Northeast Department of Peace Conference

Dr. Ed Tick, author of "War and the Soul" and Executive Director of Soldier's Heart, will speak on "War and the Soul: Healing Ourselves and the Planet" on Saturday morning. His wife and Administrative Director of Soldier's Heart, Kate Dahlstedt, will also join us for the weekend. Ed and Kate will offer a workshop Saturday afternoon entitled "It Takes a Village: Bringing Veterans Home". For more info on Dr. Tick and Soldier's Heart go to their website at http://www.mentorthesoul.com/about_us/about_us.htm.

Dr. Ed Tick came of age during, and protested against, the VietNam War, but admits that he only really started learning about it when the first VietNam War veteran clients started showing up in his psychotherapy practice. Decades later, after taking time to look deeply at the wounds of war, PTSD, the warrior tradition in various cultures, and working with healers and veterans from many spiritual and cultural traditions, he wrote "War and the Soul" about what he learned from the many veterans he listened to and helped to heal along the way.

One review of the book states, "As a peace activist from way back and also the father of a Marine who has had two tours of duty in Iraq, I found this book to touch my heart, open up conversation between my son and me and give me a better understanding of the struggles our vets face. A couple days after reading this I had a chance to talk about it with my Marine son and used the insights I had found here to open the deepest conversation we have had in years. The soul-dimension of war is seldom considered, but Tick's treatment makes it clear that there are real and important struggles being faced by vets from all our previous wars. I gained a wealth of knowledge and understanding, and highly recommend Tick's book to parents, spouses, children and friends of returning vets, as well as the vets themselves."

We are honored to welcome Ed Tick as a keynote speaker for the Northeast Department of Peace Conference. His talk on "Healing the Wounds of War" will allow us to gain valuable insights into how, in this culture of war and violence, we can more fully be the change we want to see in the world - for our veterans of all wars, and for ourselves.