SPARTA is one of the leading programs in the US for helping warriors with PTS. SPARTA believes there is something missing in the diagnosis and conversation of PTS; moral and spiritual injuries. In many cases our nation's brave men and women have suffered both while serving as Military members or First Responders. The physiological and psychological effects of trauma to the brain are real. When these moral and spiritual injuries are undiagnosed or untreated, it offers an easy path to hopelessness. This hopelessness can seem like there is no end to the symptoms associated with PTS, and when combined with unhealthy coping mechanisms will sometimes lead to suicide.    

 

22 veterans commit suicide daily. That's over 8,000 veterans per year, which is roughly 20 percent of the national suicide total in the US. That is significant considering veterans make up less than 9 percent of the US population. 

 

Recent reports are indicating the First Responder population in the US is experiencing its own issues with PTS and suicide as well. The physiological and psychological effects of trauma to the brain for Warfighters and First Responders are similar including the symptoms and maladaptive behaviors; making our program a powerful solution for both. It is SPARTA's belief traditional methods of healing are not enough. Warriors returning from war need something different than what we've provided as a society - we are responsible! 

 

Since the dawn of civilization, warriors have always had ritual and culture to detoxify from war. SPARTA provides a secular-spiritual approach to the absence of such rituals. By creating an emotionally and physically safe environment for five days, warriors - in community with other warriors - begin to explore their personal experiences in previously unexamined ways. Using meditation and other contemplative mindful activities, SPARTA starts to transition the warrior into a new and healing community of other warriors. 

 

SPARTA employs the use of adventure to stimulate the warriors' re-engagement into the adventure of life. Often warriors feel a lack of excitement in their civilian life. SPARTA uses the ropes course *provided by Brandeis Bardin and Philip Folsom Programs in a proprietary and unique way to help warriors experience exhilaration within at safe environment. Each adventure activity is designed to have maximum impact in creating trust and help-seeking behavior amongst the peer-support group that is well into its formation. 

 

SPARTA uses equine assisted counseling *provided by Hoofprints to Freedom to encourage introspection and healthy boundaries. Horses are immune to our desire to selectively transmit communication via body language. Horses are prey animals. As a result, their lives are dependent upon reading other animals in their environment. It is unnatural for a predator (human) and prey (horse) to coexist. By careful participation in-group and individual activities, SPARTA utilizes the horse's spontaneous reactions as a method of teaching the warrior about their internal emotional environment and thus, redirect behaviors that were previously unexamined. 

 

Ultimately, SPARTA uses the age-old practice of using myth, story, ritual, and personal narratives to create new practices that detoxify the warrior of moral injury and invite them into the sacred space in that SPARTA believes essential for the transformation into a life truly worth living.

 

 THE SPARTA METHODOLOGY

1.  Trauma, Stress & Brain Changes

2.  Resiliency Building 

3.  A New Life Vision 

4.  Unpacking Trauma

5.  Meditative Practices

6.  Aftercare & Personal Growth 

 

USING THE SPARTA PROJECT CURRICULUM THE PROVIDERS HAVE ACCOMPLISHED

50 Cohorts delivered thus far

Over 340 lives transformed, and their families

Programs facilitated in AZ, CA, and MN

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***the companies listed on our website are in no way affiliated with The Sparta Project and services are provided by and through each company independently***