By David Bernard for the Wilmington University College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Early exposure to abuse, neglect, or family dysfunction can have a lasting impact on a child's physical, mental, and social well-being. Traumatic experiences and toxic stress later in life are also inevitable and can potentially contribute to a variety of poor health outcomes Even entire communities can be traumatized by poverty, violence, and discrimination. How individuals and communities respond to those events can greatly reduce the negative effects and promote healing.
Professionals in many fields, including human services, education, criminal justice, and healthcare, have the potential to guide people and communities toward wellness and help prevent re-traumatization. Wilmington University's new Trauma and Resilience Certificate Program was created to build that potential into ability. The graduate level certificate, launched in the summer of 2020 by the university’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, offers the evidence-based training necessary to promote preventive health, healing, and growth.
"No matter where you are, you'll find people who are experiencing the effects of trauma, from children in school to adults battling an illness or caring for a loved one," says Dr. Rebecca Ghabour, who chairs the college's Psychology Program. "Our Trauma and Resilience Certificate is designed to educate the people who are out there doing the work of helping."
Since trauma and its resulting responses cut across the entire span of human lives, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences sought the collaboration of faculty members from WilmU's Colleges of Education and Health Professions in creating the Trauma and Resilience certificate. The curriculum for the five-course, 15-credit program includes three core courses plus coursework options in classroom teaching, educational counseling, and nurse leadership as well as administration of human services, and applied family science.
Gratified by the experience of teaching about both the effects of trauma and the hope inherent in human resilience, Dr. Ghabour recounts, “In the first core course for this graduate level certificate, students from a variety of backgrounds and professions came together and learned about ‘Trauma and the Brain:’ what trauma is, how it affects the brain, human behavior, overall well-being, and the impact it can have on communities. The best part was hearing students talk about the importance of understanding trauma and trauma-informed approaches and how, because of this course, they changed the way they see and interact with people. I feel certain that these students will take what they’ve learned and make positive and impactful changes in their communities.”
"We want the certificate to be accessible and applicable for individuals from a variety of backgrounds," says Dr. Debra Berke, Director of Psychology and Organizational Dynamics and the Wilmington University Center for Prevention Science. "Anyone who comes in contact with someone who may have experienced trauma or toxic stress can make a positive difference in that person’s life."
Hidden in plain sight
The idea that early trauma can shape the course of a person's life isn't particularly revolutionary, but a landmark study that revealed just how often early trauma occurs, has attracted significant attention in the two decades since its publication.
In 1998, Dr. Felitti and Dr. Robert Anda of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed 17,337 Kaiser Permanente patients on the subject of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. In addition to sexual and emotional abuse, these traumas included physical and emotional neglect, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, divorce, maternal depression, homelessness, and incarceration.
Their research estimated that about two-thirds of all adults have suffered at least one ACE. Forty percent of the survey's respondents reported two or more, and 12.6% had experienced four or more.
An examination of the respondents' medical and social histories led Dr. Felitti and Dr. Anda to suggest that ACEs can disrupt the development of children's brains, which is likely to impair their social, emotional, and cognitive abilities. These deficits may lead to risky health behaviors, which in turn might trigger disease, disability, and/or social problems, and ultimately an early death. (For more information about the ACE study, visit www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy).
In 2017, researchers Dr. Wendy Ellis and Dr. William Dietz of George Washington University expanded upon the idea of adverse experiences by investigating adversity that occurs in community environments. These environments — in which populations are affected by poverty; discrimination; community disruption; a lack of opportunity, economic mobility, or social capital; poor housing quality and affordability; and violence — often contribute to and then compound adverse childhood experiences, a health and social hazard the researchers call "a pair of ACEs."
Today we acknowledge that three realms of ACEs - household, community, and environment - intertwine throughout people’s lives, and can affect the viability of families, communities, organizations, and systems. (For more information about the three realms of ACEs, visit https://www.pacesconnection.co...alms-of-aces-handout).
Cultivating a curriculum
"You can't address social ills from just one angle," explains WilmU's Dr. Berke. "You have to approach them from multiple perspectives."
That type of collaborative outreach fueled the Trauma and Resilience Certificate. It also informed the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences' previous trauma-related educational initiatives and the professional development outreach efforts by the Center for Prevention Science, all of which helped to lay the foundation for the new program.
