What form of therapy is most beneficial for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress and why? what are your thoughts on Group Therapy?

I don't believe one form of therapy is "best" for all. Different people have different needs, and have had different experiences. Quiet solitude can be helpful at times; having a trusted friend to listen in a nonjudgmental way can be equally beneficial. Bottom line: do what lets you relax.

My take is that you can't assign a one size fits all. Every veteran is unique and every story is unique.

The one commonality, though, is that the veteran MUST be committed to working on their PTSD for the long haul. Seeing a Psychiatrist (or other prescriber if a Psychiatrist is not available), seeing a therapist, groups if assigned, meditation, medication, etc, are all part of it. As are doing things in a controlled manner to go outside the comfort zone...

If the veteran isn't fully invested, they won't ever recover...

As someone who works with service members living with PTSD on a daily basis, IMHO there are different therapies that work well to address the symptoms of PTSD. Here is my list of therapies I would recommend to someone living with PTSD. There are others, these are the ones I have seen first hand work.

1. Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) this is one of the most intense treatments available for the symptoms of PTSD. It works well for emotional concerns such as anger, anxiety, and guilt.
2. Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) this therapy requires a good majority of work outside of the therapy office. It works well for painful thoughts and behaviors.
3. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) this approach is innovative in that it does not seek out to eliminate the symptoms it seeks out to utilize values to produce a fulfilling life experience and feeling better is a byproduct of living well.
4. Any of these treatments in a group setting increase their effectiveness.

PTSD is an anxiety diagnosis and perpetuated by a system of avoidance. Avoidance works in the short term. However, over years (7-12) the avoidance stops working and a persons life is restricted to only a few places and only a few people and a few emotions, mostly anger.

I would like to leave two thoughts here for others to consider
1. A memory is not something that can be deleted, medicated, or forgotten. It is also not 3D and can not kill you. If your goal is to get rid of the memory therapy may not go the way you want it to. If you go toward treatment looking for a new meaning to the event any of the aforementioned therapies will work well.
2. A persons willingness to go towards this painful memory/experience stands in direct conflict with the avoidance that keeps PTSD alive and well in a person. The question then becomes can you have this painful event in your life and still live a full and satisfying life with it.

remember, What gives light to the world...must endure burning --Viktor Frankel

Vet Centers have professional counselors. They are trained and licensed and can tell the difference between venting and destructive "lashing out". Confidentially is a plus that you may not have in group therapy.

I've seen a lot of friends with PTSD benefit from having service dogs possibly because of the ability of the animal to sense distress in the human and act accordingly. Other than that they have found groups that work for them (through trial and error as not every group is the right fit).

I agree with Spc David Rosenlund about the fishing and hunting. I know it helped me and I also spend time talking and hangout nag out with other vets. That's the best because I feel we are the only ones who can understand each other. If you talk to your family who has never served or a cilivian you will sometimes get a look from them like what are you talking about. I've also tried working part time with helped. It got me out and stop me from being a loner and just staying in the bed to myself all the time. I no longer get thoughts of hurting myself. You just have to keep active and be around positive people.

EMDR

Disclaimer: I am a mental health professional and trained in treating trauma. This question tends to bring out the sacred cows in our profession. I just happened to scan a summary by the APA with updated treatment guidelines on this earlier today. There is a handful of treatment modalities that have been shown to be effective based on metanalyses of data through 12/15. Group therapy did not rate highly. The top performer seemed to be exposure therapy followed by several varieties of cognitive therapy. Some approaches applied both exposure and cognitive interventions. They also listed a handful of newer treatment modalities they were still assessing. I use narrative exposure therapy in my practice for several reasons with good outcomes. The APA listed it among those deemed empirically supported, but no specific numbers since studies are still too few on it. My personal opinion is that any of those I listed would likely have a good shot at helping, with the major proviso you worked with a competent clinician with whom you could click. I believe that your relationship with your clinician is 70% of the solution and his/her choice of treatment modality 30% of the solution. In the case of PTSD treatment, I will admit, doing the treatment correctly is probably more critical than with addressing other disorders, but the strength of the bond itself still is the show stopper.

Equine therapy

The most important thing you can do is take that first step and get help. It's odd...if you were in an accident and your wrist swelled up the size of a mellon, you'd go see someone. We still have too many of us not willing to take that first step. Im glad this is a discussion that can be had out in the open. I know I took way too long to deal with it myself, USS IOWA turret two explosion, but eventually I did though had a few false starts. From my experience: find a counselor that has PTSD experience! They will all take your money but just as we have specialties in the military, so too do counselors! Next, don't be afraid to switch tactics if its not working. What works for one may to work someone else; I just don't see me fishing, David :). Finally, keep hope. I won't debate whether or not it is curable or simply manageable, but I can tell you if you treat it, you're your life is going to be a hell of a lot better!