War Trauma: Lessons Unlearned, From Vietnam to Iraq (HC) (A Vietnam Trilogy) (Hardcover)

by Raymond Monsour Scurfield (Author) "Many lessons should have been learned by now about the psychiatric impact of war on combatants..." (more)
Key Phrases: return from deployment, veteran partner, military mental health, New York, Vietnam Trilogy, Department of Veterans Affairs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
As a clinical psychologist and veteran of the War in Iraq, I can assure you that my review of the current literature has been extensive. To date, nothing published contains such extraordinary real world relevance as that which has been submitted to Algora Publishing by Dr. Scurfield….There simply is nothing else that captures the essence of the impact of war on combat veterans.

Volume 2, Healing Journeys, in and of itself contains invaluable material regarding medical evacuations, racism in war, and the terrible collusion of silence that continues to be an issue of tremendous proportion that has plagued many soldiers; issues which are rarely, if ever, addressed in other published material.

Dr. Scurfield's Vietnam Trilogy will be a tremendous service to those of us in uniform who have served, as well as those charged with providing for the psychological well-being of our combat veterans, their families, mental health professionals, and the general public. --Kathy Platoni, Psy.D., Clinical Psychologist, LTC/MS/USAR

Scurfield s extensive work with Vietnam veterans in his 25+ year career with the Department of Veterans Affairs informs and enriches this work, which includes very engaging treatments of his return to Vietnam with his clients. Finally, the general public (read non veteran and non therapist) will find the treatment of the personal challenges and changes forged in war intriguing. Together these three works will provide a personalized background of where we ve been, where we went, how we got there and possible future implications for our evolving understanding of the Vietnam war and its impacts on participants, policy makers and the public. We have a long way to go to develop this understanding, but A Vietnam Trilogy is a very good place to start. ---- Gary E. May, Assoc. Prof. of Social Work, University of Southern Indiana, in Traumatology, Fall 2005 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
A Vietnam Trilogy reveals the psychiatric impact of war on soldiers and veterans, denied or minimized by government and the military. The effects go on for decades, and we are still just learning to understand them. Through efforts to treat veterans of past conflicts Raymond Scurfield, a nationally-renowned authority on post-traumatic stress disorder, illustrates the inevitability of lifelong psychiatric, psychological and social scars from today's conflicts as well. In War Trauma, the third volume in A Vietnam Trilogy, he looks at what military and mental health professionals should have learned from the Vietnam War and prior wars for insights to help people who are now in the military or in the healing professions, and their families and communities, to deal with today's realities of combat and its aftermath. The author was a national faculty member for joint VA-DOD training programs to enhance mental health response readiness in preparation for the Persian Gulf War. What he found was a resurgence of selective amnesia and denial about the true impact of war. Scurfield notes, "Chillingly, what happened in Vietnam in 1968-69 regarding psychiatric casualties has enormous parallels to what is happening today regarding US psychiatric casualties from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars." A Vietnam Trilogy offers veterans, their families, their communities and their care providers insights into the nature of the traumas suffered and recommendations for therapy break-throughs for active duty military personnel and veterans with post-traumatic stress, and essential guidance for their families. Scurfield documents his innovative therapies for treating war trauma and PTSD and a comprehensive model yet to be attained in most treatment approaches; they will be the foundation for programs to help today's veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and their families, in addition to veterans of previous wars still suffering from war trauma. * Raymond Monsour Scurfield, DSW, LCSW, ACSW, is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Southern Mississippi-Gulf Coast. A Vietnam veteran, he worked for the Dept. of Veterans Affairs for 25 years and directed PTSD mental health programs in Los Angeles, Washington DC, the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii and American Samoa. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise in war-related PTSD through his leadership of innovative treatment programs, 50+ publications, 250+ presentations, educational videos, national media appearances and research. His most recent publications are on the continuing psychological impact of the events of 9/ll and Hurricane Katrina. Scurfield has received several outstanding university teacher awards, and the 2006 Mississippi Social Worker of the Year Award in recognition of his post-Hurricane Katrina social work activities and post-traumatic stress interventions on the MS Gulf Coast since August 29, 2005. Presenting Scurfield with the Deptartment of Veterans Affairs Olin Teague award in 1988, President Ronald Reagan said, "Your achievements in the study and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder have become landmarks in psychiatry." Scurfield continues to break new ground in the treatment of war-related PTSD.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Algora Publishing (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875864864
• ISBN-13: 978-0875864860
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,578,766 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the Trenches, August 3, 2007

By	Colonel Kathy Platoni, Psy.D. "COL Kathy Plat... (Beavercreek, Ohio) - See all my reviews

War Trauma. Lessons Unlearned From Vietnam to Iraq.
Dr. Scurfield's third volume of his war trauma trilogy is by far and unequivocally, the most precise, frank, and heart-rendering publication on the subject matter of war's far reaching and unending impact, whether for the clinician's toolbox or the war veteran seeking answers that simply do not exist elsewhere. For example, I found the chapters on "Iraq and War Zone Psychiatric Casualties", "The Return Home and the Ricochet Effect on the Family", and "War Trauma-Related Blame, Guilt, and Shame: Relief is Possible" to be particularly salient and meaningful in their characterization of the trail of damages brought on by wartime service, as well as the great hope that exists for adapting and overcoming. Beyond any doubt, it is the fact that Dr. Scurfield has been in the trenches himself and lived war up close and personal that has allowed his pure genius to portray the essence of war so magnificently. This book is the ultimate and essential toolbox for the clinician, the veteran, and the family in terms of understanding and confronting the agonizing battle to overcome the damages sustained through exposure to the most unnatural and horrific of experiences. Stated simply, there is nothing out there in the literature that does so nearly as skillfully.

