BILTEN CENTRA ZA RATNU TRAUMU DECEMBAR 20092

No. 1, december 2009.www. wartrauma.org

Dialogues in schools:meetings of veterans and youth in babušnica i Leskovac

AssociAtion FoR tHE PRotEction oF tHE mEntAl HEAltH oF wAR vEtERAns & victims oF wAR 1990 - 1999

Meet the center

conFEREncE: ”wAR vEtERAns building PostwAR sociEty”

CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETIN2 DECEMBER 2009

center for war trauma bulletin

Number 1December 2009 editor:Slađana Ljubičić(sladjana.ljubicic@wartrauma.org)tel: + 381 60 530 560 9design:Zoran Dragić(zoran.dragic@eunet.rs)tel: + 381 64 153 54 62collaborators:Ana Marija Staletović,Ivan Kralj, Lane Stophertranslator:Lane Stophersupported by:Milica Jakšić and Miloš Antićpublisher:Center for war traumaLocation:Kosovska 7, 21000 Novi Sade-mail:office@wartrauma.orgWebsite:www.wartrauma.orgprint:printxpress,(printxpress@sbb.rs)Ćirpanova 20, Novi Sad

Impressum

IntroductionDear friends, In front of you lies the first bulletin of the War Trauma Center. The pur-pose of this bulletin is to promote communication between all the differ-ent people who are involved with the activities of the organization.

Enjoy reading, War Trauma Center Team

contentsfeatures

december 2009

War Trauma CenTer (WTC)description of the organization’s programs (Psychological Counseling Center, Support Groups for People with War Ex-perience, Constructive Utilization of Veterans’ Experience) “In every veTeran LIes a PeaCe aCTIvIsT”report from the Conference “War Veterans Building Postwar Society”ProfessIonaL CaLLIng To PeaCeinterview with Predrag Miljanović – advisor for the develop-ment of the support groups in the project “Wake up Veterans!” evenTs: grouP faCILITaTors In adaEducation activities of the WTC team The CounseLIng CenTer a guesT In unIversITyProgram activities for Counseling Center’s teamdIaLogues In sChooLs Activities for the program Constructive Utilization of Veter-ans Experience hIsTorICaL deveLoPmenT of The ConfLICT In The BaLkansAn educational lecture by Vladan Beare in “Black House 13”shyLy sTarTIng To faCe The PasT Interview with Vladan Beara - program advisor in the project “Wake up Veterans!” PosTCard from vranjephoto strip

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War Trauma CenterAssOCIATION FOR pROTECTION ThE MENTAL hEALTh OF WAR vETERANs & vICTIMs OF ThE WARs 1991-1999

The War Trauma Center (WTC) is a volunteer, non-governmental, non-partisan, and nonprofit association, founded in 1999 in Novi Sad. The aim

of the WTC is to improve the mental health of people with war experience in the territory of former SFRJ from 1991 to 1999. Today the Center includes volunteers, activist, and experts who together with partners and associates actively participate in the reintegration of war veterans in their communities. The mission of the Center is directed toward constructively overcoming the psychological and social consequences of war. Confronting the past is not easy; it is a difficult process for both individuals and communities. The WTC contributes greatly to the process of overcoming the consequences of war through its utilization of an integrated approach. The organization integrates mediums such as psychological counseling, storytelling, narrative exposure treatment, existential group work, focus groups, support groups for people with war experience, and utilizes war veterans to help in peacebuilding activi-ties. The WTC encourages the process of building sustainable peace in Serbia and the region through changing society’s views of war veterans and their experience, and by utilizing veterans’ experience as a basis for learning and as a means of producing quality change in society.

pROgREssINg TOWARds pEACE ThROUgh sUppORTIn the past 10 years the WTC has experienced the transition from a profes-sional organization which provided free psychological help, into a peace organization which gives support and education to individuals and groups of people with war experience, in order to help them become actively involved in peace work.1999 - 2002 WTC provided free psychological support and legal help for war participants and their families. 2002 - 2005 Reintegration of war veterans through overcoming the traumatic consequences of war and sensitizing society to war veterans’ problems.2005 - 2007 Reintegration of war veterans through the support of inclusion of veterans in peace work.2007 Today Reintegration of war veterans through establishing continuous dialogue between veterans and other members of society with the goal of building peace. Lead by the idea “War Participants as Peace Builders” the WTC recognizes that people with war experience hold an irreplaceable potential in the process of building sustainable peace. By experiencing war and peace veterans are highly

competent for participating in the discussion about the consequences of war and the value of peace. In May 2007 the WTC and the organization Kontakt der Kontinenten from Soesterberg, The Netherlands, began the 3 year project “Wake up Veterans!” which creates the conditions for continuous dialogue between war veterans and other community members. The project is financed through the Social Transformation Program for Central and Eastern Europe (Matra). Partners in the program include the Cogis Foundation and the Veterans Institute from The Netherlands. The activities have been and continue to be implemented in the cities of Novi Sad, Vranje, Vlasotince, and Bujanovac. The work in these cities combines teams of veterans with professionals. ThE MANAgEMENT TEAM OF WTC INCLUdEs:Miloš Antić executive director, Vladan Beara program advisor,Program Coordinators: Tamara Boškić, Predrag Miljanović, Milan Colić, Melanija Kološnjai - Nenin office coordinator, Lane Stopher volunteer through Mennonite Central Committee. Part time employees: Mina Prolić assistant for administration and finance, Slađana Ljubičić assistant for communication, Nusret Efendić assistant for logistics. Partners: Marian Rameyer project manager and trainer, Tanja Škrbić consul-tant, Bavo Hopman expert, Henk Bekker trainer, Jos Weerts expert, Bert van Der Linde expert.

MANAgENET TEAM OF WAR TRAUMA CENTER

BERT vAN dER LINdE, MILOš ANTIć, BAvO hOpMAN, MARIAN RAMEyER

MINA pROLIć

CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETIN DECEMBER 2009 CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETINwww.wartrauma.org4 5

life experiences. Leaders provide one another support through Intervi-sion and Observation. Supervisors are experts who assist group leaders in resolving difficulties in facilitating groups that could not be resolved within the group.Burnout Prevention is important form of support because of the intense and continuous stress which group leaders are often exposed to in stressful sessions. The goal of burnout prevention is that group leaders will be able to develop their own strategy against burnout where they can recog-nize their physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral warning signs. SUppORT GROUpS FOR WAR vETERANS’ pARTNERS AND WOMEN WITh WAR ExpERIENCEIn post-war society working with veterans’ wives is especially important as they also carry the baggage of war. Through the work of the groups women get a clearer pic-ture of the traumatic experience their partners encoun-tered in war, as well as a better understanding of their own role in their partnerships. These groups are intended for: female war participants, partners of war veterans, women with the experience of exile and being in refugee camps, women who were raped during war, women who lost family members during the wars, and all women who continue to struggle daily with the consequences of war. pROGRAM TEAMSIn the territory of Serbia there are currently 16 support groups functioning which brings together more than 100 male and female beneficiaries. In the past 3 years around 400 people with war experience have went through the support groups. Of these 400 people around 50 have been women, both female war participants and partners of war veterans. Program team: Dr. Predrag Miljanović - advisor for Sup-port Groups in the project “Wake up Veterans!” Assistants - Ana Vujanić Petrović, Branislava Vajagić i Ivan Kralj.Volunteers and Group Leaders of Support Groups

Serbia - Novi Sad: Tanja Nikšić, Branka Nevajdić, Ljudevit Kolar, Goran Petrović. Vranje: Staletović Gordana, Vesna Đorđević, Marija Jovanović, Miodrag Tasić, Nenad Milanović, Lazić Ivan, Manasijević Goran. Vlasotince: Snežana Popović, Novica Kostić, Miroslav Ranđelović, Goran Ranđelović, Saša Stanojević.Bosnia Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska: The organization Pax Christi Aachen (Derventa office) has been working in cooperation with WTC in organizing educations to increase the human resources in the veteran associations for leaders of the support groups for people with war experience. These educations lasted from October 2008 to April 2009. The trained group leaders work in the fol-lowing cities: Derventa - Kulaga Spasoje, Kulaga Duško i Maksimović Ilija. Doboj - Bukvić Nenad, Panić Zoran i Đekanović Dušan. Modriča - Dragojlović Vlado i Trivić Gojko. Prnjavor - Volaš Ljuban i Živković Miodrag. Brod - Cvjetković Đorđe i Broćilo Danilo. Šamac - Pupčević Đoko i Blagojević Lazar.

