L. Gordon Brewer, Jr, M.Ed.,LMFT

L. Gordon Brewer, Jr., M.Ed.,LMFT
PTSD Page

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The National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) aims to advance the clinical care and social
welfare of U.S. Veterans through research, education and training on PTSD and
stress-related disorders. http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/index.jsp

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) PTSD Page
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml

Vietnam Veterans of America
http://www.vva.org/Benefits/ptsd.htm

The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, based at the University of Washington,
is a global resource for journalists, news media, journalism schools and the public about
emotional trauma and its effects on those who observe or suffer from violence. We are
pleased to be a part of this campaign to provide useful and accurate information about
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
http://www.ptsdinfo.org/

The National Trauma Consortium - The NTC represents people and organizations
who: Recognize the damage that interpersonal violence does to individuals and to
society, and want to do something about it, and are committed to working in partnership
with people who have experienced trauma.
http://www.nationaltraumaconsortium.org/index.html

National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)- Established by Congress in
2000, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) is a unique collaboration of
academic and community-based service centers whose mission is to raise the standard
of care and increase access to services for traumatized children and their families
across the United States.
http://www.nctsnet.org/

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, is a mental health issue that the general
public has become increasingly aware of in recent times. With the events around 9/11,
Katrina and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are seeing first hand how exposure to
traumatic events produce deep-seated difficulties for not only the victims of those events,
but for families and the community at large. Our awareness of PTSD has allowed us to
see how veterans who have put their lives on the line come away for their experience of
war scarred, not only physically, but even more scarred emotionally, mentally and
spiritually. We are seeing too not only how the veterans of the Middle East conflicts have
been affected, but we are also seeing how those veterans of the Vietnam, Korean and
World War II where affected in very similar ways. Also affected are adults and children
who have been victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence or any other
significant traumatic event.

PTSD is a debilitating mental illness that is the direct result of those who have
encountered violence, assault, war, natural disasters or any kind of severe trauma.
Fortunately, with the increased awareness of this disorder, we have been able to identify
several treatments that seem to be effective in reducing the symptoms. In particular,
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TFCBT) has been found to be very
effective with children, however, a lot of the components of TFCBT can be used with
adults. L. Gordon Brewer, Jr., M.Ed., LMFT has been trained in TFCBT.

TFCBT combines several known interventions and therapies to help a person suffering
from PTSD reduce their symptoms and gain new perspective on the traumatic events of
which they have been the victim. TFCBT uses psychoeducation, gradual exposure,
learning coping skills along with cognitive behavioral therapy. TFCBT helps the person
slowly peel back the layers of the traumatic events and at the same time teach coping
skills to deal with the intense anxiety that people suffering from PTSD typically
experience. The cognitive behavioral component helps a person change their thoughts
about what has happened to them and challenge the “faulty thinking” that tends to
increase symptoms during times of stress. TFCBT also uses a component of Narrative
Therapy to help the person “re-write” their story about the trauma and develop a sense of
reconciliation.

For more information about the symptoms of PTSD take a look at this *PowerPoint
Presentation.
(*You will need MS Office PowerPoint to view this information. If you do not have
PowerPoint, you can download a free PowerPoint viewer by clicking here.)

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