The material in the course is the product of years of research and the focus of the instructor’s doctoral dissertation. The Senior Chaplain Colonel Dean Bonura has over 26 years of experience as an Army Chaplain and has also served in combat. He is currently serving as the Senior Chaplain for Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, VA.
Many returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have PTSD or exhibit symptoms of post-trauma stress. These veterans are in our churches while many others have become estranged from their churches. Combat-related trauma that may lead to PTSD has visible and less visible symptoms. These symptoms can be likened to an iceberg: symptoms that are visible, such as hyper-alertness, sleeplessness, and anger represent the protruding part and are typically recognized as psychological; but there are also less visible symptoms such as guilt, grief, and loss of meaning that may be described as spiritual symptoms. And these symptoms require spiritual interventions. This course will examine many of these spiritual symptoms and explore the spiritual remedies that address them by using the tenets of Christian spirituality. The course also addresses other trauma experienced in the military such as sexual assault.