BROOKS — Thirty combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD will be healing in Brooks during peak foliage season. 

Fair Haven Camps in Brooks will be the site of Returning Home, October 10 through October 15, a trauma and wellness retreat for 30 combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD. The retreat, free to all combat veterans taking part, will provide therapeutic services based on the Community Health Somatic Experiencing curriculum presented by Peter A. Levine.  

“The Brooks location is a safe, welcoming place for these veterans to begin their healing,” said Alexandra Whitney, Returning Home’s retreat director, in a news release. “The woods, lake, and facilities at Fair Haven Camps will be ideal for all the services and activities we will be providing at no cost to the veterans coming to Maine at the height of the Midcoast foliage season.”

Those direct services will include Somatic Experiencing-based clinical and therapeutic services, including group, individual and equine therapy. The veterans will also participate in meditation, yoga, and mindfulness practices, as well as canoeing, and hiking. 

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), in the release, the number of suicides among all active duty military service members is one per day. Among combat veterans, that total jumps to twenty each day, or nearly one every hour. There are now more casualties attributable to suicide than to combat among the military’s active-duty population. Many of those who take their lives have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The demand to address the needs of military veterans with PTSD is so high that the VA Mission Act became law last year. It directs the DVA to expand access to VA-funded care in the private sector. This will increase effective alternative therapies and provide trauma-informed treatment to women and men dealing with PTSD as a result of their military service, according to the release.

“That is the reason for this first Returning Home retreat,” said Whitney. “It will not only provide these services to veterans who need them, but will be a model for future retreats, including at least one every year in Maine.”

The October 2019 Returning Home at Fair Haven Camps in Brooks is a pilot project. It will include a research element to measure its effectiveness with individual followup services, and will contain a control group of veterans who attend a Returning Home retreat next year.

Returning Home will be led by Peter A. Levine, who developed the program and has worked in the field of stress and trauma for more than 40 years. His organization has trained more than 12,000 practitioners in six countries. During the Returning Home retreat, Levine will be assisted by Alexandra Whitney, Senior Faculty member Dave Berger, and a staff of SE practitioners and licensed professionals. 

Tax-deductible donations are now being accepted in support of Returning Home. A matching gift will double the value of all contributions. The donations will pay for all food, lodging, travel costs, and program services provided to the participating veterans.

The Returning Home retreat website is www.returning-home.com, and a GoFundMe site is at www.gofundme.com/ujupz-returning-home-an-setm-retreat-for-vets online. Donation checks in support of Returning Home can also be mailed to FHE, Attn: Marv Tuttle, 6685 Gunpark Drive, Suite 210, Boulder CO 80301. The Foundation for Human Enrichment (FHE) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization which does business as the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute.  

Local donors in Maine may prefer to send gifts, with a memo line of “Returning Home,” to Fair Haven Camps, 81 West Fairhaven Lane, Brooks ME 04921. 

To refer someone for participation, or for additional information on Returning Home, its sponsors, and its presenters, or more detail on its program model and daily activities, contact Dr. Alexandra Whitney at info@returning-home.com or by text or phone to (303) 588-4939.