ABSTRACT
Looking backward is in the nature of autobiographical work, and one is never sure how well focused the binoculars are in covering a long trail of professional endeavors. When it comes to this autobiography, I’ve often wished that someone had invented a neurologic probe, a device like an old-fashioned thermometer, that could be inserted painlessly into the brain to extract perfectly preserved memories that could be “downloaded” and printed out, documenting the exact details of the many journeys that have taught me a great deal about trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the meaning of life. The journey started with the crisis intervention work I did in graduate school and continued to my service in doing psychological first aid in Bosnia during the Balkan War (1991–1995).
