War and the Soul

War and PTSD are on the public’s mind as news stories regularly describe insurgency attacks in Iraq and paint grim portraits of the lives of returning soldiers afflicted with PTSD. These vets have recurrent nightmares and problems with intimacy, can’t sustain jobs or relationships, and won’t leave home, imagining “the enemy” is everywhere. Dr. Edward Tick has spent decades developing healing techniques so effective that clinicians, clergy, spiritual leaders, and veterans’ organizations all over the country are studying them. This book, presented here in an audio version, shows that healing depends on our understanding of PTSD not as a mere stress disorder, but as a disorder of identity itself. In the terror of war, the very soul can flee, sometimes for life. Tick’s methods draw on compelling case studies and ancient warrior traditions worldwide to restore the soul so that the veteran can truly come home to community, family, and self.

Author Biography

Edward Tick, PhD, is an expert on post-traumatic stress disorder. A practicing psychotherapist for more than thirty years with national recognition, Dr. Tick specializes in transformational work with war veterans, survivors of severe trauma, and those in need of deep psychospiritual healing. Dr. Tick has extensively studied both classical Greek and Native American healing traditions and successfully integrates those methods into his modern clinical practice. A writer, educator, and overseas journey guide, Dr. Tick holds an MA in psychology from Goddard College and a PhD in communication from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a clinical member and has held various offices with the American Academy of Psychotherapists and the American Holistic Medical Association. He is also an ordained interfaith minister. Dr. Tick began treating Vietnam veterans in psychotherapy in 1979 before PTSD was a diagnostic category. He’s treated veterans and survivors of WWII, the Holocaust, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Central American conflicts, the Balkan wars, the Irish civil and religious wars, the Greek Civil War, the Middle East conflicts, and the Iraq War. He has also served as a consultant to community and church organizations on the treatment of veterans and the training of staff. He resides in Albany, New York. Dr. Tick is the author of several books including The Practice of Dream Healing (Quest, 2001).