WTC programs

Counseling is a program of the WTC which has been developing since the establishment of the

organization. Today’s counseling activities are aimed at providing free, direct psychological support. The program delivers: support for both individuals and their families in overcoming suffering, increasing the capacity of people to improve the quality of their

lives, relief to local health and social protection ser-vices, the chance for young professionals to develop their counseling skills. The counseling services of the WTC can be ac-cessed by all people in the municipality of Novi Sad; however, priority is given to people who have war experience (war veterans, war veterans’ family members, refugees and internally displaced persons, and people who were exposed to the NATO bomb-ings). In the past decade the free counseling services were used by more than 4,000 beneficiaries. Of these beneficiaries 50% have had some kind of war experi-ence, and around 10% have been veterans.A group of 40 volunteers perform around 40 coun-seling sessions in a counseling week. The volunteers in the counseling center are formally educated as psychologist, or are students in programs of psychol-ogy, psychiatry, or social work. The volunteers are also educated in some psychotherapy schools such as (Rational Emotional Behavior Therapy, Transac-tional Analysis, System Family Therapy, and Gestalt Therapy Orientation). The young professional in the WTC are using the knowledge they acquire in their professional work. Counseling takes place under the supervision of colleagues who have extensive experience in counseling a wide range of problems, and particularly with the mental difficulties that linger as a consequence of the experience of war. Supervisors also work as volunteers in the program. Supervisions take place through personal contact and through individual and group meetings. Every person that seeks psychological help in the Counseling center is treated as an equal, without consideration for their race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or their cultural religious or political af-filiation. It is important that beneficiaries voluntarily participate in every phase of the counseling. It is also important that counseling is done in complete confidentiality and for counselors to only offer help within the limits of their skills and knowledge. Through need assessments as well as planning future activities, the Counseling Center monitors: the degree of satisfaction with the beneficiary services and the ways services are provided, how beneficiaries

subjectively assess changes which occur as a result of their counseling, the number of (volunteers, coun-selors, and supervisors) and how reliable they are at completing promised tasks and whether they are fully utilizing the benefits of volunteering in WTC, and monitors how effective the program team in their work and in utilizing their personal capacities. pROGRAM TEAM Tamara Boškić - program coordina-tor, Branislava Vajagić - volounteer coordinator, Dra-gana Brdarić - program assistant for professionalism in counseling services, Slađana Ljubičić - communi-cation coordinator between the Counseling Center and the Support Groups for people with war exper-aince, Supervisor: Predrag Miljanović - Psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Vladan Beara - psychologist and psychotherapist, Boris Popov - psychologist and psychotherapist.vOLUNTEERS Support for the Program Team in ad-minstrative tasks: Dušica Kokotović, Bojana Mraović, Milica Jakšić, Vedrana Miljanović. Counselors: Ana Bešenji, Aleksandra Maletić, Ana Vujanić Petrović, Bogdan Škorić, Dragan Žuljević, Dragica Bogojević, Đorđe Jovanović, Đorđeta Spariosu, Isidora Petković, Ivan Kralj, Ivana Kotlaja, Jasmina Leković, Jelena Pejić, Jelena Matković, Jelena Bukva, Jelica Nedeljković, Marijana Petrović, Mirjana Jovanović, Miroslava Vučetić, Milica Jakšić, Sonja Vukobrat, Sonja Ćato, Snežana Radojčin, Slađana Lukić, Svet-

lana Slepčev, Nada Lekić - Babić, Tijana Milošević, supervisors and members of the program team. pARTNERS The Counseling Center has been cooper-ating with the Philosophy Faculty from the Univer-sity of Novi Sad since 2006 through the psychology students’ club “Transfer” as well as members of the Counseling Center giving lectures in the Psychol-ogy Department. This cooperation was extended in 2009 with the possibility of master studies students enrolled in Psychological Counseling Practicum to complete the practical portion of their course in the Counseling Center. In June of 2009 the Counseling Center, and the Novi Sad Center for Social Work engaged in research which is being carried out by the Psychology Department of the University of Novi Sad’s Philosophy Faculty. The aim of this research is to provide empirical date on the resulting conditions and affects that are felt by people who receiving counseling services. With support from the Mennonite Central Committee in the summer of 2009, a new cooperation was established with Eastern University from Pennsylvania, USA.

Within the project “Wake up Veterans!” a program for working with youth was formed, which included an

education process that started in 2007. In 2009 as a result of the previous educations the developed model for dialogues between veterans and youth began. These dialogues are an opportunity for young people to meet and speak with war veterans about their experiences, attitudes, feelings, and consequences related to war from a personal level, family level, and societal level. In these partially controlled dialogues youth can hear what war meant for veterans per-sonally as well as for their loved ones, what is war trauma, what is victory and defeat. The dialogues are also an op-portunity for youngsters to speak about their experiences and feelings, regarding the recent wars and the situation surrounding them today. Veterans possess the experience of war, the experience of extreme violence, which is unique to them and which no one can remove or deny. This is an experience that most of us don’t have (and hopefully will not have) however veterans are ready to share what they have experienced. These people have the desire that their war experience will somehow be useful in building today’s

society, constructive usage, developing a critical interaction of youth with war and violence, and through preventing war and violence and general anti-war activities. These dialogues provided the opportunity for veterans and society to begin working towards the integration of one segment of society in a constructive and useful way. DIALOGUE GOALS: 1. To break down stereotypes between veterans and youth. 2. To give credibility to veterans and their war experience in society. 3. To deconstruct the idea that war is an interesting and

entertaining experience of the past. 4. To constructively use veterans experience in order to break down the biased perspectives of “the other side” and building a critical attitude towards the war and recent war past. 5. To constructively use veterans’ experiences in preventing violence between youth. 6.To understand war trauma and its consequence on indi-viduals, families and society.WhAT DO ThE DIALOGUES LOOk LIkE?In the dialogues 3 or 4 veterans participate as well as 7 to 12 youth, ages 17-24. Before every dialogue the youth are in-troduced to the purpose and goals of the meeting, as well as a preparatory meeting with the facilitator and the veterans who will participate in the dialogue. In the dialogues, fol-lowing introductions, youth and veterans have the chance to ask and answer each other’s questions and to present their own general perspectives. This process continues for 2-3 hours, and is then concluded with all participants being asked to provide their reflections on the dialogues. The entire process of the dialogues is recorded on video camera. pROGRAM TEAM Throughout 2009, dialogues were held in Novi Sad, Zrenjanin, Vlasotince, Vranje, Leskovac, and Babušnica. Milan Colić is the program coordinator.vOLUNTEERS participants and local organizers: Novi Sad - Dragana Brdarić, Ana Vujanić Petrović, Goran Petrović, Ljudevit Kolar, Željko Vukelić, Dušan Novaković. Zrenjanin - Ivan Kralj. Vlasotince - Snežana Popović, Ana Stanković, Goran Nikolić, Momčilo Ranđelović, Miroslav Ranđelović. Vranje - Dalibor Trajković, Slavoljub Staletović, Goran Manasijević, Miodrag Tasić. Leskovac: Suzana Dimitrijevićand Vesna Karanfilović.

The program Support Groups, provides direct work where veterans are working with veterans. The

team of experts and activists in the WTC, together with associates, and volunteers (group facilitators), have implemented this program to open the path for the reintegration of veterans in society. The support groups gather between 6 to 12 people who meet on agreed terms and exchange their experiences with war and the experiences they face in society after returning from

war. Jointly agreed rules that are made by the group members guarantee discretion and that members are free to participate in the discussions, and also encourage members to be tolerant and take responsibility for what they say. The support groups are facilitated by veterans educated in the process of facilitating support groups. AIMS OF GROUpS: 1. To create and maintain a safe space for members to mutually exchange their experiences and to provide one another support.2. To empower one another for increased quality and functioning in everyday life. The veterans’ support groups have these same goals, as well as specifically focusing on coping with the problematic consequences that are specific to war experience. Participants in Support Groups

Leaders direct the group work in line with the group’s goals. The leaders are “one of us” which makes it easier for members to tell their stories. Members are war vet-erans who feel the need to be included in a group with other veterans exchanging their positive and negative

psychological Counseling Centre Constructive Usage of veterans Experience

MEMBERS OF pROGRAM TEAM & COUNSELOR IvAN kRALj

GROUp MODERATORS

SpASOjE kULAGA I zORAN pANIć

MILAN COLIć, CUvE pROGRAM COORDINATOR

j. pEjIć, D. BRDARIć, B. pOpOv, A. MEzEI, D. žULjEvIć, T.BOškIć, đ.SpARIOSU, A. MALETIć, N. LEkIć BABIć, M.jAkšIć

MIROSLAv RANđELOvIć I NOvICA kOSTIć

DIALOGUE IN vLASOTINCE

DIRECT pSyChOLOGICAL SUppORT FOR INDIvIDUALS

Support Groups for people with War ExperiencevETERANS WORkING WITh vETERANS

DIALOGUE “vETERANS AND yOUTh”

War Trauma Center programs

WAR TRAUMA CENTER

pSyChOLOGICALCOUNSELING:

SUppORT GROUpSFOR pEOpLE WIThWAR ExpERIENCE:

