December 18,2008
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Aloha! I hope you & your families & friends are doing well during the Holidays and the coming close to 2008.

A few months ago I sent an email telling you about my HOWS project:   Helping Our Wounded Warriors.
The project is off to a good start!

We have enough funds to provide services
for 5 soldiers so far.
Huge MAHALOS to each of you that contributed dollars and your kind words of support!

We are off and running!

I am now working with a trainer for young recruits going to be deployed. We are learning from each other. He is teaching me more about the specific issues and needs of the troops that he has served with in the War Zones, and what is most important to them when they come home. I am helping him with his own demons resulting from his service to Our Country. He is learning new tools and approaches to take into his training arena. It has been an eye-opening experience for me. The ripple effect is far-reaching and expediential!


Another young man that has recently returned from serving in Iraq has come to me three times since the initial email sent to you. He is a Marine, 22 yrs old. He was displaying his anger in damaging ways, getting in to physical fights at the drop of a word. He did not realize how angry he was - how conditioned he had become to fight his way out of even the simplest irritations and perceived threats. He was ‘battle-ready’ even though he was not in the war zone. We got to the bottom of his reactions, dealt with his underlying fear and survival conditioning. Already he is barely reacting. He is feeling safe and is current with his perspective. What a joy to know this brave man and to experience him truly ‘come home’.

With your help, we can sponsor more soldiers that are deeply wounded emotionally and are struggling to cope.

My goal is to provide one-one coaching to 100 U.S Service Personnel in the next 18 months. To date I have had 5 appointments because of sponsorship via "HOWS".

95 to go!!

This is Ambitious … And it is Acheivable.

My goal is to raise funds so that I can offer financial assistance to the men and women who need help.
I believe we can do it … together.

If you would like to contribute, fabulous,
I thank you in advance!

You Can Take an Active Roll - Let’s do this! TOGETHER!

Every bit will help - $25.00, $100.00, $1000.00, $10,000.00

Please make all donations to:

“HOWS”

Send to

Ardyth Brock & Associates

44-170 Laha Street, Kaneohe Hawaii 96744


or use PayPal at 

HOWS: Helping Our Wounded Soldiers

http://www.ardythbrock.com/helping-our-wounded
soldiers.php)

If you are unable to, or care not to contribute financially, please simply send your good wishes. They make a difference too! And ..... if you would, please forward this to your friends and family .... anyone in your circle of influence that you know has a special place in their heart
for these brave men and women.

Please send this to anyone and everyone that you think may want to participate.

If you have questions, input, etc., please give me a call at

808-234-2346

I will continue to send you progress reports.

(If you would rather not receive updates just let me know.)

Many thanks… Aloha, Ardyth Brock

For more info please visit my website: ardythbrock.com

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Attached are links for two relevant news articles I have come across recently:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/24/ptsd.struggle/index.html

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/11/04/news/story01.html

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October 22, 2008

Aloha! I hope you & your families & friends are doing well
during these interesting and unprecedented times.

Life has been busy at my end. One of the most interesting aspects
of my work these past 18 months has been the opportunity to counsel 24+ soldiers who have returned from active deployment from "The War on Terror".

Each of these soldiers returned home with some form of
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Or, more honestly put,
PTWD - Post Traumatic War Disorder.     

Here is what concerns me most at this point:

There are 10's of 1000's of service personal with similar challenges that are not getting the support they need & deserve - and many are right here on Oahu!

“I had been back from Baghdad for over a year. I was spiraling fast. I could not sleep. I had flashbacks all day long. I called my Mom and begged her to help me. She actually found Ardyth. After meeting with her twice, the flashbacks stopped and I began sleeping thru the night. And you know she did all of this probono! Wow!
Thank you Ardyth.”                             CVM, U.S.M.C.

There is some good news, however. At last, there are some ‘in house’ counselors on our local military bases. Most have been brought on board only in the last year or two. Unfortunately, I am told that the ratio of counselors to soldiers is sorely lacking, therefore many of our brave soldiers are not getting the readjustment counseling they need and deserve to go on living healthy lives.

