About

ABOUT THE BLOG: Coming Back Home is meant to be a resource of information about service-related trauma. It’s written for veterans, serving members of the armed forces, and their families and supporters. When possible, I try to write broadly enough to make the blog posts useful to other groups too – like law enforcement and first responders, and even civilians coping with the impact of trauma.

The topics I cover are based on reader feedback and my own thoughts about what needs to be discussed.

I don’t pretend to know everything about everything. Most of the patients I work with are male, heterosexual, veterans of the Canadian military. Most of the readers who write to me to share their stories so I can learn from them are also male heterosexual veterans. If and when I learn enough about other groups to write knowledgeably about them, I will do so; in the meantime, I will stick to writing about what I know, and I will do my best to keep my posts broad whenever I can, so that more readers might find them helpful.

I do my best to learn as I go – so, if you see me write something that you disagree with, please feel more than welcome to let me know. I’ll do what I can to continue to improve.

ABOUT ME: I’m a licensed, practicing clinical and rehabilitation psychologist based in Ontario, Canada. I co-direct a psychology clinic, Niagara Psychological Wellness, which is in St. Catharines.

I work with veterans, law enforcement officers, first responders, as well as with survivors of child abuse, violent crime, and intimate partner violence.

Thanks for letting me join you on this journey; it’s an honour to be part of it with you.

I’d love to have you share your thoughts, comments, and questions. If you do post a comment, please don’t give specific details of your trauma – these may be triggering to another reader. If you’d like to offer criticism, I’ll take it – I know I’m not perfect, and I’m always willing to learn. If you do offer criticism though, I’d really appreciate it if you could do so constructively (ie., no name-calling, please). Thanks…

You can find me on Twitter and on Facebook.

~ Dr. Dee Rajska, C. Psych.

*Fine print: Please feel free to share the link to this blog wherever you think it might be helpful! Reading this blog is a good start, but it’s no substitute for professional help. It takes a different kind of courage to admit to yourself that you’re struggling. PTSD is not a sign of failure – it’s a sign that you’ve been through a lot, and have tried to stay strong for too long. If you need help – you’re in some pretty great company. Reach out, and give yourself a chance to feel better.

**Really fine print: The content of Coming Back Home is copyrighted; please feel free to share the link, but do not copy and paste content. Unless otherwise noted, all original photography on Coming Back Home is the copyrighted property of Larry M. Jaipaul; please do not copy images without permission.

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8 thoughts on “About

  1. thank YOU!!!!we need more people like you;thanks again n keep up the great work!i express my gratitude on behalf of all who serve this worderful country!justice for all!!

  2. Well Dr. Dee,
    You just seem to be kickin’ the right things out all the time that need to be dealt with.
    I think this will be a wonderful blog, and Vets, and you, (^_^) will help each other out with different insights on the issues being discussed.
    Like everyone seems to say, ” We need more Doctors such as yourself.” Your articles, discussions, and blogs, all seem to deal with the various issues that plague all Vets. And though you’re not a Vet yourself, you’ve shown that you are more than willing to LISTEN, and learn, which sets you above (in my eyes) a lot of other Doctors, that are “book smart, but experience stupid”, and know it all.
    So, congradulations again Dr. Dee. Please continue on with your great work, and if ever I can in some small way, be of service to you, please don’t hesitate to call.
    You have a great day, and go in Peace, Walt CPSS.

    1. Walt,
      Thank you so much for your very kind words. Earning the respect of vets like you really means the world to me!
      I’ll always be the first to admit that I don’t know everything, and it truly is a privilege to learn from vets; you guys really inspre me, and I’m thankful for the chance to work with you.
      Walt, you’re already helping – by contributing to this blog, and helping to build it into a community. I don’t want this to be a space where I drone on and everybody just listens; so thank you for helping to turn it into a space where people feel welcome to jump in and have a discussion. It’s great to have you 🙂

  3. As a one time reg force member and a lifelong member of various volunteer fire dept,s it was with a happy heart that I boarded the plane to Kandahar on the 1st of my two tours in support of our troops . As a vehicle tech we were exposed to many tuff sights even thou we never left the safety of the wire. Since my return home I am aware of at least three cases of former coworkers that have suffered from PTSD and as a result have committed suicide . For myself there is never a day that passes that memories of sights and sounds are with me. To my knowledge the people that served in Kabul or Kandahar with our troops have no support .

    1. Hi Lance!
      Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your experiences.
      You raise a number of important points. There are many different types of trauma, and you don’t have to leave “the safety of the wire” to end up getting PTSD. I will expand on this in future posts.
      It’s heartbreaking that your former coworkers died because they didn’t get the help they needed… There is help out there; there is support, and we need to do more to prevent suicide from being the only option that people feel they have.
      I don’t know offhand what supports there are for those who served alongside the troops in Afghanistan – whether they have access to private funding for treatment, EAP services through their employer, or WSIB. If you or someone you know is struggling, I will certainly look into it.

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