CONSTRUCTIvEUTILIzATION OF

vETERANS’ ExpERIENCE:Direct psychological

support for individuals Veterans working with veterans Veterans working with society

CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETIN DECEMBER 2009 CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETINwww.wartrauma.org4 5

life experiences. Leaders provide one another support through Intervi-sion and Observation. Supervisors are experts who assist group leaders in resolving difficulties in facilitating groups that could not be resolved within the group.Burnout Prevention is important form of support because of the intense and continuous stress which group leaders are often exposed to in stressful sessions. The goal of burnout prevention is that group leaders will be able to develop their own strategy against burnout where they can recog-nize their physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral warning signs. SUppORT GROUpS FOR WAR vETERANS’ pARTNERS AND WOMEN WITh WAR ExpERIENCEIn post-war society working with veterans’ wives is especially important as they also carry the baggage of war. Through the work of the groups women get a clearer pic-ture of the traumatic experience their partners encoun-tered in war, as well as a better understanding of their own role in their partnerships. These groups are intended for: female war participants, partners of war veterans, women with the experience of exile and being in refugee camps, women who were raped during war, women who lost family members during the wars, and all women who continue to struggle daily with the consequences of war. pROGRAM TEAMSIn the territory of Serbia there are currently 16 support groups functioning which brings together more than 100 male and female beneficiaries. In the past 3 years around 400 people with war experience have went through the support groups. Of these 400 people around 50 have been women, both female war participants and partners of war veterans. Program team: Dr. Predrag Miljanović - advisor for Sup-port Groups in the project “Wake up Veterans!” Assistants - Ana Vujanić Petrović, Branislava Vajagić i Ivan Kralj.Volunteers and Group Leaders of Support Groups

Serbia - Novi Sad: Tanja Nikšić, Branka Nevajdić, Ljudevit Kolar, Goran Petrović. Vranje: Staletović Gordana, Vesna Đorđević, Marija Jovanović, Miodrag Tasić, Nenad Milanović, Lazić Ivan, Manasijević Goran. Vlasotince: Snežana Popović, Novica Kostić, Miroslav Ranđelović, Goran Ranđelović, Saša Stanojević.Bosnia Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska: The organization Pax Christi Aachen (Derventa office) has been working in cooperation with WTC in organizing educations to increase the human resources in the veteran associations for leaders of the support groups for people with war experience. These educations lasted from October 2008 to April 2009. The trained group leaders work in the fol-lowing cities: Derventa - Kulaga Spasoje, Kulaga Duško i Maksimović Ilija. Doboj - Bukvić Nenad, Panić Zoran i Đekanović Dušan. Modriča - Dragojlović Vlado i Trivić Gojko. Prnjavor - Volaš Ljuban i Živković Miodrag. Brod - Cvjetković Đorđe i Broćilo Danilo. Šamac - Pupčević Đoko i Blagojević Lazar.

WTC programs

Counseling is a program of the WTC which has been developing since the establishment of the

organization. Today’s counseling activities are aimed at providing free, direct psychological support. The program delivers: support for both individuals and their families in overcoming suffering, increasing the capacity of people to improve the quality of their

lives, relief to local health and social protection ser-vices, the chance for young professionals to develop their counseling skills. The counseling services of the WTC can be ac-cessed by all people in the municipality of Novi Sad; however, priority is given to people who have war experience (war veterans, war veterans’ family members, refugees and internally displaced persons, and people who were exposed to the NATO bomb-ings). In the past decade the free counseling services were used by more than 4,000 beneficiaries. Of these beneficiaries 50% have had some kind of war experi-ence, and around 10% have been veterans.A group of 40 volunteers perform around 40 coun-seling sessions in a counseling week. The volunteers in the counseling center are formally educated as psychologist, or are students in programs of psychol-ogy, psychiatry, or social work. The volunteers are also educated in some psychotherapy schools such as (Rational Emotional Behavior Therapy, Transac-tional Analysis, System Family Therapy, and Gestalt Therapy Orientation). The young professional in the WTC are using the knowledge they acquire in their professional work. Counseling takes place under the supervision of colleagues who have extensive experience in counseling a wide range of problems, and particularly with the mental difficulties that linger as a consequence of the experience of war. Supervisors also work as volunteers in the program. Supervisions take place through personal contact and through individual and group meetings. Every person that seeks psychological help in the Counseling center is treated as an equal, without consideration for their race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or their cultural religious or political af-filiation. It is important that beneficiaries voluntarily participate in every phase of the counseling. It is also important that counseling is done in complete confidentiality and for counselors to only offer help within the limits of their skills and knowledge. Through need assessments as well as planning future activities, the Counseling Center monitors: the degree of satisfaction with the beneficiary services and the ways services are provided, how beneficiaries

subjectively assess changes which occur as a result of their counseling, the number of (volunteers, coun-selors, and supervisors) and how reliable they are at completing promised tasks and whether they are fully utilizing the benefits of volunteering in WTC, and monitors how effective the program team in their work and in utilizing their personal capacities. pROGRAM TEAM Tamara Boškić - program coordina-tor, Branislava Vajagić - volounteer coordinator, Dra-gana Brdarić - program assistant for professionalism in counseling services, Slađana Ljubičić - communi-cation coordinator between the Counseling Center and the Support Groups for people with war exper-aince, Supervisor: Predrag Miljanović - Psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Vladan Beara - psychologist and psychotherapist, Boris Popov - psychologist and psychotherapist.vOLUNTEERS Support for the Program Team in ad-minstrative tasks: Dušica Kokotović, Bojana Mraović, Milica Jakšić, Vedrana Miljanović. Counselors: Ana Bešenji, Aleksandra Maletić, Ana Vujanić Petrović, Bogdan Škorić, Dragan Žuljević, Dragica Bogojević, Đorđe Jovanović, Đorđeta Spariosu, Isidora Petković, Ivan Kralj, Ivana Kotlaja, Jasmina Leković, Jelena Pejić, Jelena Matković, Jelena Bukva, Jelica Nedeljković, Marijana Petrović, Mirjana Jovanović, Miroslava Vučetić, Milica Jakšić, Sonja Vukobrat, Sonja Ćato, Snežana Radojčin, Slađana Lukić, Svet-

lana Slepčev, Nada Lekić - Babić, Tijana Milošević, supervisors and members of the program team. pARTNERS The Counseling Center has been cooper-ating with the Philosophy Faculty from the Univer-sity of Novi Sad since 2006 through the psychology students’ club “Transfer” as well as members of the Counseling Center giving lectures in the Psychol-ogy Department. This cooperation was extended in 2009 with the possibility of master studies students enrolled in Psychological Counseling Practicum to complete the practical portion of their course in the Counseling Center. In June of 2009 the Counseling Center, and the Novi Sad Center for Social Work engaged in research which is being carried out by the Psychology Department of the University of Novi Sad’s Philosophy Faculty. The aim of this research is to provide empirical date on the resulting conditions and affects that are felt by people who receiving counseling services. With support from the Mennonite Central Committee in the summer of 2009, a new cooperation was established with Eastern University from Pennsylvania, USA.

Within the project “Wake up Veterans!” a program for working with youth was formed, which included an

education process that started in 2007. In 2009 as a result of the previous educations the developed model for dialogues between veterans and youth began. These dialogues are an opportunity for young people to meet and speak with war veterans about their experiences, attitudes, feelings, and consequences related to war from a personal level, family level, and societal level. In these partially controlled dialogues youth can hear what war meant for veterans per-sonally as well as for their loved ones, what is war trauma, what is victory and defeat. The dialogues are also an op-portunity for youngsters to speak about their experiences and feelings, regarding the recent wars and the situation surrounding them today. Veterans possess the experience of war, the experience of extreme violence, which is unique to them and which no one can remove or deny. This is an experience that most of us don’t have (and hopefully will not have) however veterans are ready to share what they have experienced. These people have the desire that their war experience will somehow be useful in building today’s

society, constructive usage, developing a critical interaction of youth with war and violence, and through preventing war and violence and general anti-war activities. These dialogues provided the opportunity for veterans and society to begin working towards the integration of one segment of society in a constructive and useful way. DIALOGUE GOALS: 1. To break down stereotypes between veterans and youth. 2. To give credibility to veterans and their war experience in society. 3. To deconstruct the idea that war is an interesting and

entertaining experience of the past. 4. To constructively use veterans experience in order to break down the biased perspectives of “the other side” and building a critical attitude towards the war and recent war past. 5. To constructively use veterans’ experiences in preventing violence between youth. 6.To understand war trauma and its consequence on indi-viduals, families and society.WhAT DO ThE DIALOGUES LOOk LIkE?In the dialogues 3 or 4 veterans participate as well as 7 to 12 youth, ages 17-24. Before every dialogue the youth are in-troduced to the purpose and goals of the meeting, as well as a preparatory meeting with the facilitator and the veterans who will participate in the dialogue. In the dialogues, fol-lowing introductions, youth and veterans have the chance to ask and answer each other’s questions and to present their own general perspectives. This process continues for 2-3 hours, and is then concluded with all participants being asked to provide their reflections on the dialogues. The entire process of the dialogues is recorded on video camera. pROGRAM TEAM Throughout 2009, dialogues were held in Novi Sad, Zrenjanin, Vlasotince, Vranje, Leskovac, and Babušnica. Milan Colić is the program coordinator.vOLUNTEERS participants and local organizers: Novi Sad - Dragana Brdarić, Ana Vujanić Petrović, Goran Petrović, Ljudevit Kolar, Željko Vukelić, Dušan Novaković. Zrenjanin - Ivan Kralj. Vlasotince - Snežana Popović, Ana Stanković, Goran Nikolić, Momčilo Ranđelović, Miroslav Ranđelović. Vranje - Dalibor Trajković, Slavoljub Staletović, Goran Manasijević, Miodrag Tasić. Leskovac: Suzana Dimitrijevićand Vesna Karanfilović.

