The Bernstein Institute for Integrative Therapy and Trauma Treatment, in partnership with Aqus Community and Sonoma Coast Trauma Treatment, announces the Resilience Café, a public forum for the discussion and healing of trauma.  The event is meant for veterans and civilians alike and will be held at Aqus Café at 7pm, Monday, November 11, 2013.

Trauma is present everywhere. It’s not limited to wars or natural disasters. Trauma can be experienced by communities as well as individuals. Trauma affects military veterans and civilians alike. For veterans, it may be causes by the horrors of combat, separation from loved ones, or personal injury. For civilians, trauma can result from job loss, relationship issues, drug use or disease.

Trauma often goes unrecognized, and when it is acknowledged it can be brushed aside or buried. Folk wisdom says that “time heals all wounds,” but the reality is that the passage of time alone does not heal trauma. Trauma can be healed, but the process begins with understanding and acknowledgement.

Trauma can be hell on earth, but it only ruins lives when it’s not confronted and dealt with. There should be no shame in admitting trauma because doing so is the first step to healing and becoming resilient.

The Resilience Café will feature opening remarks by Dr. Peter Bernstein, Ph.D., and Wes Easley, an OEF veteran, retired police officer, and staff member at the Bernstein Institute. Following the introduction, the audience will be encouraged to participate in guided discussions of personal encounters with trauma.
The organizers of the Resilience Café intend the evening to be an opportunity for individuals to reach out to others, discover they are not alone in their pain, and hopefully begin the journey to healing.

The motto for the Resilience Café is, “Listen. Share. Heal.”

Aqus Café is located at 189 H. Street, at the intersection of 2nd and H streets in Petaluma’s Foundry Wharf. For more information on Dr. Bernstein and the Institute, please contact Jenny Stevenson: jenny@bernsteininstitute.com.

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