HARPSWELL

Joyanne Jewett Johnson, a Maine native and Harpswell resident, passed away on Aug. 6 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, but her life reflects decades of service and kindness to others.

The wife of a career naval officer, Adm. Gregory Johnson, USN-Ret., Joy was frequently left alone to raise her children, Sydney and Ashley, a dizzying task in itself. Joy also pursued her own career, starting a business — Canvas Cutters. Even with all of her responsibilities, she still found the time to help her neighbors and community in innumerable ways.

Throughout her husband’s career, Joy volunteered with the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. For a time, she worked with the Downtown Ecumenical Services Council in Jacksonville, Florida, to provide food, clothing and other assistance to those in need, and over the years Joy worked on and off as a social worker, and volunteered with a number of charitable organizations.

When her husband retired from the Navy and the couple returned to Maine in 2004, she continued to seek out ways to help others — volunteering with local groups.

The daughter of a veteran and the wife of a naval officer, Joy always had a concern for veterans. In the wake of the Iraq War, Joy had growing concerns that veterans were not receiving the help they needed, and started looking into ways to help.

“She started thinking I could do something to help veterans,” said her husband.

The particular hardships related to post-traumatic stress disorder really stood out to Joy and Greg. The constant stress that military personnel face overseas is uniquely challenging, said Greg. The anticipation of pain and violence that soldiers face every day of their tour can cause psychological trauma.

“There’s nothing like it in civilian life, and anyone who hasn’t gone through it can’t understand it,” said Greg.

According to Greg, the fatal shooting of Justin Crowley-Smilek, a veteran, in Farmington by police inspired Joy to help veterans and prevent more violence. The veteran, who had served as an Army Ranger six years prior to the incident, had been diagnosed with mental health issues and had multiple run-ins with the police department over the years.

“The whole town now is watching this guy come unglued and no one seems capable of doing anything about it,” said Greg.

Finally, in November of 2011, Crowley-Smilek was shot to death after threatening a police officer with a knife in front of the Farmington Town Hall.

Both Greg and Joy were upset with the incident, which they thought was entirely avoidable.

“She got a bee in her bonnet, and said I can help these kids so things like that don’t happen — and she got help,” said Johnson.

The incident inspired Joy to start a nonprofit to help veterans like Crowley- Smilek. Joy was inspired by the work of Fredric Shotz, who practices naturopathic therapy in Falmouth, believing his methods could help veterans with PTSD.

“Once she saw how energy psychology techniques really help post traumatic stress, Joy was convinced that we need to take it to the veterans — as many veterans as possible,” said Deborah Farnham, president of Embrace A Vet.

When she learned that the Veterans Affairs in Maine did not support the alternative medicine used by Shotz, Joy decided to set up an organization to provide his therapy to veterans to help with PTSD.

Joy founded Embrace A Vet, a nonprofit, in 2012 to provide alternative therapies free of charge to veterans and their families who are suffering from the effects of PTSD. A half dozen or more veterans and a family member, friend or significant other are taken on a five-day retreat where they experience a number of different therapies. Native American ceremony, acupuncture, yoga, Reiki and other therapies are employed during the retreat, but the focal point is Shotz, according to Farnham.

“I’m the reason (the retreats) exist,” said Shotz. “The whole retreat thing is just a device to get people there so I can treat them.”

Shotz uses what he calls energy psychology to treat veterans’ PTSD. Energy psychology, according to Shotz, “uses the acupuncture meridians to effect changes in the energy balance of the body.”

No talking occurs during an energy psychology therapy session. Instead, patients hold an image in their mind while Shotz taps on the acupuncture meridians to change the memory from negative to positive.

“By tapping on these meridians, you can reduce the trauma that has been there for 50 years … to just a memory that has no emotional stimulation whatsoever connected to it,” said Shotz.

“You might at first blush think it’s kooky,” said Greg. “People are always skeptical when they first hear about it, but it really does work.”

The methods Shotz uses, however, are controversial in the scientific and medical communities. Dr. Steven Novella, an assistant professor of neurology at Yale University School of Medicine and president of the New England Skeptical Society, said that Shotz’ energy psychology therapy sounds like “tapping,” a practice loosely based on acupuncture.

“There is no scientific evidence behind acupuncture,” said Novella.

Still, Shotz claims a success rate of around 90 percent using this technique.

In addition to the retreats, Embrace A Vet provides service dogs to veterans suffering from PTSD through their Paws for Peace program as well as caregiver support programs. Farnham notes that the organization helps dozens of veterans and their families every year.

Although Joy is gone, her vision to assist veterans through alternative methods not provided by the VA continues through Embrace A Vet.

For Greg, the future of the organization depends on finding someone with the same qualities that made Joy great in starting and running the organization: her non-judgmental attitude and her ability to connect with those in need.

“The key to keeping this organization going is for the board to find one or two people who can feel very comfortable and be very genuine with people who are hurting,” said Greg.

“Joy has been devoting herself since 2012 to this organization and to veterans. It’s a tough job to keep it going, but we’re determined and we’re in a great position to do this,” said Farnham.

nstrout@timesrecord.com

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