|
George Fusco, PhD ~ Web Briefing ~ 1.5 Hrs
Returning Veterans: Issues with Intimacy and Sexuality Web Briefing ~ Wednesday, September 24, 2008 ~ 11:30am-1:00pm ~ 1.5 Hrs Managing Post-Combat Depression and Anger San Francisco ~ Saturday, October 25 ~ 9:00am-4:00pm ~ 6 Hrs George Fusco, PhD is a clinical researcher, lecturer, public health outreach worker experienced in dual diagnosis case management and passive intervention/brief intervention counseling. He is currently in part time clinical practice treating patients presenting with various issues from developmental and behavioral disorders to psychosexual trauma. The scope of the private practice includes treatment of US military personnel presenting with TBI/PTSD symptoms, as well as marriage and family counseling, mood and performance related anxiety disorders, sex counseling, and court mandated counseling for sex offenders. Dr Fusco also served as an adviser to the Sexual Assault in the U.S. Military research project at UC Santa Barbara (2004). A fairly common problem for soldiers in combat situations involves obvious disturbances in the normal adult psychosexual process of desire and sexual arousal. Male soldiers often report symptoms of erectile difficulty or an inability to obtain sufficient penile tumescence. These symptoms often continue after leaving the war zones, and often affect the ability to resume intimacy and sexual relations with spouses and partners after returning home. The Web Briefing, addresses the current status of research and practice regarding difficulty in establishing intimacy and engaging in sexual behavior as a result of post combat operational stress or trauma. The class in Managing Depression and Anger focuses on techniques to help returning veterans cope with the extremely common post-combat reaction of depression and anger, as well as a myriad of other symptoms consistent with PTS and TBI. These additional symptoms include insomnia, sleep deprivation and other sleep disorders, symptoms of depression and mania somewhat mimicking bipolar disorder, aggressive and antisocial tendencies accompanied by lack of impulse control, feelings of inferiority, alienation, and lack of self worth, learning difficulties, inability to focus on tasks, as well as panic attacks and other physiological symptoms consistent with neurosis. The importance of treating the symptoms of PTS and TBI in early onset stages is that symptoms increase in severity over longer periods of time, and self-destructive impulses and suicidal ideation often accompanies secondary symptoms. Since there are relatively few private clinicians working with Iraq and Afghanistan vets at this time, the approaches Dr Fusco is learning are particularly important. He emphasizes that he is not a position to be definitive or to be able to answer all relevant questions, but he does have specific findings to share. In particular, Dr Fusco will make use of video interviews to demonstrate the dissonance between verbal language and body language, and how the latter is a better key to understanding. |
