Letters and Testimonials

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From Some of the thousands of requests:

LT (Lieutenant)
“Thank you so much for your efforts and your generosity. I wish that my wife and I had this the first time that I deployed. We have both struggled with stress. God Bless you!”

- 1LT P. H., U.S. Army

Returning Home:
"When I returned from Afghanistan last year to a divorce your CD is what helped me through it, there are soldiers in my unit that need to learn better coping skills."

- United States Army Staff Sergeant, Infantry

National Guard:
Sir, Thank you for your significant contribution to the health of our Troops

V/r, LTC Rich Stitzer,

MED OPS Branch Chief, Army National Guard,

Psychologist:
I heard about this CD from my psychologist who has been treating me for PTSD.

-United States Air Force Airman Second Class

USO:
"We are requesting 1,000 copies to be given out during Missions going to Iraq, Afghanastan, and Africa."

- USO Of Hampton Roads and Central Virginia

Australian Army:
"Please pass on a copy to my 3 colleeges"

- Royal Australian Regiment

Police Department:
I am an Army veteran and am currently a Sergeant at the XXX Alabama Police Department.I am requesting 10 copies of Coping Strategies to distribute to officers at my department. Any consideration in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

VET Center:
This Video Audio is Great! I had previously attained 100 copies; I have over 200 Vets that I provide service trhough contracts with the Fed Vet Center and the XXXVA. I did give a few 5 or more to my clinical collegues who also appreciated the quality. I would appreciate about 100 more for the VN and Iraq/Afg and other Vets in need of bibliotherapy like this awsome A Vid.

Trauma Therapist:
I am a Combat Trauma Therapist - I have given your disc to many Veterans who find great benefit - I believe it is one of the best disc in production - I will take as many disc's as you can send - they will be used!!!

Thank You!

J XXX Jr. BSW, MSW


PTSD Counselor:
My PTSD counselor recommended I ask for this CD to help me with my PTSD issues. I would like to have at least 5 copies to give to acquaintances who are also having problems coping with PTSD. Thank you,

- Sonny

Army Psychologist:
I am veteran psychologist (Army) who provides assistance to the vets in Los Angeles Sheriff Department.


Father:
It empowered one father to reach out to his son. Here’s what he said in his message; forwarding the Patriot Outreach website (emphasis not added):

“Hey Buddy, Look what I found on the internet! More than coincidence? God DOES work in mysterious ways.

I love you, my brave son! Dad”

Iraq Warrior:
"This is basic training for the mind!"

- PFC J. Oehring, U.S. Army Infantry (Deployed to Iraq)

Walter Reed:
Patriot Outreach Coping Strategies CDs. "I have rendered a positive opinion to TSG (The Surgeon General)."

- Dr. (COL) John Bradley, M.D., Chief of Psychiatry, Walter Reed Army Medical Center

MG (Major General):
“In my own experience as a commander, I have seen Soldiers make rapid and sustained improvement through use of these [Coping Strategies] CDs. I was relieved to have these CDs available as a tool our Chaplains could hand out to Soldiers and their spouses. Soldiers, who otherwise refused to seek help, benefited by using the CD in the privacy of their home.”

- MG(R) George R. Harris, recently retired West Point General assigned to the Office of the Secretary of the Army

Veterans Administration Clinic:
"I received my [Coping Strategies] CD and love it. I would very much like to request 30 more for use at the VA Clinic and to provide to soldiers and families.

This is a wonderful resource!

Thank you," T.P., Addiction Therapist  (VA Clinic)

Army Chaplain:
The Be Still and Know Exercise works for me. It calms my soul, enhances my thinking, and improves my emotional regulation.  I am thankful to be a more resilient chaplain. Read the chaplain's letter (PDF)

----Chaplain (LTC), U.S. Army (Southern Baptist)

Father Loses Son in Iraq, Joins Marines:
"On the third try, all hell broke loose and it was an epiphany... It energizes me, it enlightens me and it gives me strength... I am ready and proud."

