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Hypnotist hopes to write help guide for vets

JANESVILLE — Charlene Ackerman hopes to write a manual to help war veterans cope with post-traumatic stress.

She is looking for veterans to treat so she can provide case studies to write her program and is offering first sessions and possibly more free to veterans who have referrals from their doctors.

Teaching through a veteran's hospital is her ultimate goal.

"When I hear how some (veterans) are not receiving adequate care, it breaks my heart," she said.

Ackerman is hoping to one day teach her program to other therapists.

Two veterans who have had sessions with Ackerman recommend her methods.

One is a 48-year-old Army veteran who was involved in covert operations in Central America 30 years ago. The Janesville resident does not want to be named.

After returning home, he'd wake with paralyzing nightmares, all variations of the same dream. He never knew what triggered them. Sometimes, he'd have them three nights in a row and then not another for three months.

His pulse would race and sometimes he'd leap from bed. Then he'd feel embarrassed and drained. It was worse when he was away from home, and other people heard him screaming.

"I didn't even realize I could do anything about it," he said.

A few years ago, he had two sessions with Ackerman. He doesn't remember much about the sessions except that they were relaxing. He thought each session was a few minutes, but each was actually more like 45.

Since then, the nightmares have lost their punch. They are less frequent and prompt less physical reaction. He woke up screaming just once in the last three years.

"It's just a dream," he said. "I don't have the emotional attachment to them."

Robert Tonnelli, 64, a retired lieutenant colonel and former Janesville resident, said Charlene helped tame his anger. He now lives in Des Moines, Iowa.

He is a Vietnam War veteran and couldn't shed his anger about the treatment of veterans when they returned to the states.

He's a news junkie, and his anger would erupt when he'd listen to commentators he considers liberal.

The session worked great, he said.

"I don't take personal offense (from) any of those people on the left when I read their stuff. I used to get eye-popping red."

And his family situation is better because his son and daughter-in-law are "left of Teddy Kennedy."

"I was always at a flashpoint," Tonnelli said. "What she did, through the hypnotherapy, was had me talk about that and let it go.

"It really helped me a lot."