COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2019 | 11A
Vets
from A1
landing zone, McHenry
found his friend had died.
In the aftermath, McHen-
ry blamed himself.
“There was the world of
blame, shame, fault, guilt,
burden,” he said. “Nobody
ever said that to me, but I
came off there feeling less
and that I should’ve died –
and the guilt of me living
and them dying and me
not doing better so more of
them could live or at least
have their limbs.”
Military psychologists
prescribed him pills for his
mental pain, but McHen-
ry still had restless nights,
random adrenaline rushes
and was startled by loud
noises.
Then he was introduced
to a personal development
training program, in which
McHenry found a new way
to address his pain.
“And I got freed up from
it — but I never talked
about my stuff to anybody
other than the psychologist
in the military,” he said.
Intrigued by the meth-
od’s effi cacy, McHenry
explored neuroscience and
JUST
REDUCED!
$280,000
psychology. He spoke with
professionals in the fi eld
who said there was a trend
in the industry away from
mainstream prescriptions
which asked trauma vic-
tims face their problems
directly.
McHenry spent a de-
cade as a forum leader
in the Landmark Forum,
a company offering per-
sonal growth courses. In
his worldwide travels, he
noticed that many people
were resistant to reliving
their traumatic events.
“So, I told them, ‘You
don’t have to,’” he said.
“I never said a word about
my combat. I never spoke
about it, but the symptoms
went away. And I actu-
ally got to the source of
why they went away, and
that’s what the workshop’s
about.”
With Landmark’s per-
mission, McHenry has
incorporated many of the
company’s teachings into
Operation Veteran Free-
dom. During the work-
shop, attendees are told
that the source of much of
their pain is derived from
the narratives they have
created for themselves.
“Neuroscientists will say
the number one job of the
brain is to survive life,”
McHenry said, “but their
brain does not care wheth-
er they are happy or sad.”
In our natural incli-
nation to ascribe reason
and meaning to the world
around us, McHenry said,
narratives form that tend to
be reinforced through pat-
tern seeking.
“The workshop is about
giving people the access
to really see that and then
creating a new narrative
in such a way that they’re
freed up,” said McHen-
ry. “In the course, all of a
sudden they see something
they haven’t seen before.
And then there’s an ex-
treme amount of freedom.”
McHenry said that part
of the modern problem in
dealing with people who
experience trauma is that
they are told they are vic-
tims and must live with
that as part of their identity.
The workshop provides an
alternative.
“They’re really starting
to see that reliving it is not
the access,” he said. “And
then there’s the possibility
to create something new.”
The key words, McHen-
ry said, are empowerment,
freedom and peace.
“This is about being
freed up and rewriting your
script or your narrative in
such a way that you’re the
author and you get to say
how your life goes,” he
said.
Workshop attendee Lin-
da Diaz volunteered to
discuss her pain publicly
during McHenry’s all-day
course in Cottage Grove.
Diaz had been in a rocky
marriage with a veteran
who suffered from PTSD,
but much of Diaz’s pain
was traced back to her re-
lationship with her mother,
who she said had made her
feel unloved since an ear-
ly age. While she stood
in front of the audience,
McHenry asked the room
to raise their hand if they
thought Diaz was unlov-
able.
“I was terrifi ed to look,”
Diaz said. “I thought at
least fi ve people would
raise their hand … but
nobody thought I was un-
lovable, which really sur-
prised me.”
Through the course of
the day, Diaz said she found
the experience transforma-
tional, learning to allow
normally stress-inducing
thoughts to pass through
her, free of judgement.
“It was just really perfect
timing for me because I
was going through serious
trauma myself,” she said.
“I am erasing my old story
and becoming the author
of my new life. I’ve had
wonderful, empowering
dreams. … It is like learn-
ing to ride a bicycle. Wob-
bly at fi rst, but each day I
feel a little bit stronger.”
Transformations like this
are potential lifesavers for
a community of veterans in
which 22 per day are esti-
mated to commit suicide in
the U.S.
“That’s why we want-
ed this workshop,” said
McHenry. “That’s why I’m
committed to veterans. I
want them to be free.”
Operation Veteran Free-
dom is scheduled to return
to Cottage Grove on Oct.
25 and 26. More informa-
tion can be found at www.
na2evs.org.
up the process of returning
water to the whole city if
water pipes break, but may
also prove to greatly in-
crease the chances that the
city has the water supply to
fight heavy fires.
Whatever the challenges
ahead for Cottage Grove,
vigilance will play a central
role in overcoming them.
Meyers worries about that
vigilance waning.
“I’m afraid of nothing
happening,” said Mey-
ers. “Because if nothing
happens, we get lax. And
complacent. And we don’t
prepare. That’s the most
fearful thing.”
Lane County officials,
too, recognize the value in
attentively evolving with
each disaster cycle.
“We’ll never be ready,”
said county Emergency
Manager Patence Win-
ningham. “Every event
makes us stronger as a ju-
risdiction. We always have
lessons learned and we al-
ways identify areas of im-
provement and we try to
improve upon them.
“And those continue to
make us more resilient.”
Lindy Magallanes &
Amanda Mojarro
Lic # 201231650/201231646
Lindy.Magallanes
@Century21.com
Threat
from A9
541.517.1807
c21nuggetrealty.com
Each office is individually owned and operated.
sources will not only speed
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541-942-0168
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service projects encompassing:
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