How Therapeutic Writing Helps Veterans Heal Trauma

Some stories don’t come out in conversation. They come out on paper, one honest sentence at a time. We sit down with Emiliano Enea from Brothers And Sisters Like These to talk about why therapeutic writing can succeed where traditional approaches to trauma sometimes fall short and why a blank page can feel safer than a microphone when you’re carrying PTSD, moral injury, or survivor’s guilt. 

We trace the roots of the organization back to the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, where a physician and North Carolina’s Poet Laureate helped build a writing program for Vietnam veterans. The goal was never perfect grammar or polished craft, but a way to write what couldn’t be said. From there, the mission grows through COVID-era disruption into a nonprofit that includes women veterans, Vietnam nurses, and now a wider circle of family members, first responders, and Gold Star mothers. Along the way, we dig into what moral injury really means, how public readings can be tailored for different audiences, and why keeping veterans’ memories present in public life matters for understanding, funding, and care. 

You’ll also hear about upcoming community events, including Memorial Day at the Western North Carolina Veterans Cemetery, monthly open gatherings at Lake Julian, and a new eight-week therapeutic writing class returning to the VA. We talk books, podcasts, and local partnerships that help fund a mental health counselor at every meeting, keeping the work grounded and safe. If you care about veteran mental health, PTSD recovery, community healing, or the power of storytelling, this conversation offers a practical path forward. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with one takeaway you’re still thinking about.

Transcript

Ten Years On WHKP

SPEAKER_02 0:00

The George Real Estate Group Radio broadcast is celebrating 10 years on WHKP. The George Real Estate Group is celebrating 10 years on the radio live every Thursday morning at 10.05 on WHKP 107.7 FM and AM 1450, and streaming online at WHKP.com. Each Friday morning at 8.45, the George Real Estate Group presents the Hometown Hero Award to someone in our community who goes above and beyond to make our hometown a better place to live. Here's this week's Hometown Hero Show. Normally Noah's here, but he's out of town this week on business and uh kind of leaving the show in my hands. That's dangerous, I know. But I don't because I don't know anything about real estate, but I know who does, and I know who to call. If you need any kind of a realtor uh anywhere in western North Carolina or the upstate of South Carolina, it's the George Real Estate Group. Greg, remember that. The George Real Estate Group, you can check them out online or uh at their offices located in beautiful downtown Flat Rock, North Carolina. The George Real Estate Group brings you our hometown hero series every Friday morning. And this is one that's special to me because uh I've been involved or uh close to this organization for some time now called Brothers and Sisters Like These. And Emiliano Inya is here with us from Brothers and Sisters. Good morning.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Good morning. How are you, uh Randy? It's good to be here.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

It's good to have you here. It really is. I've been looking forward to welcoming you here for a long time. Oh, thank you. And uh we just got some things going on uh with the organization that we want to tell everybody about, but we first want to kind of I guess educate uh everybody about what brothers and sisters like these is.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Okay, so brothers and sisters like these started uh several years ago at the Charles George VA Center, which is by the way, the only dual-rated five-star facility, civilian or military.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

I hear nothing but the best.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Exactly. Exactly. They're an amazing hospital staff, uh executive leadership, you know, usually comes from the top.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Of course.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

And uh Director Young is an amazing person, and so is her her team. So one of the uh Dr. Kelly, Bruce Kelly, was a physician, and he noticed that his Vietnam veterans were still suffering from PTSD. Yeah, they were still committing suicide, there's still um uh alcohol and drug abuse. And so he realized that something was missing that traditional medicine uh was not hitting.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

And so along with uh Professor Joseph Bathante, who was the North Carolina poet laureate in those years.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

Um we're talking uh early 2000s?

SPEAKER_00 3:24

No, mid-2000s, uh 2012 to 14. Okay. This started in 14. Every um Poet Laureate for North Carolina has to have kind of a, let's say, a pet project or something to kind of sponsor what their role is. And so they thought, wow, this is perfect. Let's get therapeutic uh writing, not academic. We're not we're not trying to make writers out of us. We are people that um the majority of our members never believe that writing could ever help. And it's not really about the writing in terms of an academic perspective, it's about writing the things that we could never talk about.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Therapeutic, right?

COVID Shift And Nonprofit Growth

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Yes, yes. So we don't care about grammar punctuation, we just want you to write, and the rest will will come. And so what they did was they did a series of classes with Vietnam veterans, males only, Vietnam era only, and it was wildly successful. And there's a great little documentary film on our website, brothersandsisterslikees.org, that explains exactly the origins of our group. Well, then COVID hit, and COVID is the root of all evil, and it hangs on to yes, yeah, just so the funding in the group stopped, but the original member said, you know what? If this work here has helped us, why should we not continue it? Why should we not include our sisters who were Vietnam nurses?

