldiers afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder who want to stay in the Army, its' director reports.

The new program is the brainchild of clinical psychologist, John E. Fortunato, who uses a holistic approach to treating PTSD at the new Fort Bliss Restoration and Resilience Center.

Fortunato conceded that his proposal "wasn't an easy sell" initially, particularly because it wove yoga, massage therapy, and other non-traditional approaches into its treatment program.  But driven by the frustration of seeing soldiers with PTSD forced to leave the Army against their wishes, Fortunato pressed forward and won approval for this prototype program. 

With $2.2 million initial funding and a 1940's barracks building to rehab, he set out ...... (click here to read full article)

​​Fort Bliss' Restoration and Resilience Center offers war-damaged minds solace, treatment
By Chris Roberts / El Paso Times

March 30, 2009

FORT BLISS -- In Iraq, Army Staff Sgt. Edward Wood woke to the sound of gunfire and went to sleep with it.

"Something was always going on. It got monotonous," said Wood, who served in Baghdad's Sadr City in 2003 and 2004, when insurgents regularly attacked U.S. soldiers.

Staying alive required a state of hyper-vigilance. Wood survived combat, but when he left Iraq he could not turn off his warrior's intensity.

He was in the first group of soldiers who were treated for post-traumatic stress disorder at Fort Bliss' Restoration and Resilience Center, which opened about 18 months ago. In all, the center has admitted 110 shell-shocked veterans with the idea of helping them reduce stress ...Click here to read more

SERVING OUR SERVICE MEMBERS AND THEIR CAREGIVERS
By Ellen Severino

December 8, 2012 posted by Pamela Miles/ Reiki Medicine & Self care

Reiki for PTSD and insomnia
“It’s like my body doesn’t remember how to sleep.”
That’s what Michael, a soldier dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, said when he came for a Reiki treatment at the military base where I volunteer. Reiki treatment was new to Michael, but he was willing to give it  .... Click here  to read more

Army’s New PTSD Treatments:  Yoga, Reiki, ‘Bioenergy’

by Noah Shachtman

March 28, 2008

posted on www.wired.com

The military is scrambling for new ways to treat the brain injuries and post-traumatic stress of troops returning home from war. And every kind of therapy — no matter how far outside the accepted medical form — is being considered. The Army just unveiled a $4 million program to investigate everything from "spiritual ministry, transcendental meditation, [and] yoga" to "bioenergies such as Qi gong, Reiki, [and] distant healing" to mend the... Click here to read more

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At some military PTSD treatment centers, Reiki has been integrated into the treatment of US soldiers who are diagnosed as suffering from PTSD upon returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.