The impact of combat trauma across the family life cycle: Clinical Considerations

Clinical experience and research with veterans of the Second World War and subsequent military conflicts have demonstrated the longstanding nature of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and the reverberathTg effects upon the families of traumatized individuals. The conseqttences of combat trauma during various stages of family life are discussed. Specifically, the hnpact upon (a) courtship and mate selection, (b) man'iage, (c) childbh'th and childrearing, (d) marriage in mM-life, (e) children leav&g home, and (J) retirement in late
life are reviewed. Finally, clinical consMerations fin" the practice of family psychotherapy in this area are presented.