The program Support Groups, provides direct work where veterans are working with veterans. The

team of experts and activists in the WTC, together with associates, and volunteers (group facilitators), have implemented this program to open the path for the reintegration of veterans in society. The support groups gather between 6 to 12 people who meet on agreed terms and exchange their experiences with war and the experiences they face in society after returning from

war. Jointly agreed rules that are made by the group members guarantee discretion and that members are free to participate in the discussions, and also encourage members to be tolerant and take responsibility for what they say. The support groups are facilitated by veterans educated in the process of facilitating support groups. AIMS OF GROUpS: 1. To create and maintain a safe space for members to mutually exchange their experiences and to provide one another support.2. To empower one another for increased quality and functioning in everyday life. The veterans’ support groups have these same goals, as well as specifically focusing on coping with the problematic consequences that are specific to war experience. Participants in Support Groups

Leaders direct the group work in line with the group’s goals. The leaders are “one of us” which makes it easier for members to tell their stories. Members are war vet-erans who feel the need to be included in a group with other veterans exchanging their positive and negative

psychological Counseling Centre Constructive Usage of veterans Experience

MEMBERS OF pROGRAM TEAM & COUNSELOR IvAN kRALj

GROUp MODERATORS

SpASOjE kULAGA I zORAN pANIć

MILAN COLIć, CUvE pROGRAM COORDINATOR

j. pEjIć, D. BRDARIć, B. pOpOv, A. MEzEI, D. žULjEvIć, T.BOškIć, đ.SpARIOSU, A. MALETIć, N. LEkIć BABIć, M.jAkšIć

MIROSLAv RANđELOvIć I NOvICA kOSTIć

DIALOGUE IN vLASOTINCE

DIRECT pSyChOLOGICAL SUppORT FOR INDIvIDUALS

Support Groups for people with War ExperiencevETERANS WORkING WITh vETERANS

DIALOGUE “vETERANS AND yOUTh”

War Trauma Center programs

WAR TRAUMA CENTER

pSyChOLOGICALCOUNSELING:

SUppORT GROUpSFOR pEOpLE WIThWAR ExpERIENCE:

CONSTRUCTIvEUTILIzATION OF

vETERANS’ ExpERIENCE:Direct psychological

support for individuals Veterans working with veterans Veterans working with society

CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETIN DECEMBER 20092 CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETINwww.wartrauma.org 7

In the project “Wake up Veterans!” the War Trauma Center (WTC) and the Dutch organization Kontakt der Kontinenten organized an one day conference “War Veterans Building Postwar Society”

on September 30, 2009. The Center brought together 60 associates and partners from the region in the premises of the Novi Sad City Assembly, marking the 10 year anniversary of the WTC’s existence. In the con-ference the public was presented the programs of the WTC, the “three pillars of the organization.” Those present during the conference included: war veterans, representa-tives of veteran associations from Serbia and the broader region, citizens associations, representatives of the Dutch civil sector, representative of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, representatives of the Veterans Institute of the Netherlands, as well as representatives of the governments and institutions of the Republic of Serbia, the Autonomous Providence of Vojvodina and the city of Novi Sad. This provided a truly rare opportu-nity for such a diverse group to come together and discuss the strategic and systematic inclusion of veterans and their families into the process of building postwar society in Serbia and the Balkan region. The president of Novi Sad’s City Assembly, Aleksandar Jovanović, re-minded the members of the conference that in Serbia and in the Balkan region there are more than 1.5 million people with war experience, and the problems of these marginalized people continue to be neglected. Pointing out the link between today’s escalating violence and the past wars, Jovanović expressed a hope that the WTC will continue to pursue a constructive models for improving the quality of life in the communi-ty. During the conference, Viktorija Cucić, a member of the research team for the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, introduced alarming data collected in the Republic of Serbia which shows that war veterans suffer at twice the rate of other citizens in Serbia. “In 81% of cases of mental

In EveryVeteranLies a Peace Activist

War Trauma Center Conference“War veterans building postwar society”

health disturbances 28.8% of respondents recorded ha-ving Posttraumatic Stress disorder,” said Cucić. The data from this research shows that compared to similar resear-ches conducted in other countries, war veterans in Serbia have the worst levels of quality of life. In conclusion there is an immediate need to declare a national strategy that will improve the living condition and status of this social group in Serbia. In the second part of the conference participants joined three separate discussion groups in order to address the three sets of questions that were presented by the confe-rence organizers. 1. How can individuals and their families live easier with the experience of war, and what professional help is needed? 2. How can people with war experience help one another relying on the existing institutional support? 3. How to constructively utilize war experience in develo-ping society and what can society learn from this experien-ce? Participants agreed that the process of facing the past, and building peace are painful for the whole region, but also that these are the two areas where veterans can contribute

the most with their credibility. It was concluded that an effective regional and cross-sec-toral cooperation, continued expert educations, sensiti-zing and informing the public, and critical dialogues with society are the paths leading us to stability in the region and the quality of coexistence therefore reducing the chance of future wars. The final festivity of the day was a 10 year celebration for the WTC and long-term associates and friends. This was an opportunity for the organization to remember its beginning as well as to honor those people that signifi-cantly contributed to the WTC establishment. It was also an opportunity for the WTC to acknowledge all of the students, activists, and professionals that have contributed greatly to the development of the center through their volunteer work. Birthday greetings, praise and support from Dutch partners, and cooperation with veteran associations from Serbia and the region all show that the WTC is working for a just cause; however it also stresses the high expec-tations for the Center to live up to its vision of building sustainable peace.

Veteran organizations’ representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia were provided the opportunity to present the results of work in their communities and exchange experiences and the problems they face. “Ex-perience tells me that all of us lack empathy and responsible assessment of the future in which we need to be the last veterans in this region. Meet-ings veterans from all sides shows you that these people recognize the similar experiences and the things that work.” Shared with the audience by Adnan Hasanbegović from the Center for Nonviolent Action, Sarajevo, an optimistic reminder that in every veterans lies a peace activist.

„Pensions, medals, and other material benefits

are not enough for people to continue with their

lives after war“.

Vladan Beara, War Trauma Centre

„It is easy to go to a doctor when I have a

toothache. But when our souls hurt it is hard

for us to reach forprofessional help“.

Spasoje Kulaga, War veteran from Derventa,

Bosnia and Herzegovina

WAR TRAUMA CENTER 10Th ANNIvERsARy gORAN pETROvIć I ANA v. pETROvIćhENk BEkkER, MILOs ANTIć, MARIAN RAMEyER,

BERT vAN DER LINDE, pREDRAg MILjANOvIć

vLADAN BEARA, MARIAN RAMEyER, pREDRAg MILjANOvIć CONFERENCE pARTICIpANTs CONFERENCE pARTICIpANTs

CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETIN DECEMBER 20092 CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETINwww.wartrauma.org 7

In the project “Wake up Veterans!” the War Trauma Center (WTC) and the Dutch organization Kontakt der Kontinenten organized an one day conference “War Veterans Building Postwar Society”

on September 30, 2009. The Center brought together 60 associates and partners from the region in the premises of the Novi Sad City Assembly, marking the 10 year anniversary of the WTC’s existence. In the con-ference the public was presented the programs of the WTC, the “three pillars of the organization.” Those present during the conference included: war veterans, representa-tives of veteran associations from Serbia and the broader region, citizens associations, representatives of the Dutch civil sector, representative of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, representatives of the Veterans Institute of the Netherlands, as well as representatives of the governments and institutions of the Republic of Serbia, the Autonomous Providence of Vojvodina and the city of Novi Sad. This provided a truly rare opportu-nity for such a diverse group to come together and discuss the strategic and systematic inclusion of veterans and their families into the process of building postwar society in Serbia and the Balkan region. The president of Novi Sad’s City Assembly, Aleksandar Jovanović, re-minded the members of the conference that in Serbia and in the Balkan region there are more than 1.5 million people with war experience, and the problems of these marginalized people continue to be neglected. Pointing out the link between today’s escalating violence and the past wars, Jovanović expressed a hope that the WTC will continue to pursue a constructive models for improving the quality of life in the communi-ty. During the conference, Viktorija Cucić, a member of the research team for the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, introduced alarming data collected in the Republic of Serbia which shows that war veterans suffer at twice the rate of other citizens in Serbia. “In 81% of cases of mental

