I’ve never viewed my blog as a marketing tool, except for perhaps advancing ideas, but I feel that the subject of trauma – especially Post Trauma Stress Disorder – is too important to ignore. I have personal experience with PTSD, both in growing up with a disabled WW2 vet and as a result of my own military service. I’m currently working with Petaluma People Services Center to establish a prototype program to treat vets and others who suffer from trauma’s debilitating – and even life-threatening – effects. In this effort, I’d like to call attention to what I feel is an important new book. Trauma: Healing the Hidden Epidemic has just been published by local author Peter M. Bernstein, PhD. I’ve known Dr. Bernstein for more than thirty years and I can attest that he is an authority on all forms of trauma – its causes and more importantly, how trauma can be treated and healed. The book has its origin in Dr Bernstein’s observations of the pervasive effects on both active duty service personnel and veterans of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the consequences of the severely deflated economy of the last five or so years – what many are calling the Great Recession – on the country’s population in general. This book is highly accessible and written in clear, direct prose. It’s full of useful diagnostic tools and offers tips on how to help friends, loved ones and even oneself recognize and deal with the effects of severe emotional trauma. You can purchase a copy from Amazon’s Createspace at this link: https://www.createspace.com/4154673 For more information on Dr Bernstein and his treatment center, visit www.bernsteininstitute.com.