- Mike, U.S. Marine Corps, Deployed to Iraq


Sergeant USMC:
"Thank you, It saved my Life! The peace and joy I now enjoy makes life worthwhile! "

- SGT J. Shiposki, U.S. Marine Corps, (Homebound Quadriplegic)


Air Force Chaplain:
“The distribution of these [Coping Strategies] CD's has been a great success.
My thanks to the Lord and staff. I have been busy at the Mass Military Reservation on-base. Units from all over New England come here.
      May I request 50 more CD's. One veteran has commented 'thanks for looking out for us!"

Respectfully, B. C., U.S. Air Force


Doctor:
“Hello I am a Professional Counselor in private practice and a volunteer in the 'Give An Hour' program. I anticipate needing no less than 6 copies of this product to use in conjunction with current and future active therapy cases. If you can supply this request i will be grateful.

Thank You,” Major W. K.


Wife:
“May I have 10 copies. I am a family member of an active duty soldier. I am also a clinical psychologist working with soldiers who have combat stress and PTSD. I think the cd would be a good resource for my patients."

Thank you, D. L, PsyD RN FNP (Clinical Psychologist)


Navy Vet, Vietnam:
"Amazingly, it (the Exercise) keeps showing and reaping benefits. I've never been more patient and alive. The secret is in the watchful observance without struggle."

- L. Brown U.S. Navy, Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam


Wife of Deployed Warrior:
"I've been listening to your Cd for about five days now and it is completely changing me... I have been struggling for so long... I feel so liberated... I'm not resentful for my husband for returning to Iraq."

- Janine, Wife of Deployed Warrior

Iraq Warrior:
"I am no longer in denial of what happened in Iraq. I am freed. The exercise helped me overcome my past; it;s not haunting me any longer. it's a winner!!"

- PFC J.M., U.S. Army, Anbar Province, Iraq 2004-2005


Social Service Worker / USCG:
"I have developed PTSD primarily through my life of being a child protective service worker for 11+ years. I became addicted to adrenalin. My tour in the USCG was not combat, but it was TERRIFIYING as I operated a search and rescue craft and had never owned a canoe before.

I went to the V.A. for counseling in 2000 and was referred out to a psychologist who knew nothing about PTSD. I still "doctor" with the V.A. and have a new lease on life due to the 'Be Still and Know' principles. I remain 'on the battlefield' as a social service worker and I stay in the fight because I believe I have a gift to do so. MANY others say I do as well."

- Michael, U.S. Coast Guard / Social Service Worker

Click Here to Share Your Story

Souls Touching Souls!
(Reprint New Insights, Aug 2008)
PDF Version


Dear Colonel Monaco,

      First, I want to thank you for calling me yesterday. I followed your advice and went back to the site and did the exercise. I feel so much better. I’ve let go of a lot of the other frustrations I have been carrying with me for a long time. This morning I woke up and started to write; what happened yesterday actually inspired a scene I added to the script. I don’t mind if you forward this, I wrote this in mind to be shared.

      I’ll admit it, when I was given the Coping Strategies CD and visited the website, I didn’t think it applied to me. I had become so used to existing on emotional stress and physical pain that I dismissed the notion that I needed to learn how to cope. I believed that I was coping with my problems well enough. After really taking a hard look at myself and actually [giving] the exercise a chance, I’ve come to realize that I’ve been holding onto all of the anger,  disappointment, and sorrow from events in my past.

      For the past seven years, in my mind’s eye I’ve viewed myself in three different ways: who I was, who I wanted to be, and who I am. I have been guilty of assigning my anger and disappointment in myself to everyone around me. I couldn’t take their love, support, and encouragement at face value. In my mind, I told myself that deep down they thought I was a failure and a burden. I overcompensated to the point that I really was just hurting myself instead of making things better.