In EveryVeteranLies a Peace Activist

War Trauma Center Conference“War veterans building postwar society”

health disturbances 28.8% of respondents recorded ha-ving Posttraumatic Stress disorder,” said Cucić. The data from this research shows that compared to similar resear-ches conducted in other countries, war veterans in Serbia have the worst levels of quality of life. In conclusion there is an immediate need to declare a national strategy that will improve the living condition and status of this social group in Serbia. In the second part of the conference participants joined three separate discussion groups in order to address the three sets of questions that were presented by the confe-rence organizers. 1. How can individuals and their families live easier with the experience of war, and what professional help is needed? 2. How can people with war experience help one another relying on the existing institutional support? 3. How to constructively utilize war experience in develo-ping society and what can society learn from this experien-ce? Participants agreed that the process of facing the past, and building peace are painful for the whole region, but also that these are the two areas where veterans can contribute

the most with their credibility. It was concluded that an effective regional and cross-sec-toral cooperation, continued expert educations, sensiti-zing and informing the public, and critical dialogues with society are the paths leading us to stability in the region and the quality of coexistence therefore reducing the chance of future wars. The final festivity of the day was a 10 year celebration for the WTC and long-term associates and friends. This was an opportunity for the organization to remember its beginning as well as to honor those people that signifi-cantly contributed to the WTC establishment. It was also an opportunity for the WTC to acknowledge all of the students, activists, and professionals that have contributed greatly to the development of the center through their volunteer work. Birthday greetings, praise and support from Dutch partners, and cooperation with veteran associations from Serbia and the region all show that the WTC is working for a just cause; however it also stresses the high expec-tations for the Center to live up to its vision of building sustainable peace.

Veteran organizations’ representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia were provided the opportunity to present the results of work in their communities and exchange experiences and the problems they face. “Ex-perience tells me that all of us lack empathy and responsible assessment of the future in which we need to be the last veterans in this region. Meet-ings veterans from all sides shows you that these people recognize the similar experiences and the things that work.” Shared with the audience by Adnan Hasanbegović from the Center for Nonviolent Action, Sarajevo, an optimistic reminder that in every veterans lies a peace activist.

„Pensions, medals, and other material benefits

are not enough for people to continue with their

lives after war“.

Vladan Beara, War Trauma Centre

„It is easy to go to a doctor when I have a

toothache. But when our souls hurt it is hard

for us to reach forprofessional help“.

Spasoje Kulaga, War veteran from Derventa,

Bosnia and Herzegovina

WAR TRAUMA CENTER 10Th ANNIvERsARy gORAN pETROvIć I ANA v. pETROvIćhENk BEkkER, MILOs ANTIć, MARIAN RAMEyER,

BERT vAN DER LINDE, pREDRAg MILjANOvIć

vLADAN BEARA, MARIAN RAMEyER, pREDRAg MILjANOvIć CONFERENCE pARTICIpANTs CONFERENCE pARTICIpANTs

CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETIN DECEMBER 2009 CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETINwww.wartrauma.org 98

ThE WAR TRAUMA CENTER CELEBRATED ITs 10 yEAR ANNIvERsARy. DO yOU REMEM-BER hOW IT WAs IN ThE BEgINNINg, IN 1999?

It is hard to forget the time period of the NATO bombing, during which every-day there were huge numbers of people coming to the Neuropsychiatric Depart-ment of the Novi Sad Military Hospital located between the two destroyed bridges. It was not possible to help everyone. My colleagues Miodrag Doroški, Vladan Beara, and I responded by creating the psychological counseling center. The initial idea was that it would be located within the hospital, however we were unable to find support for this idea. The administrator would not even pro-vide us a small space to hold educations. He told us: “Are you crazy? If you begin working people will come.” And they did. During the bombings people crossed the Danube River in small boats and rafts, to get to our help in the Red Cross’ premises in Petrovardin. There were 20 psychologists and physiatrists working

with us who were willing to devote time, undergo educations and volunteer. The three of us were happy even in the calamity to have the experience of work-ing with traumatized people. Miodrag Doroški worked as a psychiatrist in a war hospital in Croatia in 1991, which was helping traumatized people. I first worked as a neuropsychiatrist helping traumatized people from the battlefield, in Croatia and then in the Military Hospital in Sarajevo. Vladan Beara worked in Novi Sad from 1995-1996 where he worked with people from war torn regions.Later in October 2002, we made a project together with Ursula Renner from the organization Living Without Weapons from Stuttgart, Germany which was founded by a war veteran of the Second World War. The counseling center worked in Novi Sad, Leskovac, Vranje, and Bujanovac. The project was financed by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Preparations were made to explic-itly include a mixed group of both Serbian and Albanian experts. After Serb and Albanian patients went through therapy they began recognizing experts not by their nationality but by the quality of their work. This project lasted till March of 2005. Working with war participants showed us that individual therapy is not available for a large number of people, so we began a media promotion to sensitize the public to the importance of professional work with traumatized people. We continued holding expert educations in the psychiatric hospitals and health centers, in Vojvodina and in Southern Serbia. We began offering support through group work with veterans. We managed to put together a seminar with Serbians, Albanians, and guests from Croatia. The work with Serbian veterans was financed by the Swiss, and the work with Albanian veterans was financed by the Germans. Gathering together in these groups, people who once fought

one another were able to see together that trauma is universal and it knows no borders or nationalities. Working with the therapy groups with veterans devel-oped our knowledge and our programs in the Center. At this time we began the program for self-help groups, which served as the basis for the project “Wake Up Veterans!”WhAT ChANgEs hAs ThIs pROjECT BROUghT TO ThE CENTER, INDIvIDUALs, AND TO sOCIETy?The Center has been transformed from a small professional branch into a peace organization, but a peace organization that has not forgotten its roots in directly helping people. Through stabilizing individuals and families, the entire society also becomes more stable. The program Support Groups is an opportunity for more people to be able to help each other. Veterans lead the groups themselves instead of experts. In the groups there are people who would never come to see a psychotherapist, because they only feel safe with their fellow peers. It is very important to have a support system for the people who voluntarily lead the groups. Its possible to volunteer once or maybe twice but to volunteer for a long period of time people need to be able see results and they need to be supported. All individuals who were included in the project had opportunities to strengthen and recognize their abilities not just for war, but also their abilities for contributing to constructively developing postwar society. Society had the opportunity to recognize the importance of working with war veterans and their families. We built the project “Wake Up Veterans” more than a year ago and since then I have learned to appreciate everything that is needed and how the process goes. Now I feel good when I see that the reason for the project isn’t just for earning a salary, as the work is not done when the project is finished. This is something that really last and changes society. WhAT MEssAgE DOEs ThE CENTER WIsh TO sEND TO sOCIETy?Through interviews with veterans we have realized that veterans have things to say that need to be heard, as a society that has traumatized individuals it is also traumatized. Society and veterans lack both mutual understanding and com-munication between them. Because of this in 2004 and in 2005 we organized a conference in the Media center which included therapist and war participants as beneficiaries. Later with OSCE (The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) we started the action “War Participants as Peacebuild-ers.” Through the book Oh, Where Have You Been My Blue-eyed Son, my colleague Vladan Beara and I tried in an accessible way to show what happens with traumatized people. In the book are elements which are interesting for experts, concerning an existentialist ap-proach to untangling trauma. The book promotion brought together war partici-pants from all sides, raising the questions of what is war as well

