Veterans share trauma for others to heal

Veterans share trauma
ALEX LEDUC, Freelance
Published: 9 hours ago
They spend every day listening to real-life horror stories told by Canadian Forces veterans.

As they listen, counsellors Pierre Trépanier and Gérald Jean are keenly aware that a tale that hits too close to home could trigger their own traumatic memories.

"At first, each story would affect me," said Trépanier, 45, a former sergeant. "But I realized that I need to build a wall in front of myself ... it's not because I'm cold, but it's not my story."


Trépanier's job is to hear these stories from local veterans who have long needed to vent about living with the psychological traumas of military service.

As if that wasn't challenging enough, the veteran does this while battling his own post-traumatic stress disorder, which he came home with after 14 years of service in the Canadian Forces. It went untreated for a decade.

"I'm going to burn out if I work too much. We have some boundaries here. If I'm not respecting them, I'm going to fall down again," said Trépanier.

This veteran of NATO missions in the 1980s and 1990s is an essential part of a growing peer support network for those suffering from psychological injuries like PTSD.

Combined with new treatment facilities and sensitization efforts from Veterans Affairs Canada, formal and informal peer counselling has encouraged a wave of inactive veterans to come forward and seek help for their often long-ignored psychological injuries.
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Veterans share trauma