About Tom Cloyd, MS, MA – Author of Trauma! A PTSD Blog

In writing and speaking about psychological trauma, I am most often reacting to an ongoing perception that few people really "get it" - about many aspects of this whole class of mental disorders. This multidimensional misunderstanding is seen in many ways:

• Misreading one's own behavior, thoughts, and feelings: You wouldn't believe how often I've been asked "am I crazy?", by someone with whom I'm just starting to work in relation to their psychological trauma. What an awful, painful question - which should never even have occurred to them.
• Reluctance to hire someone with a known diagnosis of PTSD: After all, they're dangerous, aren't they? (Not a whole lot more than anyone else is - most violence in our country comes from people who do NOT have PTSD.)
• Complete refusal to provide even minimally competent treatment services: The U.S. Veteran's Administration has for years provided "group therapy" for PTSD. There's no such thing. Group therapy is NOT a validated PTSD treatment. And in my own state, people on Medicaid who approach state-funded county mental health agencies, and are subsequently diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, are told "we don't treat DID". I don't see either of these as appropriate professional responses.
• The widespread belief that once you have PTSD, you'll have it for life. This is far from true, if you get competent treatment.

Reducing Human Suffering Due to Psychological Trauma

Frustration - that's MY mental health problem. To preserve my sanity, I write, speak, organize Internet interest groups, and plot changes. Change - individual, social, or cultural, is usually hard. The alternative, however, is harder. So, we must work for change, and that's why I'm here.

I am trained in cultural anthropology, had a career in ceramic art, and made a mid-career change to counseling psychology a few years back. That was one of the smartest things I've ever done. I love what I do. I love tough problems. I don't often ask what the purpose of my life might be. I know what it is - to bring about change, to work to lessen the human suffering due to psychological trauma. I am a private practice psychotherapist, writer, researcher, speaker, and trainer. That isn't enough, of course, but it's what I can do.

Oh, there IS one other thing I can do: Ask you to join with me in this work.

We need to educate ourselves, dialog about problems and solutions, ask others to take action where they can, and above all simply to keep at it. We ARE gaining ground. We're going to see very major change - in our lifetime, if we just continue. So, please, come with me, stand with me, help me see things more clearly when you can, affirm the truths I can see when you can. Let's get this done!

Connect with Tom Cloyd also at Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, his Sleight of Mind blog, his Trauma Psych blog, and the Tom Cloyd website.