FAQ's

What is LifeAfterWar.org?

LifeAfterWar.org focuses on helping veterans find understanding for what life after war is like, and supports each veteran's personal journey to find healing, re-find meaning and re-establish life after war. It also focuses on helping families and concerned citizens learn more about how to support and relate to veterans who have returned from war. It is not affiliated with any religion or political group and welcomes all people who want to help heal and support our veterans.

What makes you qualified to address veteran's issues?

Imagine living in a community where every single person around you has lived through combat and survived. If you have a sensitive spirit, you learn deeply from war and it's impact by living with those who have learned--courageously, slowly and resiliently--to find life again after war. I lived in post-war Sarajevo, Bosnia for several years (a city and country that are very dear to me and where my heart is most at home), married a war survivor and spent my time observing, listening, loving, and being impacted and deeply touched by the effects war has on the soul. I also wrote for The Associated Press there and through reporting, had the humble responsibility of giving Bosnian survivors a voice to the world.

It's through that experience and through my own spiritual journey that I feel called to share what I have learned. By no means do I believe that I have all the answers--in fact, no one does. What I can do is help ask the questions in ways that resonate with survivors and share the path to a new sense of wholeness that I have found.

Are you affiliated with a religion?

No, I am not. I believe we are all One and that we have immense spiritual power far beyond what most of us ever understand. We have lost connection with our innate power and I believe that when the soul is able to re-find that inner connection to the Source, it is able to create its own healing path. I also believe that we are each held in a Benevolent Universe--despite the contradictory facts that war creates. It's very hard to sense or believe in Love and Good when you are hurting and know the devastation and chaos that war deems as normal. I went through a long period when I could not believe in good, God, life, or humanity. Eventually, I found my way through that, but not without a lot of internal darkness and deep, probing questions. I respect people's choice of religious faith--but I believe with all my heart that we each find our own unique spiritual path to wholeness and meaning.

Do you have any family that are U.S. veterans?

Yes, my grandfather served as a U.S. soldier in WWI and then volunteered as a chaplain in WWII; my father was a U.S. veteran of the Korean war, and my sister has served two tours in Iraq as a U.S. Army combat medic.

You're not a psychologist, but you give advice in your book, why?

I'm not a psychologist--my book is meant to enhance the support and guidance that a compassionate and well-trained mental health worker can provide. It's been my experience in life that some of the most meaningful insight has come from people who  had journeyed ahead of me down the real-life path that I was on.

Why do you believe healing is possible?

Because the human spirit is incredibly resilient and because there is more grace out there for each of us than we realize. Perhaps healing isn't the most accurate term--it holds different meanings for each of us. The language we use is powerful in creating our sense of reality...I prefer to define healing as a sense of redefining wholeness, recreating a new identity, and making choices in each moment that support a meaningful life.