      After five surgeries to remove the joint, two bones, and damaged tissue in my right foot, I was diagnosed with causalgia; a disorder that developed as a result of the nerve damage from what happened to me in the Army. The best description I’ve read on the pain that comes with causalgia is “imagine someone replaced your blood with gasoline, set it on fire, and then kept the fire burning 24/7.” In the past few months the symptoms of [the] disorder has spread to my right hand, and that frustrates me far more than my leg.

      All of this brings me back to the Coping Strategies CD. At the time I finally listened; I felt so frustrated and overwhelmed. The mental strain I was putting on myself because of my physical pain was causing me to lash out at the people around me. I was angry about what happened in my past, I was frustrated by my physical limitations, so when I became upset over something minor I started cycling those negative thoughts that only served to make me feel worse.

      It took someone’s kind reminder of the resource I’ve had all along to snap me out of it. I did the exercise. Instead of focusing on my past, instead of focusing on negative thoughts, I focused on being aware. It worked, and my bad mood lifted. I was aware of the physical pain, but it wasn’t at the forefront of my thoughts; this pain is not and should not be an excuse to make my life more difficult than it truly is.

Thank you and God Bless,

My Testimonial – An Open Cry
PDF Version

Colonel Tony Monaco,
United States Army
(December 2006)

Noble Warriors!! I must confess I can no longer remain silent, stand by and watch. We have banded together in the face of adversity before and once more we will.

There is a new battlefield!! Too many of us are bringing the enemy home; distressing our loved ones.

At an Army clinic, I ran into one of my Soldiers who was having stomach problems and no one could figure out why. Quietly, he confessed of having a recurring image of a dead Soldier he had zipped into a body bag. Later that week, I read a U.S. News & World Report article dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which featured a friend of mine, COL Kathy Platoni, a combat-stress team psychologist.

I keyed on U.S. News & World Report's account that the core problem is “Reimagining the trauma again...” Forces exist to demoralize us and lead us to an unwitting path of self-destructive behavior. These recurring images lurk within us to take us down.

Are you Stressed? Depressed? Isolated, Angry and full of Resentment? Who will take care of us if we don’t? There is no need to struggle alone, and in darkness.

 Even the renowned psychologist and founder of analytical psychology, Carl Jung, acknowledged, “What you resist persists.”

Seeking professional help is always advisable. What I discovered is a very private, simple, non-intrusive Exercise called, “Be Still and Know.”  It has helped me immensely in overcoming extreme adversities. It is confidential, effective and powerful. And I have freely shared the Exercise with my family and colleagues alike.

How does it work?

Dr. George Hayter, M.D., Psychiatrist and Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, says the Exercise "…is the only program of self-therapy which achieves the desired end-state of therapy; to lessen the dependence on the therapist – the goal is self-awareness.” Also, he says, “It’s the only approach that I have ever seen in the whole field of psychology which allows you to become independent, competent and effective.”

“Patriot Outreach” provides grants (at no cost) to all military Warriors, government civilians, battlefield contractors, first responders, veterans, retirees and their families.

Let’s not bring home the enemy. Working Together...Making A Difference. HUA!! Let us cherish the sweet joy of life. God Speed!!

___   ___   ___

Colonel Monaco's Epilogue
(November 2007)

As their loved ones enter harms way, several family members have asked me what they can do. Can the Exercise “Be Still and Know” help? ...Absolutely!!

The Exercise is for everyday life. Your work! Your family! Your kids! Your health! Even road rage!

Keeping with our movie theater analogy above (How does it work?), using The Exercise before, as well as during a deployment (or stressful operation) is comparable to being told the ending of the movie.  It spoils it! How many times has this happened to you?

Knowing the ending, being aware, negates a lot of the suspense, emotional bonds and intrigue, and therefore the cause of many common stress reactions. Overcoming stress, anger, and fear not only on the battlefield, but also on the Homefront will bring us joy, and a more productive and happier life. 

Download The Exercise!  Try it!  What do you have to lose?  Moreover, many have found comfort in Psalms 91.  Together, with God's Blessing, fighting for each other will make a difference.

Amber