COMBAT VETS LAST HOPE IS OFTEN MAN'S BEST FRIEND

 

In my proven heart centered work with combat veterans with PTSD it is obvious that the healing power of unconditional love can facilitate transformative change. Nowhere is that more evident than with Combat Veterans with their special need dogs ~ for only unconditional love can penetrate the dark shadow world of PTSD: Allen L Roland, Ph.D

 

“The only way love can last a lifetime is if it's unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love.” ~ Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare

During the past four years, I have been able to successfully demonstrate in my 11 Healing The Wounded Heart (Band of Brothers) workshops in the San Francisco Bay area with combat veterans with PTSD ~ that reclaiming veterans' damaged souls through love, acceptance and gratefulness can lead not only to self-healing but also full recovery. These 8 once a week workshops enjoyed an average success rate of approximately 60 % in all symptoms of PTSD ~ especially in the ability to love and accept love as well as achieving a deeper sense of inner joy, peace and well-being. See the Miracle of Heart Centered Counseling is Self-Healing ~ http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/02/12/miracle-of-heart-centered-counseling-is-self-healing/

 

But nowhere is that more obvious than with combat veterans with their special needs dogs ~ for the power of unconditional love can eventually penetrate the dark shadow world of a PTSD victim, whether military or civilian. The reason is that conscious unconditional love begets conscious unconditional love and frozen hearts and maimed souls are often melted in the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vietnam combat veteran Tim Barton relaxing with his beloved dog Shasta in Antioch, California

As Stephen Kendrick wrote ~ Love is not determined by the one being loved, but rather by the one choosing to love. In other words, it is conscious non-possessive love versus emotional need centered love and when we consciously love we enter the sacred space of unconditional love and a Unified Field  of love and soul consciousness ~ that is also deepest within each one of us. All of us have the capacity to love that deeply ~ but few of us get beyond the ego's fear based need to control or possess and are able to access and breath the rarefied air of true unconditional love.

In that regard, our pets (dogs, cats and even horses) are often reservoirs of that love for they quite often have the capacity to unconditionally love us especially when we feel alone and unloved.

As a child, my dogs were very special to me in that regard but especially in college where my dog INKY became our fraternity house pet. But my horse SCOUT was the best example of the healing power of unconditional love and the one choosing to love.

I was going through a painful separation from my second wife and living in a rented room on a horse ranch in Sonoma, California. My horse SCOUT became my connection to source and the healing power of love ~ for every day I cleaned his hoofs, rode him at full gallop in the vineyards and then washed and groomed him and fed him. It was a conscious choice to love and nurture him every day and in the process I healed myself through that love and learned how to unconditionally love.

 

Soon after that, it came time to let go of SCOUT because of the demands of my work and very quickly the perfect buyer responded to my ad, who had dreamed about SCOUT, agreed on a more than fair price, built a corral for him and allowed me to transition SCOUT into his new family and environment. It was easy for me to let go of SCOUT for in loving him I had reconnected to source and I in turn was now providing the perfect family to love, nurture and ride him during the last years of his life.

Letting go of SCOUT, as such, was an act of conscious unconditional love and there was no sense of loss but instead celebration and completion ~ for his future happiness was more important to me than my selfishly holding on to him. We had finished our healing time together and it was time to let go. Great love can both take hold and let go and the same thing can happen in relationship ~  for those who we love deeply become part of us forever and still live in our hearts.

Watch these two Veterans with PTSD, especially David Sharpe and his dog Cheyenne, react with their dogs and how their pet's unconditional love sets the stage for their own eventual self-healing and ability to love and accept love. 5 Minute Video ~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vuTyEcBi_n4

 

There are thousands of abused and sheltered dogs who could be paired with emotionally wounded combat veterans with PTSD for a fraction of the cost of the VA over medicating them ~ such as Canines4hope. http://www.canines4hope.com/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-dogs-ptsd-dog-training-florida.htm

 

When combat veterans with PTSD lovingly relate to their special needs pets ~ they are in essence setting the stage to fully love and forgive themselves as well as to love and allow others to fully love them.

 

“Dogs are how people would be if the important stuff is all that mattered to us.” ~ A. Lorenzana

 

Allen L Roland, Ph.D
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/combat-vets-last-hope-is-often-mans.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and heart centered spiritual counselor Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private Skype consultations at allen@allenroland.com

 

Allen L Roland is also a lecturer and shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net