Colonel Kathy Platoni, Psy.D.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hope for healing, May 31, 2007

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: War Trauma: Lessons Unlearned, From Vietnam to Iraq (Paperback)

Reviewed by Tyler R. Tichelaar for Reader Views (5/07)

"War Trauma" by Raymond Scurfield is the third volume of "A Vietnam Trilogy." The first two volumes were "Veterans and Post-Traumatic Stress, 1968, 1989 & 2000" and "Healing Journeys: Study Abroad with Vietnam Veterans." It is not necessary to read the first two volumes to understand the third volume, although reading the first two volumes may enhance the reader's understanding of the third.

Dr. Scurfield is an Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Southern Mississippi-Gulf Coast. His qualifications for writing about the Vietnam War include being a Vietnam Veteran, working twenty-five years for the Department of Veteran Affairs, directing PTSD mental health programs throughout the US, and numerous publications, presentations, and years of research on Vietnam and post-traumatic stress. He has also written on the post-traumatic stress that resulted from September 11th and Hurricane Katrina.

"War Trauma" itself is an eye-opening study of the effects of war on veterans. Dr. Scurfield uses examples from all the wars the United States has been involved in since World War II, but he primarily focuses on Vietnam and how the situation in Iraq is similar to Vietnam for U.S. Soldiers. Despite my own large ignorance of the Vietnam War, I found "War Trauma" to be compelling reading. Much of what Dr. Scurfield discusses is relevant to anyone who has experienced traumatic situations. Dr. Scurfield discusses this relevance toward the book's end when he talks about how the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina are similar to those experienced in a war zone.

One of the most effective chapters of "War Trauma" discussed how people can learn to understand a family member who has returned home from the war. One striking story was of a wife who has continually dug fifteen pieces of shrapnel out of her husband's skin. Dr. Scurfield gives excellent examples of how to be supportive and listen without prying and what behaviors to expect from a veteran suffering from PTSD. Another vital chapter in the book focused on healing the guilt and blame veterans feel when they return home after their comrades have died in battle. Guilt also exists over killing an enemy who is really human but whom the army had to dehumanize to perform its job, and guilt exists over killing innocent civilians out of fear they may actually be the enemy. Dr. Scurfield's "percentages of responsibility" procedure for helping a veteran stop blaming himself or helping him deal with pain was especially effective; the procedure allows the veteran to quit blaming himself or another solely and to realize to what percentage he was really responsible and to what percentage the enemy, the government, and fellow soldiers were responsible; this realigning of guilt and blame consequently provides a great deal of healing for the veteran. This technique can equally be applied to anyone suffering from guilt and self-blame.

I have two criticisms of "War Trauma". The first is that the book has many typos in it of extra, repeated words, and missing words. These errors created a problem because the sentences were long and complex and when the verb was missing, I would often have to go back to reread the sentence and struggle to figure out its meaning. I also strongly disagree with Dr. Scurfield's statement that every citizen in a nation at war is responsible for the traumatic events of that war. I do not think the millions of U.S. citizens who have opposed the war in Iraq since the beginning, who did not elect the current administration, and who are not in the military can be blamed for actions they cannot control and have fought to prevent. In other places, Dr. Scurfield mentions the difficulties for people who protest a war, which in itself may be the more patriotic action, while at the same time being accused of being unpatriotic. I wish he would have qualified or expanded on his statement that everyone in a nation at war was responsible for traumatic events; I felt it was too severe and out of place.

Overall, I recommend "War Trauma: Lessons Unlearned, From Vietnam to Iraq" to anyone whose loved one is a war veteran, as well as to anyone interested in learning what war is truly like. Even people who have undergone traumatic non-war experiences such as rape, physical abuse, or being in a car accident would find the many discussions of how to overcome trauma to be useful. Dr. Scurfield is to be commended for his many efforts to provide healing to veterans and their families.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars War Trauma: Understood, March 19, 2007

By	Bruce Lackie (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dr. Scurfield is one of the recognized international experts in trauma and PTSD. That fact was reaffirmed with his third book in his trilogy on the impact of war. This is an important book, and extremely timely given the emerging picture of a society embroiled in a war, not only destructive to foreign lands, but to the soldiers who fight there and who return with both visible and invisible wounds, many that will take a life-time to heal. Dr. Scurfield does these soldiers justice, a rare phenomenon - An important and essential book, to understand where we have been and how we continue to re-enact the dilemmas of warfare and their aftermath. I cannot praise this work enough.