In terms of enrollment, the undergraduate certificate in Trauma-Informed Approaches, launched in 2016, " ... is one of our fastest-growing programs," says Dr. Ghabour. "We saw it drawing interest from master's students in education and health professions as well," which highlighted the demand for a graduate-level option.
Collaborating with faculty from WilmU’s Colleges of Education and Health Professions happened organically through providing training on trauma to everyone at the University. “With each training or workshop that we did at the university, our colleagues from other disciplines saw the importance of incorporating an understanding and awareness of trauma into their program’s curriculum,” described Dr. Ghabour.
The College of Education identified the need for future and current teachers to apply a trauma-informed approach to their teaching practices.
"We're just opening the door on this topic, but over the last several years it's gained more and more momentum," says Dr. Alfred DiEmedio, director of Teacher Preparation Programs in the College of Education, who notes that WilmU's early childhood and elementary education courses now address trauma-informed teaching.
"We've learned that students bring a lot of needs into the classroom," he says. "We want our future educators to be able to have a positive impact on children who've experienced violence or abuse."
The College of Education even introduced a new course, Building a Responsive Classroom (MED 6801), for the Trauma and Resilience Certificate. The course originated from an in-service training program for new teachers in the Colonial School District, located in New Castle, Delaware.
"If we can prepare new educators with experiences that help them to look at situations with new eyes, that changes the dynamic for us," says Melanie Barbas, lead teacher for classroom culture at Colonial, who co-taught the course with WilmU assistant professor Tyler Wells, and who brought it to WilmU for summer 2020. "And if they can develop positive relationships with their students, they can instill in them a sense of hope that their circumstances won't necessarily define the rest of their lives."
Different backgrounds, common goal
The importance of understanding trauma and promoting resilience resonated with the faculty in WilmU’s College of Health Professions as well. "We recognize the responsibility and the need for this type of education in graduate nursing," says Dr. Lisa Drews, RN, chair of the Master of Science in Nursing Leadership Program at WilmU's College of Health Professions, who recommended three graduate-level courses in nursing as elective options for the Trauma and Resilience Certificate.
"Unfortunately, most people have some significant experiences that inform their health choices and their overall health," she notes. "And nurses are out there, in every area of healthcare practice you can imagine, seeing those patients face-to-face, at every stage of their lives.
"It's always been the heart of nursing to put the patient first," says Dr. Drews. "Learning about trauma and resilience is giving us a new perspective, a new worldview, and different strategies to see the whole patient."
Student perspective
Student feedback about the newly launched certificate has been positive. Many have seen direct applications either personally or professionally.
“I have learned … trauma impacts each person differently, but when children are subjected to it at a young age, the impact is long-lasting and can have devastating consequences,” says Trauma and Resilience Certificate student Alicia Letz. “This course taught me that things are not always as they seem – there are many reasons why children and adults behave the way they do. From toxic stress to adverse childhood experiences, it is no wonder why individuals young and old resort to different coping mechanisms just to stay afloat.”
Elizabeth Meoli, an addictions counselor and Trauma and Resilience Certificate student, feels that “understanding buffering has also been helpful to me as a parent. Like most kids his age, my two-year-old is constantly experiencing mood swings as he learns to navigate his world with almost a total lack of emotional regulation skills. I find it fascinating to watch him learn so much, and I have a better understanding of all the brain architecture that is being built right now. I have been making a conscious effort to help him with these mood swings by attempting to act as a buffer, which I try to do by remaining calm when he is losing his cool and offering him hugs if he needs a bit of a squeeze to help him regulate. When he calms down, he gives an adorable little sigh, as if to say he is his stress response system is turned off now, and he just goes about his business. I do understand that I cannot protect him from inevitable adversity in his life, but I hope that providing him with buffering can help him going forward.”
“The focus on resilience and buffers to help build resilience was a very intentional and important part of the certificate’s curriculum," says Dr. Ghabour. “Individuals from all professions need to understand the impact of trauma, but we also want to promote the idea that healing and prevention is also possible.”
For more information about the Trauma and Resilience graduate certificate, please visit www.wilmu.edu/behavioralscience/trauma-and-resilience-certificate.
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