Civilian clergy get war trauma lesson

Civilian clergy get war trauma lesson
Training focuses on helping troops with combat stress when they return home.
BY STEPHANIE HEINATZ | 247-7821
August 22, 2007

NEWPORT NEWS - Military chaplains are often revered by troops on the front lines. They provide a place where they can go to cry, to vent, to talk about the trauma war has exposed them to - and not feel like they're being judged.

Back home, those troops are likely to reach out to their civilian pastors, Susan Cross, a chaplain with the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center told roughly 75 clergy members gathered Tuesday at a daylong course on dealing with combat stress.

Some servicemen and servicewomen still fear seeking professional mental health care from the military or the VA.