SPEAKER_02 4:55

So it became brothers and sisters.

Moral Injury And Survivor’s Guilt

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Yes, exactly. And to think about how much uh those Vietnam nurses, Vietnam veteran nurses saw, it was very traumatic. Very traumatic. And so from then we we started the nonprofit, and now I'm the junior ward member of Iraq and Afghanistan as a veteran. And so what I'm doing is carrying forward the legacy that my brothers and sisters brought before me so that in a future conflict, soldiers that are returning home from the battlefield can find some relief the same way I did when I came back.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

You personally benefited from this program.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Absolutely. Yes. So I started uh through a group at the VA called Moral Injury. It's a great program that the VA does, which is why we're an exceptional, you know, why they are an exceptional hospital. And it addresses some of the moral injury, which is a more common symptom of PTSD among global war and terror or GWAT veterans like myself of Iraq and Afghanistan. Moral injury. Moral injury. So it's not just roadside bombs and stuff like that. You know, I was airborne infantry, so I saw my fair share of combat, but some of the stuff that plagued me afterwards was much more tied to survivors' guilt. Yes, we read about that all the time. Those kinds of injuries. So that is something that is typically not addressed pharmacologic pharmacologically or with traditional uh medicine.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

And so the VA did does this uh writing uh group, this writing program, where it's mostly writing, but it's also therapeutic and talk. And um so brothers and sisters kind of the natural continuation of that. And so I became a member of Brothers and Sisters and then did several groups, and they asked me, Hey, we want to pass the torch. We're starting to age out.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

So, and I said, you know, if this has done this for me, it's done this for you guys, I can't walk away from this. I just can't. It's been too beneficial.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

You're not the only one who's benefited, man. Uh I I this is where I met uh Steven Henderson. Absolutely, our president. Is he really? He is our president. I'm not surprised. Nope. Uh what a guy, what a story. And I've read and heard him read his stories. And uh man, it it i i there's also podcasts available if folks would like to listen to some of these veterans and their stories. I know because I've recorded some of them.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Yes, and also we do podcasts for any uh uh uh stakeholders in the community that want to help us, or we want to inform the public and other veterans about their services. So we've done one with Jeff Miller from Blue Ridge Honor Flight. Right, right, right. Uh Heart of Horse Sense, Veteran Healing Farm, just a a bunch of local players in the veteran community.

Public Readings And Tailored Events

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Uh I I just think this program is is ultra amazing. Um you have had, and and I'm sure you probably continue to have public readings of these writings.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Yes. Yes, we do events all the time uh for either public events or even private events.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

And we can tailor it based on the situation. Some situations call for certain types of readings. So, for example, we're gonna go to the CLC, which is a community uh living center at the Asheville VA, and we read to the veterans there that are older. And so we want to read some some that are more appropriate for them. We're not trying to explain and advocate as veterans what we went through, which is what we do with the normal public. But for fellow veterans, we can do things more about camaraderie and some of the times where a little, you know, something funny happened. You know, we have to tailor it to our craft.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Yeah, and and uh and and address that issue of uh survivors' guilt that you talked about with fellow veterans.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, because we're comfortable amongst ourselves. And then what happens is we get to a point where not only, for example, there were things that I couldn't even literally think about because they were too traumatic, then I with the group I started to think about them, then I started writing about them in our membership meetings and and events and groups, and then I was able to go out into the public and read them. And I took the wind out of the sail of the trauma, and now I own it, it doesn't own me, and it's incredibly liberating.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

That is just absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

And it's just that simple, Randy. It's just that simple. It's just that simple. You we write about yeah, putting pen to paper, we write about the things that we cannot say because they're too hard to say.

Upcoming Memorial Day And Classes

SPEAKER_02 9:32

I relate a little bit because uh yeah, I've had a doctor look at me and say, Cancer, say that word. And it took me a long time after the surgeries and all of that, even to say that word. Yes, and I could have used some of that writing therapy to help me get to that word.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Yes, and now we've also made our group slightly larger to include family members, first responders, and post Helene, many of whom are veterans. Yes, yes, yes. Uh gold star mothers. Of course. Uh, for example, Anne Frank is a close friend of ours, was on the podcast with Jeff Miller, and she's a gold star mother of Matthew, who passed away when I was killed in action when I was in Iraq. We were not together, but we served at the same time when he passed away. And who would have s n you know thought that just a few years later our paths crossed and now she's part of us and we're part of her? And it's it's just an amazing uh uh experience, it's an amazing group. Yes, it is, it's an incredible mission. And you know, we advocate because we're one generation away from the public forgetting what veterans do. And if we forget, the politicians forget, the funding forgets. Yes, so it is very important that we keep you know our service and our memories alive in the in the public.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Yeah. And I promise you, as a broadcaster, I want to continue to try to spread that word for you guys. Thank you. Uh it's just such an important program. Uh we speak in a you've got some events coming up right away.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Yes, yes. So uh our next important event is at Memorial Day, which is on the 25th at 10 o'clock. It's at the Western uh North Carolina uh cemetery.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Veterans Cemetery.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Yep. Swan right. Uh yep, Black Mountain Swanon, yep.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

And uh that's actually a North Carolina Department of Military Veterans Affairs cemetery.

