Reading & Practices
What I keep close.
Hand-picked, not piled up. Each is here for a reason, and the reason is written next to it.
Start Here · The Field Manual
The Intention & Integration Guide
The preparation and integration workbook my clients use before and after the work. Prepare, enter, debrief, sustain. Free to read, no email required.
Books
Odysseus in AmericaJonathan Shay
The book that says out loud what the poem has been saying for three thousand years: combat trauma is a homecoming problem. Start here.
What It Is Like to Go to WarKarl Marlantes
A Marine officer on killing, guilt, and the weight nobody processed you out of. Unflinching and useful.
TribeSebastian Junger
Short and sharp, on why returning to a society with no role for you is its own wound.
The Wild Edge of SorrowFrancis Weller
On grief as a skill we were never taught, not a problem to be cleared. For the part of this that isn’t fixable.
MeditationsMarcus Aurelius
Written by a man at war, to himself, with no audience in mind. The original field journal. Read a page, not a chapter.
The Body Keeps the ScoreBessel van der Kolk
Over-cited for a reason. Skip the hype, keep the core idea: the body files what the mind files away.
A Few Practices
Down-regulation, done plainly. A long exhale, twice as long as the inhale, for two minutes. Not “breathwork.” Just the oldest brake you have.
The five-minute write-down. Each night, what was true today that you’d rather not have noticed. No audience. Burn it monthly if you like.
The weekly honest hour. One conversation a week with one person where you don’t perform being fine.
Questions Worth Sitting With
What are you still carrying that was issued to you, not chosen?
Who gets the version of you that survived, and who gets the rest?
What would change at home if the thing you already know were actually true?
Where are you mistaking intensity for change?
A Word on Ethics
What creates safety here is consent, screening, scope, and follow-through — not a phrase on a homepage. If the work isn’t right, or isn’t legal for your situation, the right answer is no, and you’ll get it straight.