as what are the benefits and harms of war. With the conference and the book promotion we wanted to send the message that war veterans are not lunatics, but rather they are people who have a specific experience that other people don’t have who have never been in war. This experience is very painful with traumatic consequence that veterans and their families are left to live with. Those who went to war did not return in the same state. When people accept this reality, there is a greater possibility that they will accept themselves as a part of this situation. Acceptance does not mean to simply “be ok” with the situation but rather to meet face to face what can’t be changed as well as those things that can be changed. hOW MUCh OF OUR sOCIETy Is READy TO ACCEpT ThAT REALITy TODAy? When there was a change in the government we expected more of an under-standing. In general this has not been the case. With the new government it was stated that all veterans were part of the last regime. These are the people who society at one moment needed. And when they were not needed any more, society abandoned them. Today we don’t even have an official number of war veterans. The figures are somewhere between 400,000 - 800,000, not even to mention how large this number would be if their family members were included. Society consciously or unconsciously has formed a large marginalized group that now has nothing.WhAT CAN ThE CENTER DO TO MAkE A DIFFERENCE? The Center is trying to work with society and war participants. We are working towards convincing society that war is not a solution. Also we are working towards pointing out the presence of war veterans to society. We don’t need to miss the opportunity to learn from veterans about the meaning of war. Through the program “Constructive Utilization of Veterans’ Experience,” we are trying to inform society through discussion groups in which conversations are held between war veterans and youth. The Center is working cooperatively with veteran associations that are working in their local contexts to alter public opinion and show that war leaves overwhelming consequences. People need to know that any future wars will again result in these consequences. Through this work we are reducing the likelihood of future wars by giving, youth and those that make decisions, the opportunity to discuss before a declaration of war. This is the basic essence of our peace work.WhO ARE ThE CENTER’s pARTNER IN ThIs pEACE WORk?The Center doesn’t limit its work only to Serbia. We have contacts with Bosnia and Croatia. Our contacts in Croatia are with individuals, as we don’t have any official cooperation with Croatian veteran organizations. However we have cooperated for years with the peace organization called Miramida from Grožnjan. The project “Wake up Veterans!” gave us the opportunity to open partnerships with Dutch organizations as well as the Veterans Institute from the Netherlands. We have the opportunity to utilize their experience as they have developed the best system of veterans care in Europe. And they are learning from us about working directly with veterans and their families as well as dealing with reintegrating veterans in society. Why ARE ThE DUTCh ORgANIzATION sO INTEREsTED IN OUR WORk? The Netherlands is the most active country in Europe regarding working in the civil sector. Exchanging knowledge is important for them as well as presenting their state and its policies. The center works on projects through methods that follow its mission, rather than some other political understanding. We don’t need tutors or leaders however we do need partners and support. This was dem-onstrated through the period of time in which we lacked finances from 2005 till 2007. During this time we managed to cover some personal expenses and engaged a large number of volunteers and thus saved the Center. We persisted through this time because we knew that the work we do has great meaning. We believed that it was better to continue to work in the area we knew best rather than to try to run for activities that funders were willing to support at that time. WhAT ARE ThE sTRENgThs OF ThE CENTER? WhAT MOTIvATEs ThE CENTER? Some of the strengths of the Center include: its large number of young vol-unteers, its wider network of volunteers, its expanding visibility, as well as the Center’s commitment to following its professional calling. When I see the young people and how they work, it gives me motivation to continue working. I am certain that we are working for a just cause.

Professional Calling to PeaceAFTER 10 yEARs ThE sMALL COUNsELINg CENTER hAs DEvELOpED INTO A pEACE ORgANIzA-TION ThAT Is RECOgNIzED IN sERBIA AND ThE REgION. As ThE FOUNDERs OF ThE WAR TRAUMA CENTER (WTC), vLADAN BEARA AND pREDRAg MILjANOvIć, INCREAsED ThEIR kNOWLEDgE AND pERFECTED ThEIR pROFEssIONAL WORk, BECAUsE OF ThIs ThE ORgANIzATION CONTIN-UED TO MAkE pROgREss As ThEy DEvELOpED ThEIR ACTIvITIEs. TODAy WE ARE spEAkINg WITh pREDRAg MILjANOvIć.

Interview

URsULA RENNER

DR pREDRAg MILjANOvIć

“Earlier texts about war veterans were only published in newspaper obituaries.

Today veterans are beginning to be viewed as human beings, as they rightly deserve. It’s great for society to hear that veterans

don’t support war crimes, if something is a crime then someone needs to take

responsibility for it. Who and when takes responsibility is not for us to decide but rather a matter for the courts. veterans

alone have the opportunity to dismantle the prejudice that they are the criminals and war profiteers. however if they stay quiet it allows space for manipulation.”

These two words are terms that are all too often wrongly used as synonyms. Simi-larities certainly exist between the two terms and they are often used by similar social groups, but to say that the two terms are synonyms is not true.Pacifism in the most generic sense is a personal moral stance against the use of violence. The most basic definition of nonviolence is a strategy for producing social change without the use of violence. Not all people who pursue the ideas and practices of nonviolence are pacifist. Pacifists always resist the participation in violence; however people engaging in nonviolent action may at times choose certain situations where they feel violence is permissible.

nonviolenCe &

pacifism

Lane’s Corner

by: Lane Stopher

Post-traumatiC stress DisorDer (PtsD) represents a psychological reaction to the experience of a traumatic event, especially when a person is directly confronted with a dangerous, life threatening situation or physical threat. Possible reactions in-clude intense fear, helplessness, and horror. This disorder affects people with no regard for their sex, age, or culture. In one day of war, a person can experience multiple traumatic events. Many people from the Balkan participated in war for more than one year. The data from the recent study, preformed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy in Serbia, showed that more than half of Serbian veterans suffer from at least one psychiatric disorder: various mood disorders (such as depression), anxiety and psychotic disorders, addictions, or chronic insomnia.Because of this PTSD was found in 28.8% of respondents. (Fol-lowing the Vietnam War PTSD was recorded at 15.2%, the Gulf War was between 9-24%, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 6-12.5%). Veterans in Serbia visit the doctor 9 times a year while other citizens only visit the doctor 6 times annually. Frequently occurring health problems include: high blood pressure, joint and muscle problems, vision impairments, depression and neurosis, lower back pain, and PTSD. The data from this research shows that compared to similar researches conducted in other countries, war veterans in Serbia have the worst levels of quality of life. pO

sT -

TRAU

MAT

IC s

TREs

s DI

sORD

ER (p

TsD)

vLADAN BEARA, MIODRAg DOROškI, pREDRAg MILjANOvIć

CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETIN DECEMBER 2009 CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETINwww.wartrauma.org 98

ThE WAR TRAUMA CENTER CELEBRATED ITs 10 yEAR ANNIvERsARy. DO yOU REMEM-BER hOW IT WAs IN ThE BEgINNINg, IN 1999?

It is hard to forget the time period of the NATO bombing, during which every-day there were huge numbers of people coming to the Neuropsychiatric Depart-ment of the Novi Sad Military Hospital located between the two destroyed bridges. It was not possible to help everyone. My colleagues Miodrag Doroški, Vladan Beara, and I responded by creating the psychological counseling center. The initial idea was that it would be located within the hospital, however we were unable to find support for this idea. The administrator would not even pro-vide us a small space to hold educations. He told us: “Are you crazy? If you begin working people will come.” And they did. During the bombings people crossed the Danube River in small boats and rafts, to get to our help in the Red Cross’ premises in Petrovardin. There were 20 psychologists and physiatrists working

with us who were willing to devote time, undergo educations and volunteer. The three of us were happy even in the calamity to have the experience of work-ing with traumatized people. Miodrag Doroški worked as a psychiatrist in a war hospital in Croatia in 1991, which was helping traumatized people. I first worked as a neuropsychiatrist helping traumatized people from the battlefield, in Croatia and then in the Military Hospital in Sarajevo. Vladan Beara worked in Novi Sad from 1995-1996 where he worked with people from war torn regions.Later in October 2002, we made a project together with Ursula Renner from the organization Living Without Weapons from Stuttgart, Germany which was founded by a war veteran of the Second World War. The counseling center worked in Novi Sad, Leskovac, Vranje, and Bujanovac. The project was financed by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Preparations were made to explic-itly include a mixed group of both Serbian and Albanian experts. After Serb and Albanian patients went through therapy they began recognizing experts not by their nationality but by the quality of their work. This project lasted till March of 2005. Working with war participants showed us that individual therapy is not available for a large number of people, so we began a media promotion to sensitize the public to the importance of professional work with traumatized people. We continued holding expert educations in the psychiatric hospitals and health centers, in Vojvodina and in Southern Serbia. We began offering support through group work with veterans. We managed to put together a seminar with Serbians, Albanians, and guests from Croatia. The work with Serbian veterans was financed by the Swiss, and the work with Albanian veterans was financed by the Germans. Gathering together in these groups, people who once fought

