Every second Wednesday of the month YOUR LIFE AFTER TRAUMA focuses on an issue of relevance to our military community. It’s always one that affects our civilian community as well so the shows are super packed with insights on both sides. This month we took a deep look at caregiving for a wounded warrior….

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For this show I teamed up with Operation Homefront and Wounded Warrior Wives to take a long close look at caregiving. My guests, one of whom is a wounded warrior caregiver herself, had lots of insights and tackled:

• What are the toughest things about being a caregiver?
• What do caregivers wish survivors understood?
• How does caregiving impact the caregiver?
• How can you lessen the stress of caregiving
• How does being a caregiver change you?

One of my favorite parts of the show is when the wounded warrior caregiver honestly talked about her own caregiving experience with her husband who was severely injured by an IED. She spoke with such honesty and clarity and with such terrific insights.

[CORRECTION: Whoops! At the end of the show I said that next week's topic is all about how to regain your ability to remain present -- I was wrong! Next week's topic is all about resilience and what you can do with what you've learned so far.]

MEET MY GUESTS:

Wounded Warrior Wives, Program Coordinator,  Cheryl Gansner is the wife of a severely injured veteran. Bryan and Cheryl were married before his second deployment to Iraq. Bryan was severely injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) six weeks before coming home and spent 20 months rehabilitating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Cheryl graduated with her bachleor’s degree in Social Work and started working with Wounded Warrior Wives in August 2010.

Sara Boz is the Director of Wounded Warrior Wives, a network of women caring for wounded, ill or injured service members, created and maintained by Operation Homefront. Sara’s role at Operation Homefront is to support the women in their own journey of healing by facilitating an online community that provides social connections to other women in similar situations, developing support groups by geographic area to encourage resource sharing and friendships, and organizing annual retreats to provide education on relevant issues. Sara has an a Master’s in Counseling and is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology, working towards finishing her dissertation on homelessness. Sara served in the Air Force on active duty between 2000 and 2004, and has been with the Air National Guard since 2004. Sara along with Operation Homefront is committed to supporting the dedicated military families and veterans who serve our Nation.