SPEAKER_02 11:29

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Beautiful place. Beautiful place, thanks to Director Phil, who him and his crew keep that place looking amazing. And honoring our brothers and sisters that are buried there. And there's also a um retirement home, state retirement home.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Close there in Black Mountain that we also read to. And and that's because I just want to make a little side thing here of uh the NCD MVA, which is the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, has a new secretary, Secretary Millette. She has been amazing. She's come out to here to us after Helene and said, What do you need from me? Pen and paper?

SPEAKER_02 12:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

And just totally different. And so she came and was the keynote speaker last year.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Oh yeah?

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Now think about Memorial Day, Secretary of Military and Veterans Affairs.

SPEAKER_02 12:23

Coming here.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Yes. Coming here. And now I'll be the keynote speaker, which is good for you.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

You're gonna do great.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

I hope so. You will, I promise. And um also we have a monthly event at Lake Julian, which is every third Wednesday. Okay, starting at 5 30, and that's open to the public. You don't have to be a veteran. And it's a great way for people just to come and see who we are and see what we do and kind of get comfortable with us.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

And then for veterans, we have a new writing class, again, therapeutic, not academic, at not academic, which starts June 16th for eight weeks, every Tuesday, at the Charles George VA Medical Center.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

There was you were telling me that before we went on the air. You meet at the hospital.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Yes, we're back at the original place where we started from, and that's only because of the generosity and the gratitude that the Charles George VA Medical Center grants us. And we are so fortunate to come back to a place that we feel so comfortable, clean, safe, sure, and is is where we get our own care.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

So and uh and and I'm sure they recognize the healing that's taking place in your organization.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

They do. And it's that kind of mentality that they have, yeah. Thinking maybe outside the traditional box is one of the reasons why they're so they're a five-star dual-rated hospital.

Coffee Partnership And Published Books

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Yeah, they recognize a pill won't work for this. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Gosh, man, and uh let's talk uh one of my favorite topics for just a couple of minutes as we close out here. Yes, coffee. Ooh, coffee. Who isn't? I'm a snob, I'm a I'm a coffee holic.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Who isn't, brother?

SPEAKER_02 14:03

Tell us about your coffee.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

So, you know, we thought that what goes better than writing than coffee. Well, of course. Hello. And so we partner with uh Penny Cup Roasters, which are local roasters, have several um locations here in Nashville, and they give us a good deal so that we can help use coffee at our events or for other events. And they uh generously uh give us some of this coffee that that I brought to you to to get a taste of and keep you chugging along in the morning. Oh man, I need it. I mean, I need it.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Well, thank you so much. And uh you also gave me a copy of a book. Yep. Now tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

So what we do is we have our meetings, and these meetings we write about our experiences, and then we publish those. We put all those stories together and we publish them, and it allows people to really release that trauma, you know, and it's out there and it can be testified to, you know. So those sales fund our only real expense, which is having a mental health counselor at every meeting, and so we do that's our only real expense.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

So someone is there to help.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Someone is there, someone is there along with a board member that co-facilitates, and so that's what our our book is.

Where To Find Them And Sponsor Close

SPEAKER_02 15:18

And you uh are just a fantastic guest, and I can talk all day. Tell us uh uh where anyone who's interested in anything can find it.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

So, brothersandsisterslikees.org is our website. We do a newsletter where you can just sign up, and we're on YouTube and Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

Thank you so much, Emiliano. I appreciate it so much. Here's the certificate. Oh, thank you. Got some freebies. Have a great weekend. You too, brother. Thank you. The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, North Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygreg.com. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-3930134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, North Carolina. Tune in live each week on Thursdays at 1005 AM on WHKP 107.7 FM and 1450 AM, or stream online at WHKP.com, or download these podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. The George Real Estate Group brings you the WHKP Hometown Hero Series every Friday morning at 8.45.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Maybe the house feels a little too big these days. The stairs a little steeper. The pace of life a little too fast. But what if your next move wasn't about letting go? It was about making space for peace, for freedom, for what matters most. At the George Real Estate Group, we understand that real estate isn't just about the house. It's about transitions, timing, and trust. We've helped thousands of families in Western North Carolina make smart, thoughtful moves. Closer to nature, closer to family, closer to home. So when you're ready to write size, simplify, or start fresh, we'll be here. The George Real Estate Group. Local, trusted, proven. Call us today, 828 393 0134. Find us online at realestatebygreg.com because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.