one another were able to see together that trauma is universal and it knows no borders or nationalities. Working with the therapy groups with veterans devel-oped our knowledge and our programs in the Center. At this time we began the program for self-help groups, which served as the basis for the project “Wake Up Veterans!”WhAT ChANgEs hAs ThIs pROjECT BROUghT TO ThE CENTER, INDIvIDUALs, AND TO sOCIETy?The Center has been transformed from a small professional branch into a peace organization, but a peace organization that has not forgotten its roots in directly helping people. Through stabilizing individuals and families, the entire society also becomes more stable. The program Support Groups is an opportunity for more people to be able to help each other. Veterans lead the groups themselves instead of experts. In the groups there are people who would never come to see a psychotherapist, because they only feel safe with their fellow peers. It is very important to have a support system for the people who voluntarily lead the groups. Its possible to volunteer once or maybe twice but to volunteer for a long period of time people need to be able see results and they need to be supported. All individuals who were included in the project had opportunities to strengthen and recognize their abilities not just for war, but also their abilities for contributing to constructively developing postwar society. Society had the opportunity to recognize the importance of working with war veterans and their families. We built the project “Wake Up Veterans” more than a year ago and since then I have learned to appreciate everything that is needed and how the process goes. Now I feel good when I see that the reason for the project isn’t just for earning a salary, as the work is not done when the project is finished. This is something that really last and changes society. WhAT MEssAgE DOEs ThE CENTER WIsh TO sEND TO sOCIETy?Through interviews with veterans we have realized that veterans have things to say that need to be heard, as a society that has traumatized individuals it is also traumatized. Society and veterans lack both mutual understanding and com-munication between them. Because of this in 2004 and in 2005 we organized a conference in the Media center which included therapist and war participants as beneficiaries. Later with OSCE (The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) we started the action “War Participants as Peacebuild-ers.” Through the book Oh, Where Have You Been My Blue-eyed Son, my colleague Vladan Beara and I tried in an accessible way to show what happens with traumatized people. In the book are elements which are interesting for experts, concerning an existentialist ap-proach to untangling trauma. The book promotion brought together war partici-pants from all sides, raising the questions of what is war as well

as what are the benefits and harms of war. With the conference and the book promotion we wanted to send the message that war veterans are not lunatics, but rather they are people who have a specific experience that other people don’t have who have never been in war. This experience is very painful with traumatic consequence that veterans and their families are left to live with. Those who went to war did not return in the same state. When people accept this reality, there is a greater possibility that they will accept themselves as a part of this situation. Acceptance does not mean to simply “be ok” with the situation but rather to meet face to face what can’t be changed as well as those things that can be changed. hOW MUCh OF OUR sOCIETy Is READy TO ACCEpT ThAT REALITy TODAy? When there was a change in the government we expected more of an under-standing. In general this has not been the case. With the new government it was stated that all veterans were part of the last regime. These are the people who society at one moment needed. And when they were not needed any more, society abandoned them. Today we don’t even have an official number of war veterans. The figures are somewhere between 400,000 - 800,000, not even to mention how large this number would be if their family members were included. Society consciously or unconsciously has formed a large marginalized group that now has nothing.WhAT CAN ThE CENTER DO TO MAkE A DIFFERENCE? The Center is trying to work with society and war participants. We are working towards convincing society that war is not a solution. Also we are working towards pointing out the presence of war veterans to society. We don’t need to miss the opportunity to learn from veterans about the meaning of war. Through the program “Constructive Utilization of Veterans’ Experience,” we are trying to inform society through discussion groups in which conversations are held between war veterans and youth. The Center is working cooperatively with veteran associations that are working in their local contexts to alter public opinion and show that war leaves overwhelming consequences. People need to know that any future wars will again result in these consequences. Through this work we are reducing the likelihood of future wars by giving, youth and those that make decisions, the opportunity to discuss before a declaration of war. This is the basic essence of our peace work.WhO ARE ThE CENTER’s pARTNER IN ThIs pEACE WORk?The Center doesn’t limit its work only to Serbia. We have contacts with Bosnia and Croatia. Our contacts in Croatia are with individuals, as we don’t have any official cooperation with Croatian veteran organizations. However we have cooperated for years with the peace organization called Miramida from Grožnjan. The project “Wake up Veterans!” gave us the opportunity to open partnerships with Dutch organizations as well as the Veterans Institute from the Netherlands. We have the opportunity to utilize their experience as they have developed the best system of veterans care in Europe. And they are learning from us about working directly with veterans and their families as well as dealing with reintegrating veterans in society. Why ARE ThE DUTCh ORgANIzATION sO INTEREsTED IN OUR WORk? The Netherlands is the most active country in Europe regarding working in the civil sector. Exchanging knowledge is important for them as well as presenting their state and its policies. The center works on projects through methods that follow its mission, rather than some other political understanding. We don’t need tutors or leaders however we do need partners and support. This was dem-onstrated through the period of time in which we lacked finances from 2005 till 2007. During this time we managed to cover some personal expenses and engaged a large number of volunteers and thus saved the Center. We persisted through this time because we knew that the work we do has great meaning. We believed that it was better to continue to work in the area we knew best rather than to try to run for activities that funders were willing to support at that time. WhAT ARE ThE sTRENgThs OF ThE CENTER? WhAT MOTIvATEs ThE CENTER? Some of the strengths of the Center include: its large number of young vol-unteers, its wider network of volunteers, its expanding visibility, as well as the Center’s commitment to following its professional calling. When I see the young people and how they work, it gives me motivation to continue working. I am certain that we are working for a just cause.

Professional Calling to PeaceAFTER 10 yEARs ThE sMALL COUNsELINg CENTER hAs DEvELOpED INTO A pEACE ORgANIzA-TION ThAT Is RECOgNIzED IN sERBIA AND ThE REgION. As ThE FOUNDERs OF ThE WAR TRAUMA CENTER (WTC), vLADAN BEARA AND pREDRAg MILjANOvIć, INCREAsED ThEIR kNOWLEDgE AND pERFECTED ThEIR pROFEssIONAL WORk, BECAUsE OF ThIs ThE ORgANIzATION CONTIN-UED TO MAkE pROgREss As ThEy DEvELOpED ThEIR ACTIvITIEs. TODAy WE ARE spEAkINg WITh pREDRAg MILjANOvIć.

Interview

URsULA RENNER

DR pREDRAg MILjANOvIć

“Earlier texts about war veterans were only published in newspaper obituaries.

Today veterans are beginning to be viewed as human beings, as they rightly deserve. It’s great for society to hear that veterans

don’t support war crimes, if something is a crime then someone needs to take

responsibility for it. Who and when takes responsibility is not for us to decide but rather a matter for the courts. veterans

alone have the opportunity to dismantle the prejudice that they are the criminals and war profiteers. however if they stay quiet it allows space for manipulation.”

These two words are terms that are all too often wrongly used as synonyms. Simi-larities certainly exist between the two terms and they are often used by similar social groups, but to say that the two terms are synonyms is not true.Pacifism in the most generic sense is a personal moral stance against the use of violence. The most basic definition of nonviolence is a strategy for producing social change without the use of violence. Not all people who pursue the ideas and practices of nonviolence are pacifist. Pacifists always resist the participation in violence; however people engaging in nonviolent action may at times choose certain situations where they feel violence is permissible.

nonviolenCe &

pacifism

Lane’s Corner

by: Lane Stopher

Post-traumatiC stress DisorDer (PtsD) represents a psychological reaction to the experience of a traumatic event, especially when a person is directly confronted with a dangerous, life threatening situation or physical threat. Possible reactions in-clude intense fear, helplessness, and horror. This disorder affects people with no regard for their sex, age, or culture. In one day of war, a person can experience multiple traumatic events. Many people from the Balkan participated in war for more than one year. The data from the recent study, preformed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy in Serbia, showed that more than half of Serbian veterans suffer from at least one psychiatric disorder: various mood disorders (such as depression), anxiety and psychotic disorders, addictions, or chronic insomnia.Because of this PTSD was found in 28.8% of respondents. (Fol-lowing the Vietnam War PTSD was recorded at 15.2%, the Gulf War was between 9-24%, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 6-12.5%). Veterans in Serbia visit the doctor 9 times a year while other citizens only visit the doctor 6 times annually. Frequently occurring health problems include: high blood pressure, joint and muscle problems, vision impairments, depression and neurosis, lower back pain, and PTSD. The data from this research shows that compared to similar researches conducted in other countries, war veterans in Serbia have the worst levels of quality of life. pO

sT -

TRAU

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vLADAN BEARA, MIODRAg DOROškI, pREDRAg MILjANOvIć

CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETIN DECEMBER 200910

events

Group Facilitators in AdaStarting to train group facilitatorS for Support groupS in VojVodina

The War Trauma Center Education Team, held the first of five module trainings for facilita-tors of the support groups for people with war experience in Ada. Education lasted from the 13th to the 15th of November and was lead by Predrag Miljanović, Vladan Beara, and Ivan Kralj. WTC in partnership with The Veterans Association from the wars of the 90’s and with the support of the Department for Disabled Veterans protection, Ministry of Labor, and the Social Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, launched a training program for stu-dents from seven cities in Vojvodina (Ada, Senta, Apatin, Zrenjanin, Kikinda, Backa Topola, and Temerin). Based on the knowledge gained, students will receive certificates from WTC.

The Center as a Guest at UniversitypreSentation of counSeling for pSychology StudentS

On November 12, 2009 the program team from Counseling Center held a presentation of their work for the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Novi Sad. The presentation was organized in cooperation with the Psychology Department and with Jelena Šakotić – Kurbalija. Eighty psychology students were in attendance to hear about the activities of WTC, the methods of the counseling services and work with beneficiaries, and volunteer management in the Counseling Center. The aim of the presentation was to get students more interested in counseling as direction for them after the college. In their Masters studies these students will be enrolled in the practicum course Psychological Counseling, and will have their practical work in WTC.

