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Chapter
“It Helps to Tell the Story – But It’s Hard”
DOI link for “It Helps to Tell the Story – But It’s Hard”
“It Helps to Tell the Story – But It’s Hard” book
“It Helps to Tell the Story – But It’s Hard”
DOI link for “It Helps to Tell the Story – But It’s Hard”
“It Helps to Tell the Story – But It’s Hard” book
ABSTRACT
No one needs to tell in detail what has happened to him and to feel fully heard more than a combat veteran. As they tell their stories, many voice something close to the title of this chapter. Creating a therapeutic relationship in which this sharing can occur is the biggest initial treatment challenge for the combatant and his therapist or listener. The vet must overcome several barriers in order to tell his story fully and benefit from the telling. The listener is challenged to do the listening in such a way that the recounting becomes therapeutic. The biggest barrier both face is the reluctance of the vet to talk. The material in the first five chapters gives some insight into the causes of this reluctance. I have found this reluctance to be based on three deep-rooted beliefs in the vets’ minds.