“I been to Iraq twice. I was in Afghanistan in the very beginning. Each time I made it back all right, but I know too many guys who didn’t. It helps to know someone is able to help my buddies. Thanks.”              DNP, U.S. Army

I have the good fortune of being trained in the advanced techniques of EMDR and Thought Field Therapy. These therapeutic tools help to quickly and simply neutralize traumatic recurring emotions and reset negative responses. For more info please visit my website: ardythbrock.com

Using the skills I have learned, each of the 24 clients I have worked with has had positive outcomes!   That is 100%!!!!!!!!!! In each and every case, we have had success moving past their traumatic symptoms. I am EXCITED by these results!!!
I am growing more and more passionate about
“Helping Our Wounded Soldiers.”

“I thought I was going off the deep end. I was thinking about suicide. I had orders to go BACK for another tour. I could not do it. I felt desperate and hopeless. My appointment for military counseling was 2 months away. I looked in the phone book and found Ardyth Brock. She showed me about ‘tapping’ and a month I had a total shift! I did my second tour and was able to cope all right. I even helped some of my buddies try the tapping.”                          WTW, U.S.M.C.

I have a plan.

My target is to provide 1-1 counseling to 100 U.S Service Personnel in the next 18 months. In addition, my objective is to train 5 other counseling professionals to use the tools that we have found so effective. This is how it adds up:

• Most tend to require 4-12 sessions.
• If the average is six each, then that will require 600 appointments.
• Over an 18-month span, that averages eight per week.

This is Ambitious … But, Doable.

“I am a pilot in the Navy. 12 years of my career did not prepare me for the after effects of serving in the Middle East. I was irritable all the time. I alienated my family. I began to drink too much. I could not get a hold of myself. Working with Ms. Brock made all the difference. I am myself again; in fact, I am actually a better man now.”          GRW, U.S. Navy

My goal is to raise funds so that I can offer financial assistance to the men and women who need help. 

Therefore:

With your help, we will raise $1000 per person for financial aid for counseling support. I believe we can do it … together. If you would like to contribute, fabulous, I thank you in advance!

“Help him! Help him! For months and months, I screamed those words aloud every night. My wife would wake me and remind me I was safe. I’d been to some support groups on base and at Tripler, but it didn’t stop until I went to you.”    HJB U.S.A.F.

You Can Take an Active Role
Let’s do this!
Every bit will help - $25.00, $100.00, $1000.00, $10,000.00
Please make all donations to:
“HOWS”
(Helping Our Wounded Soldiers)
send to
Ardyth Brock & Associates
44-170 Laha Street, Kaneohe Hawaii 96744

To let you know how your involvement is making a difference, I will document our results and will send you progress reports. If you are unable to, or care not to contribute financially, please simply send your good wishes. They make a difference too! If you would, please forward this to your friends, family, anyone in your circle of influence that you know has a special place in their heart for these brave survivors and that you think may want to participate. If you have questions, input, etc., please give me a call at 808-234-2346
Many thanks… Aloha, Ardyth Brock

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On October 3, 2008, I attended a seminar put on by
The Mental Health America - of Hawaii
Trauma of War - Impact on Our Soldiers & Families
MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES OF HAWAII'S SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Some of the data and facts I learned:

• One-third of soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan have mental health problems.
• Suicide rates are at an all-time high among military.
• Many of those deployed were unprepared.
• Returning soldiers' mental health problems dramatically impact their families.
• Reservists do not have counseling benefits.
• Female soldiers face high rates of sexual assault and harassment in addition to the trauma of war.
• The system to care for soldiers' mental health is stretched to the breaking point.
• Re-Integration Counseling is limited to 90 days after return.
• Issues often show up 9 months to several years later.
• The divorce rate of returning soldiers is way up.
• 58% of service men/women have children.
• 2,000,000 children have parents (often both) who are deployed.
• Cases of maltreatment, neglect and depression of military children is up 2-fold since 2003.
• 11%/180,000 troops deployed are female.
• Female soldiers face high rates of sexual assault and harassment in addition to the trauma of war.

The following Hawaii based professionals spoke:

 

Laura Wheeler: Hawai`i National Guard's State Family Program Director Deputy Commander for Clinical Services, Medical Detachment. Hawaii Army National Guard
Michael Faran, MD.: Director of School-Based Mental Health Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Dept. Tripler Army Medical Center
Clay Park: Case Manager & Veterans' Specialist Helping Hands Hawai`i
Ann M. Fisher: ACSW, LCSW. Sexual Trauma and Readjustment Counselor Honolulu Veterans Center.