Scott DeLuzio    00:00:00    Thanks for tuning into the Drive On Podcast where we’re focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community, whether you’re a veteran active duty guard reserve or family member, this podcast we’ll share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And now let’s get on with the show. Everybody. Welcome back to the Drive On Podcast. Today, my guest is Mark Weisman. Mark has spent over three decades researching religion throughout the world, and he’s combined his experience with religion and psychology to offer hope for those suffering from depression and PTSD. He spent countless hours working with returning veterans to overcome the symptoms of PTSD by building successful coping mechanisms that lead to happier lives. So welcome to the show. Mark, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?  

Mark Weisman    00:00:55    Well, thank you. And thank you for inviting me and having me on your show a little bit about me. I, 30 years I’ve gone through, originally part of the Christian Church, where I was ordained as a chaplain, did countless hours of work with our brethren and coming back from conflict. I was a formerly active duty Marine, a long, long, long time ago. And, so I understand the conflict. I also spent about 30 years in the private security industry, all around the world, doing all kinds of crazy stuff. And, when I came back, tried to wrap my mind around what worked, what I understood, what made sense, what felt right. I struggled, struggled quite a bit, as my, website will outline, ultimately I came to a crossroads where my ancestry, my personal ancestry, heritage, and culture combined with my theological and psychological studies at that point.  

Mark Weisman   00:02:10    And then I became, even for lack of a better phrase.  But what I found when that struck me was the understanding of how the guilt and shame that I’ve like everyone else I accepted as part of my growing up, If you will. But then I found that those thoughts and those pieces kind of resided still in my brain so that when really bad things happened, I didn’t have the processing capabilities to do it with. My brain just locked up because we were trying to fit five pounds of stuff in a two-pound bag and it just locked up and it wasn’t until I started clearing away some of this guilty shame, things that were hiding in the background that I’d begin to have kind of that headspace at the top. Now I could kind of start to tackle this big, big animal that had just walked into my life and was kind of driving everything bothered. So I sat down and wrote everything down that I thought worked for me. I started giving it to friends and, and, one thing led to another,  I found a process that really worked for me. It’s working now for hundreds of other people. I’ve been so honored to have passed this knowledge along. So it’s, it’s really worked out very well.  

Scott DeLuzio     00:03:52    Yeah. And that’s great. And I’d like to maybe dive into some of that, that, that stuff that you’re just talking about there and, and try to maybe unravel some of the stuff that was holding you back and, keeping you from being able to process some of this stuff and how you’ve, you’ve ultimately gone in. And,, you’ve worked with other veterans and, and people obviously haven’t been having trouble coming back and making sense of some of the things that they’ve seen or done and, and stuff like that. So,  maybe we can talk about that and how, and how you work with these veterans to help them overcome these thoughts and these feelings and beliefs.