New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies

After reading the following highlights of Eric Arauz's background and excerpts from his unforgettable story and powerful message, you will want to be further inspired by hearing Arauz share his experiences and mission first-hand.

And you can!

Arauz will deliver the keynote presentation, "An American's Resurrection: A New Jersey Veteran's Journey from Trauma to Triumph." on February 7, 2013 at "A True Welcome Home: Ensuring New Jersey Veterans' Successful Return through Resources and Support" at the Robert Wood Johnson Conference Center, Hamilton, NJ.

After serving in the United States Navy, including Operation Desert Storm on a Destroyer in the Red Sea, and being discharged in 1994, Eric Arauz was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder and was hospitalized in three maximum security psychiatric hospitals from 1995 to 2000.Today, Arauz is President of AIE-Arauz Inspirational Enterprises, LLC, an international training and consulting company, based in East Brunswick, NJ, and well-known for his presentations that show others "How to Come Alive Again" using literature, spirituality, trauma concepts and suicide-prevention principles. In addition, Arauz co-chairs a national workgroup on suicide prevention and assessment regarding inpatients and veterans with the American Psychiatric Nurses Association and Dr. Janet York from the Veterans Administration; he is a member of the American Association of Suicidology; and he is an adjunct instructor for his original trauma concepts, storytelling and recovery work at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Psychiatry.

In his book, An American's Resurrection: My Pilgrimage from Child Abuse and Mental Illness to Salvation, Arauz shares vivid illustrations of his traumatic experiences and his progress from experiencing uncontrollable psychosis and physical deterioration to becoming a strong person in all aspects. He has helped thousands of people by sharing not only his experiences, but what he has learned from them and how his own determination, combined with a steady support network and various other resources, enabled him to achieve so much. He even credits his illness itself for his success. His powerful words say it all:

"But by grace, serendipity, medication, abstinence from alcohol and drugs, and the largest and greatest support network a sinner, failure, maniac, and advocate could ever want, I have a life on the other side of the nightmare. And now, I am awake to all the universal possibilities available to survivors.""I am not successful today in spite of my mental illness but because of my mental illness. Adversity revealed the true Eric Arauz to me, the Eric Arauz who is a warrior, a fighter, a Bipolar Jedi."

He also illustrates through powerful imagery his mission and determination to help others:

"I knew as the fire burned in my veins that I must step forward and give back to the world what was given to me in its writings and teachings. I would speak anywhere and everywhere that would have me. I would be a beacon to the suffering in all walks of life. With the love of wife and family, I was sure of my mission. Joseph Campbell said in the Power of Myth, that it is not heroic to journey through hell and survive, it is heroic to share your knowledge so others do not have to suffer the same journey.

"I would use my story and voice to sound my Whitmanian 'barbaric yawp' from the rooftops of Jersey and then the world, spreading the message that sufferers everywhere must understand:

" Resurrection is possible."

Don't miss this opportunity to gain inspiration and insights from Arauz in person!

Visit the Conferences section of www.njamhaa.org today for more program details and to register!

Visit //ericarauz.com/ to learn more about Arauz and his compelling book!