Dialogues in Schools

MeetingS of VeteranS and youth in BaBušnica i leSkoVacThis November the program Constructive Utilization of Veterans’ Experience held two dialogues “Veterans and Youth” in Babušnica and Leskovac. Sixteen pupils from the high school “Vuk Karadžić” in Babušnica, were given the op-portunity to speak with three war veterans. In this dialogue in the school’s library, the youth with great interest posed various questions for the veterans, Dalibor Trajković, Slavoljub Staletović, and Goran Nikolić. Milan Colić facilitated the dialogue along with co facilitator Snežana Popović.The dialogue in Leskovac was held in Director’s office in High School for textile and design. The dialogue was attended by 11 youth, and three veterans - Miodrag Tasić, Goran Nikolić, and Ivan Kralj. Vesna Karanfilović, previously a co facilitator, acted as facilitator in this dialogue while Milan Colić assisted. These dialogues were important mile markers in the work of the program as they represent the developing form of utilizing veterans experience in schools.

The Historical Progression of Conflict in the Balkans lecture in “the Black houSe 13”: Vladan Beara

October 14, 2009 - Vladan Beara in Novi Sad’s youth center “The Black House 13” held a lecture about the history of the conflicts in the Balkans. The lecture was tailored for foreign students. In order to fully understand the Balkans today these students first needed to be introduced with the chronology of the past wars and the national narratives as reasons for the wars. Beara tried to convey to them the reasons why people went to war, what happened to them in war, and how people feel after returning home from war. Students also shared some experienc-es of their friends and families who are in the Iraq War. They learned about Post

Traumatic Stress Disorder, and what is war trauma. By being introduced with the historical and geographical context of this region of Europe, the students were able to see the significance of the peace work of the WTC and its perspec-tive “War Participants as Peace Builders.” The youth involved in this lecture were here through the organization World Learning. In this study abroad program Orli Fridman, based in Belgrade, teaches young adults about the conflicts and the peace initiatives in the Balkans. Also attending were young adults who are part of the “Bridge Year” program which is lead in Novi Sad by Svetlana Kijevčanin.

CENTER FOR WAR TRAUMA BULLETINwww.wartrauma.org 11

ThE INTERNATIONAL sTUdENTs dIsCUssEd ThE NARRATIvEs FROM ThE LECTURE “hIsTORy OF ThE BALkAN WARs”. WhAT ARE ThEsE NARRATIvEs?

These narratives are stories that come from the past. Winston Churchill said “History is just one damned thing after another.” That is exactly our history. The stories are a series of events from the past several hundred years in this region. Narratives give combined events meaning for what happened, for why it happened, and for who was involved. These historical narratives live in people. Besides historical narratives, there are also family narratives which every family has to explain what has happened. In the Balkans every area has its own story. We have an entire series of intertwined stories that lie dormant waiting for your moment. Before every war they suddenly become important and become the thing in which everyone is talking about. They are in the media, they are discussed in academia, the military, and in churches. And of course people begin to think about and look differently at their neighbors. This is the same everywhere in the world. Often a logical consequence of the awakening of these narratives is war and an attempt to settle scores. In this context people feel com-pelled to become engaged and active in the solution. This means people believe that it is just. Narratives as stories are important not only to provoke people into war, but also in giving people meaning for their participation in wars. dOEs ThE FINIshINg OF A WAR CREATEd A NEW NARRATIvE? New narratives are linked to the past narratives because the stories must con-tinually exist. There are attempts at making new narratives. For example after the First World War there was a narrative that the Kingdom had three friendly groups Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Following this the Kingdom of Yugoslavia formed a new narrative which said we were all Yugoslavian. We were not 3 peoples, but rather we were one tribe with three names. After the Second World War, the narrative spoke of unity and brotherhood. However in every family there was trauma, pain, and suffering because even though we lived in unity and brotherhood we knew who killed our grandfather and grandmother, and who were our neighbors across the street, and vice versa. Parallel narratives are built in this way and these are the narratives our children grew up with. People then start making movies and things are exploding such as the Croatian Spring of 1971 when a number of Croatian intellectuals purposed succession of Croatia from Yugoslavia. When Serbs see the Croatian flag waving they ask, “What is this, Ustasha again?” And this enrages the Serbian narrative. Then Tito removes a large portion of both Croatian and Serbian leadership, and introduces the new constitution of 1974. Things remain calm until the next display of Chetnik flags and Ustasha uniforms. One another see each other

and comment, “Here they were protected Grandpa’s flag in the attic.” “Here is grandpa’s uniform from the basement.” The old story continues. Narratives allow people to understand what is happening in a given context through a continuum of events. On the other hand they allow a man who goes to war to understand why. This is an important point because he is not going on vacation but rather he is going to the worst place on earth. This man then thinks: “I must leave my family, my work, my city, and go somewhere where I will see horror, kill someone, and be in situations where I might be killed. Ok, but I want to know why.” When you present narratives, then everything is clear. And if nar-ratives would be different it is questionable if people would be willing to go to war. The question of controlling narratives is the question regarding the control of historical events. WhAT Is ThE RELATIONshIp OF OUR COUNTRy ANd ThE pAsT WAR?Those that are expecting to lead today’s society are not developing dialogues about the past. Maybe these people would like to start discourse about what happened but are afraid of the reaction of voters. Their attitudes towards war crimes are “we will deal with them if we really have to.” I am certain that all sides in the Balkan do not have a constructive approach in dealing with what happened. In Croatia there is a monolithic identity in terms of, “we were only defending, it was a war of self-defense.” This that exists is not constructive for people to not be faced with what happened and with what their role was in all of this. In Bosnia you have a story “We are the victims. There is no idea that we have anyone who inflicted harm.” I don’t want to generalize anything but rather to say that there were no black and white pictures. Regarding these issues it is necessary to discuss them in a free manner so that we can come to a point to say: yes, these were our inten-tions, this is what we did, these were mistakes, and these are the people that are responsible. ON WhO dOEs ThE REspONsIBILITy LIE TO sTART ThEsE dIALOgUEs? It turns out to be the responsibility of the Non-Governmental Organizations.And what about the intellectual elites in all three countries? What about church leaders, academy of sciences, universities, the military? And what about those who were the active participants in war? We as an organization are trying to make an impact through dialogues between veterans and the rest of society as it is one aspect of dealing with what hap-pened. In confronting the past there cannot be anything that is in advance set as being the sole truth. But it seems to me that the majority of the people working on the past are acting like “you are guilty and just need to confess.” This is one way of confronting the past but it is not constructive. WhAT Is A CONsTRUCTIvE dIALOgUE?In practice it most happens that there are monologues where one person is telling their side of a story and the others don’t listen. Or one side explains their narrative with the intent to compel the other side to believe the same; however, the other side does not care. And this turns into conflict. Dialogues occur when both sides are willing to learn from the position of interlocutor and to stay intellectually engaged in the process. When I say constructive I mean that we go to a dialogue in which members of all sides must slowly be confronted with the responsibility for what they have done. Through dialogue and exchanging information it becomes clear who is responsible for what. It is important that this process is balanced. It is hard to expect that one side will just accept the narrative of the other side. Is IT IMpORTANT FOR CONsTRUCTIvE dIALOgUEs TO EsTABLIsh ThE TRUTh?What is truth and how can it be obtained? People often think that there is one uniform truth. Truth only exists in our narrative, and everything else is a lie. I think that the process of establishing, tracking, and reviewing is more impor-tant than truth alone. Mostly likely truth won’t come, but maybe that isn’t that important. This country is in the process of establishing the truth on a few levels, but is very cautious and suspicious. A few lawsuits have begun, and some gathering of information, but this is only a small part of the process. Currently there are NGO’s who gather oral history, and are attempting to organize dialogues with veterans from opposing sides. Meet the politicians who try to speak, there are some interreligious dialogue, filming documentaries ... But it is very shy. We still are not far enough removed. I previously mentioned Churchill and I will end with him. In the Second World War he said, “This is not the beginning of the end, this is the end of the beginning.” And we are somewhere at the begin-ning of the beginning. We have not even come to the end of the beginning.

Shyly Starting to Face the Past

There is no country on earth that has a Ministry of Attack, everyone has Ministries of defense. In other words every country starts from the assumption that there is something to defend in war. It is an idea of war participants. Of course there are those that go to war to steal, burn, kill, rape. Fortunately only 2%. A small percentage but they can make a costly damage.

ABOUT dOMINATE NATIONAL ANd FAMILy NARRATIvEs OF ThE pAsT ANd ThE pREsENT, CONsTRUCTIvE dIALOgUEs, ACCOUNTABILITy ANd ThE sEARCh FOR ThE TRUTh TELLs Us vLAdAN BEARA, pROgRAM AdvIsOR IN WAR TRAUMA CENTER

Interview

vLAdAN BEARA, pROgRAM AdvIsOR IN WAR TRAUMA CENTER