Transitioning Veterans

This audiobook, if widely distributed and listened to, could have an enormous positive impact on Veterans and, more widely, on anyone impacted by powerful, life-threatening experiences. I offer this recommendation as a veteran and former active-duty military psychologist. I can say with confidence that for any vet looking to be understood and looking to find a way to have a meaningful and productive civilian life, I can think of no better place to start than this audiobook, ebook, and written transition maps, action plans and worksheets that accompany it. This book engages the “critical mind” of veterans in a novel and compelling way. It identifies how the methods for staying safe in a military world can make civilian life miserable or worse.

The need for veteran behavioral health services far exceeds the supply, and despite a massive government and non-profit effort to help vets, we are not meeting the needs they have. We are losing far too many of them. Unfortunately, the most at-risk vets can also be the hardest reach.

This novel approach offers a promising way to reach vets who simply will not ask for help. Specific steps for vets to take on their own are provided to stop digging themselves further “into a hole” and move forward. For many Veterans, the steps presented will be sufficient. For others, these steps can establish a foundation for making effective use of the other resources available to them. For anyone caught up in old behavior (which is all of us at times), the steps provided can pause old patterns and help establish new, more adaptive ones.

Is this audiobook a substitute for behavioral health treatment? No, but using behavioral health and personal development approaches in tandem, such as this book offers, will finally provide a solution for lowering the devastating and unnecessary losses we are experiencing with our veterans. This book may, in fact, be the private lifeline many vets are desperately seeking.

If widely distributed and listened to, this audiobook could have an enormous positive impact on vets and, more widely, on anyone impacted by powerful, life-threatening experiences.

I listened to this book twice on audio. I love how there is a narrator and co-narrator. Many people don’t believe I have been in combat as a female.

It’s tough when you attempt to speak to counselors or medical personnel. They will laugh or patronize you. This book is a simple first step. It explains all the steps a veteran goes through, from triggers to speaking to counselors (and not succeeding). Instead of the author telling you what to do, he teaches you how to manage triggers. “Your life is lived between your triggers.” By understanding what causes a trigger, you are better prepared to combat these triggers. I also like that I can start working on myself, and nobody has to know. Many veterans are afraid of the stigma of seeking help. If you are struggling, I highly recommend this book. Make this your first step to healing!