Healing Stress in Military Families, Eight Steps to Wellness

Abstract

LORIE T. DECARVALHO AND JULIA M. WHEALIN: Healing Stress in Military Families, Eight Steps to Wellness. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, 2012, 230 pp., $55.00, ISBN: 978-1-118-03821-5.Members of the military face significant stressors not just during deployment, but also upon return to their families. The physical and emotional changes that occur when service members witness or experience injury, death, or other dangers, can make it challenging for these individuals to re-integrate into family Ufe. During a service member's deployment, family members also undergo stressors of their own as they attempt to cope with their own fears while managing daily life tasks. Healing Stress in Military Families attempts to address the challenges service members and their families may encounter upon members' return home and suggests using an accessible, strengths-based model for treatment.As a whole, this book is a well-organized and descriptive manual geared towards managing challenges associated with readjustment to family life. It includes eight chapters, each of which identifies one step to wellness within a cognitive-behavioral-therapy (CBT) framework (the steps are: Connect, Explain, Discover, Empower, Improve, Process, Challenge, Grow). The topics covered in each chapter are meant to build upon each other, so the authors recommend that the steps are practiced in order. Each chapter begins with a quote, an introduction, and a family scenario illustrating the topic; together, these components present a clear overview of the chapter goals and a general description of the technique(s) to be learned.Making it Real Exercises and Talking Points sections in each chapter provide in-session activities and follow-up discussions to practice and process the skills to be learned. In addition to the typical CBT worksheets (e.g., checklists, Likert-type scales) and brief written exercises, the authors also incorporate experiential activities such as one where family members are encouraged to make a collage reflecting their views of the family unit (pp. 24-25). Furthermore, take-home exercises, which allow families to practice the topic outside of the session, are identified at the end of each chapter.Each chapter also includes empirical data about the topic explored within, including information from current peer-reviewed research. Brief sections at the end of each chapter summarize the major goals that, when met, reflect mastery of the topic. Finally, the appendices of the book include copies of handouts for families to use, as well as a resource guide directed towards military members, veterans, and their families.Each of the steps has a strong foundation in cognitive-behavioral theory, and includes techniques, such as identifying positive and negative coping strategies (Step 3: Discover), and cognitive restructuring (Step 5: Improve). …