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Kenneth E. Millers' latest book, WAR TORN, focuses on stories of civilians in war zones and the courage and resilience they exhibit to survive their incredible scenarios. Many of these people end up becoming refugees, some of who are now banned from entering our country in the sweeping and shocking executive order by President Trump over the weekend. Kenneth is available for interview immediately and is the perfect resource to help audiences learn about the populations affected by these immigration policy changes.
https://www.psychologytoday. com/blog/the-refugee- experience/201701/5-myths- about-refugees
With some 200 million people affected by armed conflict or genocide, refugees are appearing in record numbers. War Torn takes us beyond the headlines into the lives of civilians caught up in war's destructive power in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Guatemala, and Sri Lanka. Alongside stories that convey the destruction and heartbreak of armed conflict, he captures the courage and resilience he calls “a remarkable kind of light,” an essential counterpoint to the grief and trauma that war creates. The stories in War Torn are powerful, heart-wrenching, and unforgettable. After reading them, we welcome the rich list of options Miller offers (at the end of the book) for ways we can help.
Drawing on his extensive research and clinical experience, Miller also offers a nuanced critique of the overly narrow focus on PTSD among survivors of armed conflict.
“In evocative and powerful prose, [Miller] captures the remarkable human capacity for resilience in the face of great adversity. He also writes with compassion about the lasting damage that war has on the human heart and mind, when the limits of resilience have been surpassed.”
—from the foreword by James Garbarino, author of Lost Boys and No Place to be a Child
An international expert on the impact of armed conflict on civilians, psychologist Kenneth E. Miller has been working with war-affected communities since 1991 as a researcher, clinician, organizational consultant, and filmmaker. A professor of clinical and community psychology for much of his career (San Francisco State University, Pomona College), in 2015 he joined the Dutch NGO War Child Holland and is currently based in Amsterdam. His website is www.kennethemiller.com
“The courage and resilience on display in these eye-opening and heart-wrenching accounts is matched only by Miller’s brave and unflinching resolve to spend his life working in refugee camps and on the front lines, bearing witness to the individual horrors of armed conflict, while trying to help the victims heal, however imperfectly. With clarity of thought and prose, he also reminds us that "while people may be deeply wounded by the hardships they’ve endured, their spirits or psyches are seldom irreparably broken.”-- Diane Ackerman, author of The Zookeeper's Wife
“War Torn provides harrowing first-hand insights into human suffering across contexts burned into global consciousness as theatres of late 20th century and early 21st century inhumanity: Guatemala, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Syria. But the extraordinarily sensitive and insightful text ultimately communicates most powerfully regarding the humanity that endures in such adversity. This humanity is observed in those humanitarians seeking to respond to those in need but, above all, in the determination, humor, and love shown by those struggling against the destruction of their communities and identities by civil conflict. Miller’s narrative doesn’t lapse into sentimentality, however. The humanity that it witnesses to is a bloodied one, born of labor, sacrifice, and suffering. In the year when the UN Secretary-General, through the World Humanitarian Summit, is calling for recognizing our shared humanity as the key driver of our decision-making and collective action, we would benefit from this book being compulsory reading for all who need to grasp that that sharedness is not a principle, but a visceral, tortured and consoling reality.”
—Alastair Ager,Director of International Health and Development at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Author of Faith, Secularism, and Humanitarian Engagement: Finding the Place of Religion in the Support of Displaced Communities, editor of Refugees: Perspectives on the Experience of Forced Migration
“War Torn is an exceptional, gripping account of the impact of war—a must-read for anyone interested in how war profoundly touches and shapes people. Ken Miller merges the expressive writing of a novelist with compassion and the profound understanding of a seasoned mental health professional. This collection of personal experiences and mosaic of situations provides rich and unique insights into the complexities of war torn countries.”
—Dr. Mark Jordans, King’s College London
"Ken Miller weaves together for us tragic stories of war, loss and injustice with tales of friendship, family, and laughter. Ken's gift is the way he listens, which takes him and his readers beyond simple categories of war victim or trauma to the complex experiences people have in settings torn apart by violence. I'm grateful for the way he has captured the simultaneously disabling and inspiring coexistence of darkness and light in these places."
--Jeannie Annan, PhD, Director of Research, Evaluation, and Learning at the International Rescue Committee
