Hello GLC readers and Happy September! I thought I’d use this month’s article to talk a little about Boulder Crest Retreat.

Boulder Crest has two locations in Virginia and Arizona that provide free, world-class, short-duration, high-impact retreats for combat veterans and their families. Founded in 2013, Boulder Crest exists to solve the current mental health crisis and to heal military members, veterans, and their families dealing with PTSD and combat-related stress, so they can live productive, fulfilling, and service-oriented lives back at home.

The signature program at Boulder Crest is called Warrior PATHH (Progressive and Alternative Training for Healing Heroes), and it is the nation’s first non-clinical program designed to cultivate and facilitate Posttraumatic Growth amongst those struggling with PTSD and/or combat stress. The goal of Warrior PATHH is to enable attendees to transform times of deep struggle into profound strength and growth.

This program is led by both veteran and civilian instructors who have walked the road from struggle to strength, and they leverage their own experiences to guide attendees. Warrior PATHH is an 18-month program that begins with an extremely intense 7-day training program at one of the retreats in either Virginia or Arizona.

Since retiring in 2014, I’ve had the great opportunity to attend several Boulder Crest fundraising events around the country, where I’ve been able to speak about Warrior PATHH.  As a proud PATHH graduate, I’m able to share my personal experiences with the audience about a wellness program that I firmly support, because I personally saw it save the life of a fellow classmate who was having a difficult time coping with his own life difficulties. PATHH was intense, as I often tell audiences that it was my emotional Hell Week, but well worth it in the long run!

Coach’s tip(s) for this month: Lots of active military members and veterans, along with their families, are suffering the effects of PTSD and/or combat stress! Foundations like Boulder Crest exist to help those who voluntarily swore to defend this great country of ours against all of our enemies trying to destroy our freedoms! As you all may know, Bill and I co-authored a book (The Leadership Killer: Reclaiming Humility in an Age of Arrogance), which is available to order now! 

Bill and I have mutually decided to donate 10% of the book royalties from the pre-sale date of 15 Sept to the end of 2018 to Boulder Crest to help their efforts!

Bill and I hope by purchasing our book, we all can contribute in some small way to helping those who need assistance now! For more information on Boulder Crest, please check out their website: www.bouldercrestretreat.org.

Thanks, GLC Community!

CAPTAIN JOHN “COACH” HAVLIK, U.S. NAVY SEAL (RETIRED), led special operations teams around the world during his 31-year naval career, to include the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, the SEAL’s most elite operational unit. CAPT Havlik was a nationally-ranked swimmer, and is a member of the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame and Mountaineer Legends Society. Learn more at CoachHavlik.com.