How Pets Help With Post-Trauma Recovery - 'Your Life After Trauma' Weekly Radio Show

Michele Rosenthal joins Seaview Radio with her new show "Your Life After Trauma" Thursday nights at 7- 8PM EST. This week's topic explores the role of pets and service animals in healing PTSD. End Quote

West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL (1888PressRelease) June 01, 2011 - Studies estimate over 5% of all Americans struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at any given time. Now, a new radio program brings support and information to trauma survivors, plus their caregivers and healing professionals. Hosted by trauma survivor and Heal My PTSD founder, Michele Rosenthal, Your Life After Trauma broadcasts on Thursday nights from 7-8pm EST, on Seaview Radio in southeast Florida (and streaming live online). Your Life After Trauma provides resources, inspiration, hope and specific actions to help anyone learn to formulate a recovery plan, access healing potential and apply personal strengths to post-trauma recovery.

These live shows will feature expert and survivor guests focusing on topics related to the experience of PTSD and post-trauma life, including:

· June 2 - 'How Pets Help With Post-Trauma Recovery':
· June 9th - 'Forgiveness and Post-Trauma Recovery'
· June 16th - 'The Value of Trauma Research and Why We Need It'
· June 23rd - 'Trauma Recovery and the Spoken Word: Do We Really Need To Talk About It?'
· June 30th - 'Terrorism and Tragedy: One Man's Personal Story'
· July 7th - 'The Role of the Caregiver: Triumphs and Pitfalls Of Managing Life After Trauma'

Each weekly show will feature a professional and personal perspective on the PTSD topic of the show, and will accept call-ins so that listeners can ask their PTSD questions, talk to an expert, and receive personal recommendations around specific issues.

"Learning about trauma, posttraumatic stress and how to recover is the first step to rebuilding a life," says Rosenthal. "Understanding what needs to be done and what options exist, plus knowing you're not alone helps in every survivors quest to take back control. Our show's mission is to provide a place where survivors and professionals can come together to create a community of creative, compassionate and connected healing."

Michele Rosenthal is a trauma survivor who struggled with undiagnosed PTSD for twenty-four years. Then she was diagnosed and went on a healing rampage. Today, she is 100% free of PTSD symptoms. A PTSD Coach and passionate advocate, she founded www.healmyptsd.com to provide information about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, treatment and support. The site contains several complimentary resources including downloads, teleseminars, a healing workshop, and daily support programs.

For more information about the Heal My PTSD Your Life After Trauma Radio Show, visit:
http://healmyptsd.com/education/your-life-after-trauma2

This week's next guests will be:

Laura Westerfield is the founder of Paws and People Assisting Wounded Warriors (ppaWWs). ppaWWs is dedicated to the raising and training of Psychiatric Service Dogs and Mobility Assistance Dogs for Wounded Warriors with PTSD, TBI and other injuries. PTSD and TBI are the "invisible wounds" that many of our Warriors will carry with them for life.ppaWWs' dogs help to alleviate or at least help them cope with these wounds so they can live out their lives with more independence and confidence.

ppaWWs also provides Therapy Dogs for Veterans, Active Duty Service Members and Military Dependents with psychiatric, emotional and learning disabilities. Social Therapy Dogs are trained to provide the unique K-9/Human therapeutic connection to many in military hospitals and similar venues. Private Therapy Dogs are trained to provide that connection on a temporary basis to individuals waiting for their Assistance or Service Dogs to be trained or on a Permanent basis to those who do not quite meet the criteria for an Assistance or Service Dog.

Laura Westerfield began this program as a direct result of her association with paws4vets(tm). There were so many applicants and so few dogs available due to lack of financial resources, trainers and the time needed to train each dog properly. She remains committed to donating puppies to the paws4vets(tm) Assistance and Service dog training programs.

ppaWWs dogs are trained using the paws4vets(tm) very specific Command Manual, Evaluation and Certification program requirements.

Nick Kutsukos runs Elite K9 Academy in Jupiter, FL and has trained service dogs for 40 years. Nick experiences seizures and is helped on a daily basis by his own service dog, Jack. Nick and Jeanneane have dedicated countless years to effectively training service dogs and offering obedience classes to the community. Nick asserts that one can tell a true service dog by simply observing the dog's behavior. Nick's trained dogs appear calm and quiet, will obey the disabled owner's commands, perform tasks and lie down passively where instructed.
Together, Nick and Jeanneane have helped their clients reclaim their lives by providing them with trained service dogs who give them the freedom and confidence to re-enter and interact with their worlds.

Janet Austin is the 49 year old wife of 30 year military veteran Bill (pictured left with therapy dog JP), who's had 7 tours just since 1998 to include Bosnia twice, Kosovo, 2 to Iraq for OIF and 2 to Afghanistan for OEF. Bill's PTSD symptoms started back after a tour in 2002, but no one wanted to talk about it. So, Janet decided to do something about it. While her husband was deployed in 2009 and even with Janet suffering from breast cancer at the time, she earned a Vet Assistant and Certified Obedience Instructor degree.

Janet's passion is advocacy and awareness of PTSD issues, "Being given the opportunity to train JP and use my Obedience Trainer skills to actually help a person in need fills my heart." While some don't understand how Janet can let go of the dogs she has connected with and put so much work into, Janet explains, "I am not giving him away, he is with me so that in 6-9 months he can fulfill a higher purpose to allow another Veteran to be able to deal with his disease and live as fulfilling a life as possible."

Janet and Bill have been married 20 years, have one son age 24 and live in Delaware City, DE. Janet enjoys a simple home life outside of working with my her own dogs, one of which has been a Therapy Dog for 6 years now. "Snigglebutt" is a 90 pound Boxer with nothing but love to give to everyone he meets.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a wholly treatable condition that results from a life-threatening experience in which the trauma survivor felt helpless. PTSD symptoms include insomnia, nightmares, flashbacks, emotional numbing, hyperarousal and hypervigilance.

For more information: www.healmyptsd.com Contact: Michele ( @ ) healmyptsd dot com, 561.531.1405.

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